Humorismo sexual y humorismo domestico en 'Bestiario domestico' de Brianda Domecq y en 'La senora Rodriguez y otros mundos' de Martha Cerda

Humor has often provided a means of articulating and resisting abuse and injustice throughout literary history, especially for those on the margins of society. In both male and female authors, humor has served as a weapon of protest. Prose writing by female writers in contemporary Mexico offers examples of humor cultivated by women living in what has been and still is a very conservative and traditional society. In chapter one I present a brief history of humor theories, their studies, and their current status. In chapter two I give a brief synopsis of the major critical works on humor in Mexican literature. In chapter three I analyze various humorous short stories by female Mexican writers from the last three decades of the 20th century, from the short stories by Rosario Castellanos, to the works of the younger writers such as Patricia Laurent Kullick and Elsa Levy.;In chapter four I examine "sexual humor" in the short stories of Bestiario domestico (1982) by Brianda Domecq. In chapter five I analyze domestic humor in some of the short stories included in La senora Rodriguez y otros mundos (1990), by Martha Cerda. The last part of this study is reserved to the conclusions. I argue that sexual and domestic humor in the writings of Brianda Domecq and Martha Cerda represent a milestone in the course of humorous literature in Mexico. In the last two decades, Mexican female writers such as Brianda Domecq and Martha Cerda are creating subversive characters and texts, where language and humor are the main weapons of resistance used to fight a patriarchy that is still very present in Mexican society. I analyze the humor that has not been recognized to the extent that it ought to in these contemporary Mexican writers, validating their perceptions and giving proof that women are humorous.