Dante and Marechal: Literature as a mirror of the self and its reality

Abstract

Literature has the ability to function as a reflection of the self and its reality. The objective of this paper is to illuminate this capacity through a parallel reading of the Divine Comedy of the florentine poet and the Adán Buenosayres of the argentine writer Leopoldo Marechal. The reason for choosing these works is the ease with which they give an account of the life and spirit of their writers. By analyzing Virgil's original journey on the one hand and Marechal's reinterpretation of it in the descent to Cacodelphia on the other, we will be able to discover both Dante and Marechal spiritual quest, their vision of the human intellect and their current concern for their country. Through these similarities we will give a renewed look at the capabilities of literature and at the same time we will allow ourselves to deepen into the effects that the florentine poet had on universal literature.