Date of Award
Spring 5-17-2015
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Major
LACS: Hispanic Studies
First Advisor
Rosario Hubert
Second Advisor
Anne Lambright
Abstract
The style of magical realism gives Boom generation authors of the 1950s and 60s—such as Alejo Carpentier, Gabriel García Márquez, and Julio Cortázar—the opportunity to explore what it would be like if the animal and human worlds combined. In their works, these authors portray animalism in the form of human-animal metamorphosis, hybridization, and the crossing-over of identity. Philosopher Gilles Deleuze calls this process of transformation becoming-animal and states that the becoming-animal challenges the traditional power structure of man's superiority over animals. Using the philosophies of animal turn, I examine each Latin American author's use of animals within El reino de este mundo (Carpentier, 1949), “Un señor muy viejo con unas alas enormes” (García Márquez, 1955), and “Axolotl” (Cortázar, 1956). Isolating instances where the human and animal worlds combine, I determine that the becoming-animal challenges the original structures of power in Latin America's history. Structures such as slavery, capitalism, and colonialism crumble beneath the idea that the oppressed are actually the ones in power and thus the animal triumphs over man.
Recommended Citation
Benjamin, Richelle, "El devenir-animal como crítica de la historia latinoamericana: Literatura desde la perspectiva del giro animal (How Becoming-Animal Critiques Latin American History: Literature from the Perspective of Animal Turn)". Senior Theses, Trinity College, Hartford, CT 2015.
Trinity College Digital Repository, https://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/theses/471
Comments
Senior Thesis completed at Trinity College for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Hispanic Studies.