Resumen

MAIZ, Claudio. Historia y mito en el mundo de la Conquista: Maladrón como novela precursora. Atenea (Concepc.) [online]. 2007, n.495, pp. 127-156. ISSN 0718-0462.  http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0718-04622007000100008.

In the present work we attempt to relate Maladrón, the novel by Miguel Angel Asturias, to the Latin American literary context, by virtue of which it has not yet been properly studied. Strictly speaking, none of the characteristics that Seymour Menton attributes to the Nueva Novela Histórica (NNH) is present in this novel, so from his point of view, it would not belong to this literary phenomenon, but on the other hand, it cannot be said that it is a traditional historical novel. This text can be considered without a doubt as a precursor of the literary phenomenon of the NNH. In agreement with the historical conception of the Guatemalan writer, the novel takes from distant events a substance that could be denominated "perpetual values" that are inlaid in those events. Its interest is not archaeological nor does it attempt to reinterpret in a slanted manner an episode of American history, such as the Spanish Conquest. It seeks to penetrate the facts in order to discover what they contain of immemorial, perennial, and what still remains active in the present. Such a contribution in itself situates this novel among the best of the historical narrative previous to the appearance of novels of doubtless quality, such as those of Carpentier, Vargas Llosa, García Márquez, etc. According to our analysis, the perpetual values of permanent incidence revolve around geographic myth and eschatological utopia

Palabras llave : Myth; historical novel; Spanish Conquest.