La imagen del agua en Pedro Páramo, de Juan Rulfo, “Chac Mool”, de Carlos Fuentes y Duerme, de Carmen Boullosa: la corporeidad de una identidad líquida

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the “metaphorization” of the image of water as a possible cultural Mexican identity. To this end, I use the characteristic elements of the metaphor and the expositions of several experts in the postmodern and postcolonial theories. Throughout this analysis I verify that, in literature, it is possible to find diverse points of view that complement and complete the official History. Mexican literary works, such as Pedro Páramo, Juan Rulfo's novel, "Chac Mool", a short story written by Carlos Fuentes, and Duerme, a novel by Carmen Boullosa, present different visions of the Mexican world as alternatives to the loss of an official inclusive History. In their works, one discovers how the Mexican identity connects with the native roots of the Aztec or Mayan, narrowly joined by the liquid element of water, to represent the complete and essential identity of the Mexican people. The selected works demonstrate how the natives define their existence through the distinguishing characteristics of the resource of water. This can be interpreted as a metaphor of the being, in the essence of the Indian presented in the works that also describe how a modern identity unlike the native one was constructed since it was built on the foundation of the natural sacred elements for the indigenous cultures.