Lo neobarroco y lo carnavalesco: Tres tristes tigres como espejo de la postmodernidad
Date
2013-11
Authors
Reyna, Gladys
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Abstract
This work examines the role of language and carnival culture in the novel <i>Tres tristes tigres</i> written by Guillermo Cabrera Infante. The central focus was to identify the elements of (Neo)Baroque and Carnivalesque language and aesthetics as defined by Severo Sarduy and Mijaíl Bajtín and study how these reflect postmodern thought. Both concepts support the main idea of my thesis, which proposes that language (un)masks Cuban reality before the popular revolution. In Cabrera Infante’s text, language does not ossify because it is constantly changing, regenerating itself. This notion parallels one of the central ideas presented by Karl Marx in regards to the contingencies of the capitalist system. The famous line “all that is solid melts into air” conceptualizes the function of language in the novel. Studies that incorporate psychoanalysis were helpful in analyzing the role of popular language and jokes in the novel and it was through this methodology that I attempted to come closer to the purpose of these two devices. Finally, the elements of language, structure, carnival culture and other concepts are tied together to showcase how the central theme of (un)masking is directly related to and in some cases used to blur the dichotomy fiction/reality.
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Keywords
Tres tristes tigres, Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Cuba
Citation
Reyna, G. (2013). <i>Lo neobarroco y lo carnavalesco: Tres tristes tigres como espejo de la postmodernidad</i> (Unpublished thesis). Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas.