Arquetipos clásicos en la obra de Gabriel García Márquez

  1. Valera Sánchez, Rocío
Supervised by:
  1. Mariano Valverde Sánchez Director
  2. Vicente Cervera Salinas Director

Defence university: Universidad de Murcia

Fecha de defensa: 02 December 2024

Committee:
  1. José Manuel Camacho Delgado Chair
  2. Pedro Redondo Reyes Secretary
  3. Lucía Romero Mariscal Committee member

Type: Thesis

Abstract

The aim of this Doctoral Thesis is to systematically study the influence and presence of classical tradition in the works of Gabriel García Márquez. An understanding of classical literature and its mythological components is essential for grasping the Colombian author's work and his cultural identity. Therefore, the aim of this research is to analyze the variations experienced by classical archetypes present in García Márquez's works, and how he reformulates and adapts them with new meaning and functionality, taking into account the historical, literary, and cultural context in which they are developed. From a methodological standpoint, this study must be approached from two perspectives: firstly, through a philological analysis of the texts, and secondly, by employing the methods of comparative literature. In this way, we will primarily reference classical authors from antiquity, while also acknowledging modern authors through whom García Márquez was exposed to Greco-Latin literature. The study conducts an analysis of García Márquez’s works, focusing on character development, structural elements, and recurring themes and motifs. This research seeks to explore the most significant literary works of García Márquez that reveal a clear relationship with classical antiquity, both in terms of literature and mythology. His first novel, Leaf Storm, already shows this influence through its connection to Sophocles' Antigone. The Colombian author draws upon the myth, reworking and adapting it to a novel written within a different cultural and historical context, akin to a Greek tragedy. García Márquez's interest in Sophocles' work later led him to write the script for the film Edipo alcalde, directed by Jorge Alí Triana. This was the fourth film adaptation of the Greek tragedy and the first Hispanic-American adaptation, particularly significant as Sophocles' work is transposed into a Colombian setting marked by violence and war. In Chronicle of a Death Foretold, García Márquez draws from a real-life event to create a novelized tragedy that bears numerous structural and thematic similarities to Sophocles' Oedipus Rex. Both Oedipus and Santiago Nasar share certain characteristics that position the latter as a tragic figure as well. García Márquez's reading of The Odyssey also plays an important role in his literary development, leaving traces in The Incredible and Sad Tale of Innocent Eréndira and Her Heartless Grandmother and The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World. The character of Odysseus as a hero, along with the motif of travel and various adventures, is adapted to the Caribbean setting of his time, while blending elements of popular folklore and epic tradition. Finally, One Hundred Years of Solitude reflects numerous themes and myths from classical literature. We find the descent into the underworld from The Odyssey, reimagined in the novel’s first part through José Arcadio Buendía's expedition beyond Macondo. The character of Amaranta embodies traits of Homeric Penelope, weaving and unweaving her own shroud. The episode of the insomnia plague, as well as the figures of José Arcadio Buendía and the gypsy Melquíades, echo the myths of Prometheus and of Theuth and Thamus.