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Julia Alvarez on the female perspective in "In the Time of the Butterflies"
Clip: 9/17/2024 | 2m 6sVideo has Closed Captions
Julia Alvarez wanted to write about dictatorship from a female perspective for her second novel.
For her second novel, "In the Time of the Butterflies," Julia Alvarez wanted to write about dictatorship from a female perspective. She chose the stories of the Mirabal sisters, Patria, Minerva, María Teresa and Adela, the first three of which were assassinated by the Trujillo regime in the Dominican Republic for oppossing the government.
Support for American Masters is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, AARP, Rosalind P. Walter Foundation, Judith and Burton Resnick, Blanche and Hayward Cirker Charitable Lead Annuity Trust, Koo...
![American Masters](https://image.pbs.org/contentchannels/FgDyXIn-white-logo-41-8ZBpyZC.png?format=webp&resize=200x)
Julia Alvarez on the female perspective in "In the Time of the Butterflies"
Clip: 9/17/2024 | 2m 6sVideo has Closed Captions
For her second novel, "In the Time of the Butterflies," Julia Alvarez wanted to write about dictatorship from a female perspective. She chose the stories of the Mirabal sisters, Patria, Minerva, María Teresa and Adela, the first three of which were assassinated by the Trujillo regime in the Dominican Republic for oppossing the government.
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A front row seat to the creative process
How do today’s masters create their art? Each episode an artist reveals how they brought their creative work to life. Hear from artists across disciplines, like actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, singer-songwriter Jewel, author Min Jin Lee, and more on our podcast "American Masters: Creative Spark."Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship- Everything I had read before of the dictatorship, it was from the male point of view, but I was interested in that female experience of dictatorship.
I thought there were only three Mirabal sisters.
And then when I came to find out about them, (Julia speaks foreign language) I said, "Who's Mamá Dedé?"
"Oh, she's the fourth sister."
I said, "There were four?"
(Jaime speaks foreign language) (bird twitters) - Dedé welcomes me in.
She gives me a limonada and she starts to tell me the story.
She bestowed that story to me.
I felt that it had been given to me and I had to carry it out and tell it.
(gentle music) (heels clicking) I went to the house where they grew up.
I saw the dresses they wore on the day they were killed.
I saw the little things that had been in their pocketbook.
I opened drawers.
I lifted the glass case in which the braid that Maria Teresa had been cut off, still full of little pieces of glass.
I touched it.
I smelled the place, it was just, I was possessed.
(dramatic music)
How Julia Alvarez brought truth to the Mirabal sisters in her novel "In the Time of the Butterflies"
Video has Closed Captions
Julia Alvarez brought the story of the assassination of the Mirabel sisters to life in her novel. (1m 29s)
How Julia Alvarez conceived the story for her novel "Afterlife"
Video has Closed Captions
"Afterlife" was Julia Alvarez's way of "[giving] voice to that landscape of aging." (1m 5s)
How Julia Alvarez was inspired by the working class
Video has Closed Captions
Julia Alvarez wrote about the interior lives of working class women. (2m 52s)
Julia Alvarez: A Life Reimagined
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Explore the story of writer Julia Alvarez, who blazed a trail for a generation of Latino authors. (1m 57s)
The true story behind "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents"
Video has Closed Captions
Julia Alvarez recounts the day she had to escape from the Dominican Republic with her family. (2m 5s)
Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipSupport for American Masters is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, AARP, Rosalind P. Walter Foundation, Judith and Burton Resnick, Blanche and Hayward Cirker Charitable Lead Annuity Trust, Koo...