El viaje de los cantores como la dramatización de “La dialéctica de la soledad”

Abstract

This article argues that Hugo Salcedo’s play El viaje de los cantores is in part a dramatization of Octavio Paz’s renowned essay “La dialéctica de la soledad.” Salcedo takes Paz’s concept of solitude as every man’s condition and focuses on the particular situation of Mexicans who attempt to cross the US border daily. Salcedo uses the mythical, circular structure to depict the men leaving their hometowns in search of a better life and invariably returning to their place of origin. But unlike Paz, the playwright examines the homosocial character of the individual and illustrates the situation of the women left behind. Mediated by Greek mythology and Náhuatl philosophy, the play presents a society in transition whose center has shifted. (MV, Article in Spanish)