Género y monstruosidad en “La casa del Doctor Pétalo” (1995), de César Mallorquí

"La casa del Doctor Pétalo" (1995), by César Mallorquí, a "small masterpiece" (Diez y Moreno, 2014) in the author's early narrative, constitutes a rara avis within Spanish science fiction (sf) written by male authors, for its perhaps intentionally feminist plot of transformation and empowerment: a secretary harassed by her boss, with money problems and an absent boyfriend, manages to get rid of her patriarchal impediments to end up living in a house with infinite rooms with an ape-like man. The novel had some success in specialized circles, winning the popular Gigamesh Prize and having been reprinted several times. Despite his popularity and recognition, Mallorquí has rarely received academic attention.
Through a feminist approach, my contribution will focus on the critical analysis of gender and its tensions with monstrosity present in the novel. I will propose that the naturalization of the (male) monster through socialization (with women) is in line with Roas's (2019) research on fantastic monster domestication in postmodern narrative, and I will wonder about Mallorquí's epistemological limitations when dealing with patriarchal violence, workplace harassment specifically.