Pastoralism, Parricide, and the PRI: nostalgia and self-awareness in Yáñez's Al filo del agua

• Autores: John Ochoa
• Localización: Hispanic review, ISSN-e 1553-0639, Vol. 81, Nº 3, 2013, págs. 309-330
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Parricide is deeply intertwined with the notion of Revolution: the parricide at the central point of Agustín Yáñez's Al filo del agua (1947) is thematically linked to killing the father in the political sense. In this article I relate the process of the son rising to challenge the father to the overthrow of the antiguo régimen, especially in their aftermath; the outcome of both types of parricide can lead to self-awareness, especially after [End Page 309] revolution has become "institutionalized" (as in the PRI, or Partido Revolucionario Institucional). To build my argument, I offer an excursion through the literary-historical genre of pastoral nostalgia, which informs this novel, as well as a parallel to Dostoevski's "Parable of the Grand Inquisitor" from Brothers Karamazov. I conclude that this post-traumatic introspection often leads to the classic philosophical problem of Free Will�or the lack thereof.