La contradictoria complejidad de la narrativa indigenista de Rosario Castellanos.
Item
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Title
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La contradictoria complejidad de la narrativa indigenista de Rosario Castellanos.
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Identifier
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AAI9405569
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identifier
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9405569
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Creator
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Orro, Margarita B.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Isaias Lerner
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Date
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1993
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Language
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Spanish
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Literature, Latin American | Language, Modern
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Abstract
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Despite the fact that Rosario Castellanos' novels Balun-Canan (1957) and Oficio de tinieblas (1962), as well as her book of short stories Ciudad Real (1961) contain elements shared by indigenista writers, the author consistently denied any adherence to the Indian-oriented literary movement, claiming that her books had a more complex scope than that of the indigenistas.;In an effort to elucidate the conflict between the indigenista features portrayed in Castellanos' prose fiction, and the real intentions of the writer, this dissertation seeks to demonstrate the contradictory complexity of her texts. Accordingly, the Introduction presents the contradictions between the critics' and the author's own opinions of her alleged indigenista narrative, as well as the role of protagonist-antagonist of the dominant society that Castellanos assumes in her works. The Introduction also presents the methodology used in the analysis of the books studied.;Chapter I focuses on Castellanos' biography in order to establish the relationship between the writer's life and her fiction, and the ways in which her experiences and intellectual formation determined the complexity of her works.;Chapter II presents a general view on the evolution of literary indigenismo in Mexico, focusing on the four major novels representative of this movement, prior to the publication of Castellanos' works: El indio (1935) by Gregorio Lopez y Fuentes regarded as the first indigenista novel to appear in Mexico, El resplandor (1937) by Mauricio Magdaleno, Juan Perez Jolote (1948) by Ricardo Pozas and El callado dolor de los tzotziles (1949) by Ramon Rubin. By providing a global perspective of what constituted the main manifestations of Mexican indigenismo, this chapter aims to bring forth the differences that separate this literature from Castellanos'.;In chapters III, IV and V, a detailed analysis is made of Balun-Canan, Ciudad Real and Oficio de tinieblas respectively, emphasizing those elements in the works that make up for their contradictory complexity. The unsolved conflict between Indians and whites that constitutes the dominating theme of the three works, is ultimately viewed as the equally shared responsibility of both ethnic groups, and as the failure of the Mexican Revolution to put its theories into effective practice.;Finally, the Conclusion centers on the universal relevance of Castellanos' indigenista fiction achieved by its complex richness. The author would not pose a solution to one of Mexico's major existing problems, and after reading her works, we are left wondering whether she was criticizing the prevalent feudal system or affirming its decadent values; however, it is precisely this ambivalent interpretation of reality that places Rosario Castellanos in the mainstream of contemporary literature.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
