NOVOHISPÁNSKE FORMY SYKRETIZMU AKO INTERPRETAČNÝ KĽÚČ K “MEXICKOSTI”

• Authors: Magda Kučerková

Title variants

EN

New-Hispanic forms of syncretism as an interpretation key to “Mexican identity”

• Languages of publication: SK

Abstracts

EN

The article describes two forms of cultural and religious syncretism and their artistic expression in the viceroyalty of New Spain, developed in the 17th century, where the Mexican national identity began to constitute itself. The first expression of syncretism under survey is the Marian cult of the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe, initiated in the 16th century with the painting Our Lady of Guadalupe, while its meaning is illuminated by the 16th century narrative Nican Mopohua, emerging form the Indian literary traditions. The study attempts to point out their connections on the level of both form and content, which inspire an interpretation of the cult from the point of view of syncretic transformations and particularly through the prism of its Mestizo essence. The second expression of syncretism is the work of the notable Baroque author Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, the Eucharist drama Divine Narcissus and its Prologue. The work presents an image of cultural and literary Mestizism in the wider historical context of the Creole society of New Spain, as reflected especially in the author´s thematization of America ś pre-Christian legacy and pagan mythology in conjunction with Christianity. In conclusion, the article opens space for thinking about what we call liberating spirituality, understood as the product of the co-existence of the European and indigenous American cultures. Its main idea is the liberation from neutrality and indifference and return to a focus on the oppressed and marginalized. These are the values that draw various groups to the cult of Our Lady of Guadalupe as well as the work of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz in the 20th century.

Keywords

EN

SYNCRETISM; MESTIZISM; MEXICAN IDENTITY; SOR JUANA INÉS DE LA CRUZ; NEW SPAIN

• Publisher: Institute of World Literature, Slovak Academy of Sciences
• Journal: World Literature Studies
• Year: 2012
• Volume: 4 (21)
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 53 – 66

Contributors

author

Magda Kučerková

• Ústav svetovej literatúry SAV, Konventná 13, 813 64 Bratislava, Slovak Republic