“Reflections on the Origin: transculturation and tragedy in Pedro Páramo” by Patrick Dove

• “new novel” --> style allows for a Mexican and Latin American writers to move away from Euro. Tradition--> away from the universal structure, which silences the minority…
• What does it mean to be modern and Mexican? (Octavio Paz)

“The Mexican Exception and the “Other Campaign”” by Gareth Williams

• “ It is the story of a tragic abandonment of rural life to a sovereign power emboldened by its ongoing and incomplete conversion from the universal principles of Catholic feudalism to the secular principles of bourgeois accumulation and individualism in modern Mexico” (131).

1) If we are to view Pedro Páramo as a text exploring roles in a modern Mexican society, find three distinguishable roles of characters in this novel. Identify the character, explain their role and the political representation of that role, and then provide an appropriate quote from source that supports their political/social standing in the society.

2) How do we see Rulfo’s larger thematic statement by his “fracturing” the narrative? Find an example in which two separate sections back-to-back demonstrate a clear purpose, and explain that purpose!

3) What is the significance in having the characters be dead? What are some of your analytical reasons, and where in the text can we support these reasons?