ABSTRACT
The well-known lithograph Mulata del Rumbo by Victor Patricio de Landaluze depicts a young woman standing with her body in three-quarter profile, gazing over her right shoulder at an unseen admirer (Fig. 7.1). With frizzy hair, deep skin tone, round nose and full lips slightly parted in a seductive, knowing smile, her face is animated, but her features lack refinement. Carnality is asserted in her arms and neck, which appear strong and robust rather than frail and delicate. She leans to the left, holding a fan in her left hand, while her right hand rests on her hip, elbow cocked in a pose both jaunty and sinuous. Wearing a pretty dress trimmed with lace and a ruffled hem swirling on the ground, she has a fringed shawl draped loosely around her waist in a graceful but insouciant style. The shawl, rather than modestly covering her, reveals more of her neck, décolleté and arms than a white woman would have shown in public. Nor would a white woman ever appear alone in public, while the nameless mulata is posed in front of what appears to be an exterior wall and sidewalk. Her manner of dress, body language, location and physical features all combine to flaunt her “not-quite-ness” – not quite white, not quite black (Bhabha 2004).
