"Truth is Held in Disrepute": O. Henry and the Dismantling of Paradigms
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https://doi.org/10.26754/ojs_misc/mj.20089719Palabras clave:
O. Henry, Relato, Género narrativo, Parodia, Darwinismo social, PosmodernismoResumen
Dominado por la desestabilizacién de todos los principios y el cuestionamiento de las creencias mas sdlidas, el conflictivo panorama de la Era Progresista Americana se caracteriza por el declive de las tradiciones dominantes. En este contexto ideolégico la ficcién breve de O. Henry puede analizarse como un espacio discursivo donde se subvierten o interrogan las categorias darwinistas, el rol de la mujer o las reglas formales del género narrativo. Tomando como base la teoria de Boris M. Ejxenbaum (1927) de que el uso consciente que el escritor hace de la parodia tiene como función enfatizar el caracter artificioso de los elementos estructurales de sus relatos, mi objetivo es demostrar en ultima instancia que, detras del sinfin de férmulas literarias empleadas por el narrador, se esconde la ruptura deliberada de cualquier expectativa genérica que pudiera formarse el lector. Los dictados evolucionistas también son desautorizados, pues, lejos de apoyar ideas eugenésicas, los finales muestran una clara prevalencia de elementos disgenésicos en la sociedad americana. Por ultimo, la clasificaci6n sociolégica binaria (primitivos vs. barbaros) de Veblen (1899) tampoco es titil para predecir las respuestas de los personajes de O. Henry en la lucha por la supervivencia.
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Derechos de autor 2008 Mauricio D. Aguilera Linde
Esta obra está bajo una licencia internacional Creative Commons Atribución-NoComercial 4.0.
