Análisis del discurso mítico de “La esfinge de oro” de Carlos Raúl Sepúlveda
Mehmet İlgürelEn este trabajo estudiamos el cuento, “La esfinge de oro” (1988) de Carlos Raúl Sepúlveda, una importante figura de la literatura fantástica y de ciencia ficción chilena. En primer lugar, realizamos un análisis de esta obra desde la perspectiva durandiana del imaginario a partir de los esquemas, los arquetipos y los símbolos que presenta el relato. En cuanto a la imaginación simbólica, el cuento está caracterizado por una polarización de imágenes que está reflejada de forma más clara e intensa en dos espacios decisivos para el protagonista, es decir, Ñuble, su patria chica y la capital chilena. La primera de estas dos corresponde a la isotopía de imágenes que Gilbert Durand denomina el Régimen Nocturno del imaginario. Y desde este punto de vista, las imágenes urbanas, entre otras, que se reflejan de forma negativa, se asocian al Régimen Diurno. En el estudio de imágenes y conceptos, también asumimos la perspectiva complementaria de otros autores como Mircea Eliade y Northrop Frye. Este estudio en general nos sirve como punto de partida para el análisis de las relaciones sincrónicas y diacrónicas del relato. A través de los mitemas redundantes determinados en el presente análisis, llegamos al mito heroico inherente a la obra, que queda de manifiesto a través del método de Lévi Strauss, tal y como se emplea en la mitocrítica durandiana.
Analysis of the Mythical Discourse of “La esfinge de oro” by Carlos Raúl Sepúlveda
Mehmet İlgürelIn this work we study “La esfinge de oro” (1988) by Carlos Raúl Sepúlveda, an important figure in Chilean fantastic and science fiction literature. Firstly, we carry out an analysis of the story from Gilbert Durand’s perspective of the imaginary based on the schemes, archetypes, and symbols that the story presents. In terms of symbolic imagination, the story is characterized by a polarization of images that is reflected more clearly and intensely in two crucial spaces for the protagonist, Ñuble: his hometown, and the Chilean capital. The first of these two coincides with the isotopy of images that the French thinker calls the Nocturnal Regime of the imaginary. And from this point of view, urban images, among others, that are reflected in a negative way, are associated with the Diurnal Regime. In the study of images and concepts, we also assume the complementary perspectives of other authors such as Mircea Eliade and Northrop Frye. This study in general provides the basis for the analysis of the synchronic and diachronic relationships of the story. Through the redundant mythemes determined in the present analysis, we arrive at the heroic myth inherent in the short story, which is revealed through Lévi Strauss’s method, as used in Durand’s myth criticism.
This work is an analysis of the short story “La esfinge de oro” (1988) by Carlos Raúl Sepúlveda, a prominent figure in Chilean fantastic and science fiction literature. In the first place, we carried out an analysis of the story from Gilbert Durand’s perspective of the imaginary based on the schemes, archetypes, and symbols that the story presents. From this point of view, we have determined that most of the spaces and objects that appear in the story take part in a polarization of images. The variety of symbols and archetypes related to the town that is surrounded by nature belong to the nocturnal regime and can be grouped into the categories of land and sea. In coherence with the polarity of the imaginary to which they belong, these images return the protagonist to his childhood and distance him from the burden caused by linear urban time. As central motifs, the well and the terracotta statue are also part of this isotopy of containing and protective images. The well can be considered as the image that most representatively reflects the return to the origin and the past. On the other hand, the descent of the protagonist into the well is characteristically related to mystical structures and depicts certain aspects of initiation. In many traditional and contemporary narratives, similar descents typically lead to self-fulfillment, development, regeneration, and are also linked to regression, from the perspective of Jung’s analytical psychology.
The set of images related to the hometown contrasts with those that represent Santiago and all the negative aspects that this city implies in the story. This group of images corresponds to the diurnal regime and is represented from the pejorative perspective of mystical structures. The opposition between Santiago and Ñuble is characterised by the following contrary characteristics: contemporary against primordial, urban against natural, ordinary against incredible, offensive against delightful, and unbearable against pleasant. These characteristics are reflected in the story with symbolic associations that are basically related to the anguish of human beings in the face of death.
In summary, we can affirm that the story presents numerous images that coincide with great accuracy with the symbols and archetypes categorized by the theory of the imaginary. Likewise, certain processes that play a fundamental role in the context of symbolic imagination stand out in the story, such as the ways in which time as destruction is processed by different polarities and structures of the imaginary. In this sense, reasons related to the return to the hometown, in terms of seeking refuge from the frustration caused by urban life, are related to euphemism. This concept refers, in very general terms, to the way in which mystical structures alleviate the negative effect that mortal time produces in the psyche. On the other hand, we have emphasized the significant phenomenon of the radical change of the predominant regime of the imaginary that occurs in the denouement. The self-understanding of the protagonist as a cosmic being invalidates the mystical structures, which have been active and decisive in the story up to this point and gives prominence to the diurnal polarity. Time continues to be a central theme and this supernatural final event leads to emergence of the diurnal images of confrontation with time.
The study that we have carried out in the article and was summarized here constitutes the basis of the analysis of the synchronic and diachronic relationships of the story. Through the redundant mythemes determined in the present analysis, we arrive at the heroic myth inherent in the short story, which is revealed through Lévi Strauss’s method, as used in Durand’s myth criticism. The peculiar aspects of the heroic myth in the story are the recovery of the hero of his true identity and the diurnal overcoming of his former self.
