ПРОПАСТ РЕВОЛУЦИОНАРНИХ ИДЕАЛА У РОМАНУ СМРТ АРТЕМИЈА КРУЗА КАРЛОСА ФУЕНТЕСА
THE FAILURE OF THE REVOLUTIONARY IDEALS IN THE DEATH OF ARTEMIO CRUZ BY CARLOS FUENTES

Summary/Abstract: This paper analyses Carlos Fuentes social engagement in The Death ofArtemio Cruz, which focuses on the birth, the development path and the death ofthe Mexican Revolution. The paper relies on the same attitudes towards the socialengagement and responsibility of the prose writer held by Jean-Paul Sartre, MichelFoucault, and postmodern theorists, since The Death of Artemio Cruz is consideredto be one of the first manifestations of budding postmodernism in Latin America.We also refer to the theoretical considerations that Fuentes expresses in his proseworks and essays. We point out that Carlos Fuentes uses the body and the actions(bribery, speculation, oppression of the Indian people) of the former revolutionary,Artemio Cruz, to bring to light the recurring political patterns of behavior, and toprove that, in accordance with Foucault s conception, the body is the mirror of thestate. Through the aforementioned elements we also analyse the manifestations of thefailure of revolutionary ideals, striving to shed light on the appeal that Fuentes makesto his readers in order to point out the necessity of (political) engagement, which isa prerequisite for the survival of the revolution itself. Therefore, it is important tohighlight that the death of Artemio Cruz does not necessarily mean the death of therevolution or the state, but the possibility of its regeneration, which can be achievedthrough the engagement of each individual.

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