La Llorona: From Boogeyman to Heroine Across Time

The story of La Llorona is a folktale that has existed at least since the fall of Tenochtitlan and the character has remained a persistent figure in Mexican and Mexican American literature until today with multiple adaptations throughout the centuries. This presentation discusses a senior level project that consists of literary analyses of the poem “La Llorona” by Manuel Carpio published in the nineteenth century, the short story “Woman Hollering Creek” by Sandra Cisneros published in the twentieth century, and the novel The Haunting of Alejandra by V. Castro published in the twenty-first century. I will be demonstrating whether the evolution of La Llorona from boogeyman to full-fledged character helps explain what makes this folktale such an enduring and adaptable one. Following the analysis, I will share my creative retelling of La Llorona which is informed by my research.