The Uninterpretable in Moby-Dick (1851), by Herman Melville, and in Hijo de hombre (1960), by Augusto Roa Bastos

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1344/452f.2024.31.13

Keywords:

Herman Melvile, Moby-Dick, Augusto Roa Bastos, Hijo de hombre, The uninterpretable, Pluralist living

Abstract

The most renowned Paraguayan writer, Augusto Roa Bastos, agrees with the author of his favorite literary masterpiece—Moby-Dick—Herman Melville in pointing out that (over)exposure to the uninterpretable in nature results in the rejection of both one's own life and and of the excess of the self through the rejection of fatherhood. In both Moby-Dick and Hijo de hombre, the male characters, alienated by their exposure to the indifference of an uninterpretable nature, materialize their alienation in the exercise of canceling their father-son relationship. In both works, hope lies in turning our gaze away from a nature indifferent to human suffering, and pouring it instead over a legible human being who does offer interpretive keys open to a pluralistic existence.

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Published

2024-07-30

How to Cite

Andrés, R. (2024). The Uninterpretable in Moby-Dick (1851), by Herman Melville, and in Hijo de hombre (1960), by Augusto Roa Bastos. 452ºF. Revista De Teoría De La Literatura Y Literatura Comparada, (31), 221–238. https://doi.org/10.1344/452f.2024.31.13

Issue

No. 31 (2024): New Realisms in Spanish Literature and Cinema since 2008

Section

Miscellaneous

License

Copyright (c) 2024 Rodrigo Andrés

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