Violence and the Sacred”
Sacrifice, scapegoating and social conflict in Alfonso Reyes’ Ifigenia cruel
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12936563 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Lorna Shaughnessy (0000-0002-1147-2690, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2016 |
| Pages | clw022-clw022 |
| Publication date | 2016-10-24 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Classical Receptions Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1759-5134 • E-ISSN: 1759-5142 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1093/crj/clw022 |
| OpenAlex | W2537600095 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 9 |
This article presents a reading of Alfonso Reyes Ifigenia cruel informed by René Girard s theories of mimetic violence and the scapegoating effect . It seeks to foster interest in the complex relationship between the play and the Mexican political context at the time of its composition, by examining both in the light of Girard s understanding of social conflict and sacrifice. It identifies Reyes use of sacrificial metaphor as part of a complex continuum that includes Euripides Iphigenia in Aulis and Iphigenia in Tauris. Where older versions of the myth end with deliverance for the heroine, however, Reyes text ends on a darker note. It is argued that Ifigenia cruel should not be read as a text that promotes the triumph of peace through the heroine s rejection of her past, but rather as one where self-sacrifice and the shadow of scapegoating, as understood by Girard, reflect a Mexico racked by continuing violence
Archaeology · Art · Context (archaeology · Humanities · Literature · Mythology · Political science · Politics · Psychoanalysis · Sacrifice · Scapegoat · Scapegoating · Shadow (psychology · Social conflict · Theology · Latin American Literature Studies · Literature, Magical Realism, García Márquez · Psychology · Violence, Religion, and Philosophy · History · Law · Philosophy
| Highly cited | No |
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