Barbarie y despertar del héroe en la novela El sueño del celta de Mario Vargas Llosa

Abstract

In this paper, several aspects of the novel The Dream of Celt (2010) by Mario Vargas Llosa are interpreted, taking into consideration postcolonial theories and the attitudes of the Peruvian writer on different issues, expressed in his essays, interviews and articles. The starting point is Vargas Llosa’s idea about literature and history, the writer’s moral duty to history, along with the need to overcome conformism. Based on this, we question how the novel The Dream of the Celt initiates several questions about colonialism, the boundaries between barbarism and civilization, the awakening of heroes, the possibility of achieving freedom, etc. The article focuses on the complex colonial reality presented in the novel, deepening the questioning of responsibilities and victims of the great civilizing mission in Congo and Amazonia. The protagonist is interpreted in relation to the voyage, physical and symbolic, observing the changes produced in his personality by the interactions in the colonial environment. Reflections on the identity and behavior of the protagonist lead to conclusions about the conception of the hero in this novel, as well as to an understanding of the role that Vargas Llosa gives to fiction in relation to collective and personal freedom.