“Mexican Masks”: An Introduction to Octavio Paz’s “The Labyrinth of Solitude”
The paper is devoted to The Labyrinth of Solitude (1950, 1959) – the most famous Octavio Paz’s essay, which occupies a central place in his versatile work and gives a characteristic example of the hybrid genre most corresponding to the idiosyncrasy of Latin American cultural thinking. Deciphering th...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | deu |
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Russian Academy of Sciences, A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature
2018-06-01
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| Series: | Литература двух Америк |
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| Online Access: | http://litda.ru/images/2018-4/LDA-2018-4_114-147_Gladoshchuk.pdf |
| _version_ | 1828138610656804864 |
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| author | Anastasia V. Gladoshchuk |
| author_facet | Anastasia V. Gladoshchuk |
| author_sort | Anastasia V. Gladoshchuk |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The paper is devoted to The Labyrinth of Solitude (1950, 1959) – the most famous Octavio Paz’s essay, which occupies a central place in his versatile work and gives a characteristic example of the hybrid genre most corresponding to the idiosyncrasy of Latin American cultural thinking. Deciphering the turning-points of Mexican history, facts of culture and literature, idioms and codes of behaviour, and revealing archetypal structures of the Mexican cultural imaginary, Paz seeks to abolish certain national myths, but, despite his own intention, gives them a new life: the literary quality of the text he created favours a crystallization of the second order myths, like the figures of macho and Malinche, the images of the Conquest and the Mexican Revolution, and, finally, the labyrinth of solitude itself. The paper traces the genesis of the essay, as well as its conceptual and textual origins, interprets the symbolism of the title, and points out the French influence: the essay was written in the summer 1949 in Paris, where the poet was living and working in 1945–1951. The paper is followed by the translation of the second chapter “Mexican masks” that can be regarded as a matrix of the whole essay: there Paz introduces the key concept of the Form and a correlated image of the mask that help him to catch a rhythm of Mexican history, culture and psychology – duality, dialectics of the authentic and the artificial, the concealed and the exposed, the veiled and the revealed, of the solitude and the communion. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T18:38:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5a5babd11d7845ecb20aa385ece3a5d2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2541-7894 2542-243X |
| language | deu |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T18:38:30Z |
| publishDate | 2018-06-01 |
| publisher | Russian Academy of Sciences, A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Литература двух Америк |
| spelling | doaj.art-5a5babd11d7845ecb20aa385ece3a5d22022-12-22T04:09:04ZdeuRussian Academy of Sciences, A.M. Gorky Institute of World LiteratureЛитература двух Америк2541-78942542-243X2018-06-01411414710.22455/2541-7894-2018-4-114-147“Mexican Masks”: An Introduction to Octavio Paz’s “The Labyrinth of Solitude”Anastasia V. Gladoshchuk0Lomonosov Moscow State UniversityThe paper is devoted to The Labyrinth of Solitude (1950, 1959) – the most famous Octavio Paz’s essay, which occupies a central place in his versatile work and gives a characteristic example of the hybrid genre most corresponding to the idiosyncrasy of Latin American cultural thinking. Deciphering the turning-points of Mexican history, facts of culture and literature, idioms and codes of behaviour, and revealing archetypal structures of the Mexican cultural imaginary, Paz seeks to abolish certain national myths, but, despite his own intention, gives them a new life: the literary quality of the text he created favours a crystallization of the second order myths, like the figures of macho and Malinche, the images of the Conquest and the Mexican Revolution, and, finally, the labyrinth of solitude itself. The paper traces the genesis of the essay, as well as its conceptual and textual origins, interprets the symbolism of the title, and points out the French influence: the essay was written in the summer 1949 in Paris, where the poet was living and working in 1945–1951. The paper is followed by the translation of the second chapter “Mexican masks” that can be regarded as a matrix of the whole essay: there Paz introduces the key concept of the Form and a correlated image of the mask that help him to catch a rhythm of Mexican history, culture and psychology – duality, dialectics of the authentic and the artificial, the concealed and the exposed, the veiled and the revealed, of the solitude and the communion.http://litda.ru/images/2018-4/LDA-2018-4_114-147_Gladoshchuk.pdfoctavio pazthe labyrinth of solitudeessayphilosophy of mexican identityauthenticitymasklabyrinthdialectics of solitude and communion |
| spellingShingle | Anastasia V. Gladoshchuk “Mexican Masks”: An Introduction to Octavio Paz’s “The Labyrinth of Solitude” Литература двух Америк octavio paz the labyrinth of solitude essay philosophy of mexican identity authenticity mask labyrinth dialectics of solitude and communion |
| title | “Mexican Masks”: An Introduction to Octavio Paz’s “The Labyrinth of Solitude” |
| title_full | “Mexican Masks”: An Introduction to Octavio Paz’s “The Labyrinth of Solitude” |
| title_fullStr | “Mexican Masks”: An Introduction to Octavio Paz’s “The Labyrinth of Solitude” |
| title_full_unstemmed | “Mexican Masks”: An Introduction to Octavio Paz’s “The Labyrinth of Solitude” |
| title_short | “Mexican Masks”: An Introduction to Octavio Paz’s “The Labyrinth of Solitude” |
| title_sort | mexican masks an introduction to octavio paz s the labyrinth of solitude |
| topic | octavio paz the labyrinth of solitude essay philosophy of mexican identity authenticity mask labyrinth dialectics of solitude and communion |
| url | http://litda.ru/images/2018-4/LDA-2018-4_114-147_Gladoshchuk.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT anastasiavgladoshchuk mexicanmasksanintroductiontooctaviopazsthelabyrinthofsolitude |