Mexico y la Mexicanidad: Aura, donde confluyen el mito y la historia
Date
2015-07
Authors
Arreguin, Leah Ariana
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
When history commits, there can be harmony between the official historical discourse and the mythical discourse. In the case of México, the mythical usually exceeds discursive borders to prevail and report from a fictitious world, the official story. That is why Mexican history is ambiguous and confusing; it is ambiguous because both worlds, the real and the mythical intertwine, creating a feeling of confusion between the real and the mythical. In Aura, Carlos Fuentes takes this ambiguity to an extreme as the supernatural materializes and becomes tangible. In the few pages where the story unfolds, Aura can be seen as a reflection of mid-twentieth century México. In this novel we see how the Mexican lived day by day, dreaming about the future of their mythical past.
The purpose of this research is to analyze how the novel Aura is a representation of México and lo mexicano. Jacques Lafaye’s Quetzalcoatl and Guadalupe: The Formation of Mexican National Consciousness, 1531-1813 will be taken into account because it proposes an interpretation of contemporary Mexican culture. Similarly, when analyzing Aura in this theoretical context importance is given to the historical context represented. Moreover, the importance is that Fuentes constantly includes allegorical and symbolic figures in direct connotation to the history of México. In the chapter of the work entitled, "Felipe Montero: México actual en busca de su mexicanidad", the characters path is traced throughout the novel. Felipe Montero is the Mexican model that lives in an eternal quest, a search in which the objective is to find himself inside his mexicanidad. In the following chapter, "Consuelo Llorente: el pasado del presente mexicano”, Consuelo Llorente is analyzed as the living representation of the past, a past in which Felipe Montero manages to find himself. In the next chapter, "Aura: donde el mito y la historia convergen en un uno solo, lo mexicano”, Aura, the character, is shown as the link between Mexico's past and its present. The past (Consuelo Llorente) and the present (Felipe Montero) come to form one body, one soul. Thus, the importance of Aura lies in being the link that connects and fuses the mythical and historical past with the present. In this way, the mythical and historical discourses coexist in harmony to shape and define lo mexicano in mid-twentieth century México.
A weakness for the past is an essential feature of the Mexican and lo mexicano. The past has always been tangible in the present and the future of México. The central point is to recognize that the past is a real component and especially a positive aspect of México. Many critics have associated this work with witchcraft or black magic; however, the point of view in this study is that Aura is not a horror story or about death but is a story of survival. México is an empire that reconstructs itself from the past. It needs from its past to stay alive. México is alive in the form of an aura.
Description
Keywords
aura, Fuentes, Carlos
Citation
Arreguin, L. A. (2015). Mexico y la Mexicanidad: Aura, donde confluyen el mito y la historia (Unpublished thesis). Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas.