Las cadenas de Sor Juana / Sor Juana’s Fetters / Les chaînes de sor Juana
Gustavo Gac-Artigas
“she [Sor Juana] opened her eyes to the world Gustavo Gac-Artigas writes a remarkable book of poetry that opens eyes and strips, not the world of books, but the fetters of thought, social control, and dominance towards women. Through his unflinching writing, he makes these fetters, and particularly the wounds from the fetters, visible.
The book is both brief and all-encompassing, consisting of seven poems about seven women. Some of the women in the poems are historically known, and some are unknown, but the experience of each is given equal and universal value. Gustavo writes a high-visibility jacket onto each of these women, but he warns us that the women will not be seen – on purpose. He highlights the ongoing, often invisible wound, which is experienced in the world as a whole by the subjugation of women. “social classes suffocated me A wound that he writes about as a man, a witness, an ally, and a former political prisoner from Chile. And, of course, as a poet who addresses endlessly recurring oppression in piercing, observant and powerful language.
The book is trilingual. It’s translated carefully and with great skill and aesthetic resonance. It reads “naturally” in all three languages. The English translation is by Andrea G. Labinger and Priscilla Gac-Artigas, and the French translation is by Nicole Laurent-Catrice. |
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The prologue, written by Priscilla Gac-Artigas, provides the ground of the book, contextualizing both the position of the poet and the content of the book with profound insight. It’s also a call to action. The prologue begins with the title “A Feminist Tribute in Translation – One Male Poet, Three Female Translators.”
It continues with “The echo of Sor Juana remains painfully present: to learn without punishment, to live without violence, to decide over one’s own body, and to claim a place in history with dignity remain universal challenges. The paradox of our present is that, despite the existence of international legal frameworks for gender equality, systems, traditions, and powers persist that seek to silence women’s voices.”
And it concludes with the words “Sor Juana’s Fetters is a brief book, but its echo is profound. It is a poetic tribute to women and to the feminist struggle, written by a man, translated by women, and read—so we hope—by thousands of readers willing to re-examine themselves, to face things head-on, and to transform.”
Priscilla also frames each of the seven poems as representations of the history of all women.
It continues with “The echo of Sor Juana remains painfully present: to learn without punishment, to live without violence, to decide over one’s own body, and to claim a place in history with dignity remain universal challenges. The paradox of our present is that, despite the existence of international legal frameworks for gender equality, systems, traditions, and powers persist that seek to silence women’s voices.”
And it concludes with the words “Sor Juana’s Fetters is a brief book, but its echo is profound. It is a poetic tribute to women and to the feminist struggle, written by a man, translated by women, and read—so we hope—by thousands of readers willing to re-examine themselves, to face things head-on, and to transform.”
Priscilla also frames each of the seven poems as representations of the history of all women.
“i met her not knowing she was plunging me into history
an unfamiliar history
that happened to be mine”
Gustavo inserts the suffering of the body into the poems – particularly through the eyes: “eyes of power”, “lustful gaze” and “as the coffee spills into my eyes.” But also through heart, belly, sweat, blood, bone and hunger. Alongside the physical dimension, emotional and intellectual elements are equally present. His poetry exposes the double standards and dual morality that women endure, represented by fetters that limit the movement of both of the legs that we stand on.
“in my father’s land they burned my writing
in my mother’s, they applauded me
in both places, hypocrisy”
Brief in length but resonant in scope, Sor Juana’s Fetters brings into the light the stories of women known and unknown, transforming their experiences into a collective memory of resistance and endurance. In doing so, Gac-Artigas opens our eyes to wounds that too often remain unseen—and reminds us that the chains history forged for women remain, and that poetry itself can become a first act of breaking them.
Gustavo Gac-Artigas (Chile, 1944) is a poet whose work explores exile, political memory, and continental dialogue. His books have been published internationally and translated into several languages. He has received numerous literary recognitions, including distinctions from the International Latino and International Book Awards, a Poetry International Prize (1989) and the Le Coq (Cocoșul)—a reproduction of a sculpture by Brâncuși—awarded by the Academia Tomitana in Tomis-Constanța, Romania (2025).
Gustavo Gac-Artigas (Chile, 1944) is a poet whose work explores exile, political memory, and continental dialogue. His books have been published internationally and translated into several languages. He has received numerous literary recognitions, including distinctions from the International Latino and International Book Awards, a Poetry International Prize (1989) and the Le Coq (Cocoșul)—a reproduction of a sculpture by Brâncuși—awarded by the Academia Tomitana in Tomis-Constanța, Romania (2025).
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