Ana Maria Matute Research Papers (original) (raw)

Tragic features have traditionally been exported from tragedy to the novel. One of these is tragic fate, which explores the limitations of human agency by mightier forces. The nature of this fate has varied throughout tragic tradition, generally moving from metaphysical or theological to historical or contingent stances. This shows that the tragic adapts to reflect the peculiarities of the times; therefore, not only is the tragic still operative nowadays, but it conveys views intrinsically grounded on the context of the authors, serving both as a depiction and reaction for modern issues.
Modern representations of tragic fate present some recurrent features. The dichotomy between human agency and fatalistic forces is blurred, triggering tensions that make heroes reconsider the roles they play in their lives. Fulfilled or frustrated anagnorises may then take place. This conflict also implies a reconsideration of perspectives: humanity gets overridden by social or cosmic forces that are beyond characters’ understanding. Nevertheless, they usually are well aware of destiny’s presence and they rationalize it by using ancient narratives. The tragic tone comes from the tension between the expectations created by these narratives, proven either false or unable to explain the whole picture. In this sense, modern tragic looks back at previous conceptualizations of fate: rather than deny destiny, it actualizes it and emphasizes its tragic dimension. In parallel, the texts deploy this fate by means of formal devices. I propose that authors emphasize internal coherence to evoke in the reader the feeling that all events are inevitably connected. As formal integrity is not necessarily connected with tragedy, it can help to express fate in the novel. Nevertheless, the expectations that it creates can be misleading, either by not being fulfilled or by being fulfilled in devious ways.
The corpus to which I apply these ideas is composed of three novels: Zola’s La Curée, which serves to introduce the dynamics that will be found later, and two contemporary works from the 1990s, Murakami’s The Wind-up Bird Chronicle and Matute’s Olvidado Rey Gudú. This implies dealing with three apparently unconnected texts: the fact that the same pattern emerges in such different contexts to express tragic fate suggests that the phenomenon with which I am dealing may be more spread than expected and keep a close relation with the grounds of modernity, as it appears dissociated from specific traditions and restricted backgrounds.
The pattern to which I am referring consists in confrontations between different conceptualizations of destiny: a first one is detected by the characters and creates in them expectations that are betrayed by the emergence of the second one, which appears as more ominous and threatening. The tension thus created constitutes the tragic tone of the novels. La Curée recreates the Greek myth of Phaedra, which serves to evoke a classical version of fate, linked with the goddess Venus and the passions she arouses; the appearance of such forces in a naturalist environment, which is driven by determinism, provokes the tragic conflict. In The Wind-up Bird Chronicle the hero conceptualizes the forces that act beyond his control as the destiny that helps the romance knight to fulfill his quest; however, the outcome of his adventure does not live up to his expectations, suggesting the presence of a more sinister, unknown fate which works at a cosmic instead of a human level. Finally, in Olvidado Rey Gudú characters conceive destiny as a performative act to justify their actions before others and construct for themselves a prospect of glory; this projects are nonetheless derailed by cosmic forces that impose oblivion over humankind.
As a conclusion, I propose that this re-conceptualization of fate may serve as a response to the discourse on unrestricted freedom evoked by sentimental humanism and a certain brand of liberalism. As means of closure, I consider how tragic fate raises the questions of guilt and accountability.