Foreign Languages & Literatures ETDs

Publication Date

7-15-1976

Abstract

Previous studies have taken Christianity for granted in this novel. To date, however, no inquiry has attempted to analyze its Christian elements. In this thesis, we are seeking to fill this lacuna.

First, we have noted that the Christian elements are presented in opposite pairs: body-soul, finite-infinite, etc. Next, we have brought out the relationship of these pairs to Christian tradition. This has made it possible to conclude that the source of such a polarity is to be found in the Creation. What in the Divine Mind was one became manifold. Hence, a tension arose between the manifold (that which had been created) and unity, as well as an approximation of the one and the many, in the course of revelation. Adin is a being under tension or destined to endless wandering, the subject of an obsession so compelling to return to unity that he is thereby forced to reject created beings, which are, however, links that are essential to his quest.

Metaphysical analogy is a direct consequence of the Creation and implies of itself an intermittent polarity between the prime analogate (God) and the secondary analogates (creatures). This is the reason for which the Christian concepts in the novel are necessarily dual and include an itinerary.

The contempt of Adan for the mundane shows, on his part, some measure of an angelic quality. The study of the dual Christian elements in the complete works of Marechal has made it clear that this angelic quality, as well as ~dan's own isolation in quest of it, is gradually overcome. El banquete de Severo Arcángelo and Megafón are quests by groups of people for salvation. In these works, the mundane is progressively re-evaluated and use is made of the means of salvation provided by institutionalized Christianity.

The analysis of the dramatic elements of Adan, as well as of several of Marechal’s plays, has made it possible to establish that the tension created by the polarized concepts requires a rigorous visualization, which is achieved through those dramatic elements. But the dramatic structure of this novel also aims at catharsis: i.e., to force us, by means of humorous ridicule, to accept that we are creatures and that God is the Creator. We can be taken lightly; God cannot. This is also achieved in the book of Cacodelphia, a concept which harmonizes witl1 the general plan of the novel and is not incongruous, as some critics insist. Adan, moreover, turns out to be the most ridiculous of the characters as a

result of his Satanic longing to be God.

The chief new findings of this study consist in the elucidation of the reasons for the mutual oppositions among the Christian elements, as Nell as of the travel-and theat­rical structuring of Adán Buenosayres.

Document Type

Dissertation

Language

Spanish

Degree Name

Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Department Name

Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures

First Committee Member (Chair)

Dinko Cvitanovic

Second Committee Member

Marshall Rutherford Nason

Third Committee Member

Jack Edward Tomlins

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