Intertwining Codes of Characterization in "La vida inútil de Pito Pérez"

Abstract

Jos? Rub?n Romero's little masterpiece, La vida in?til de Pito P?rez, was published in 1938. In some ways it exemplifies characteristics which were prevalent in the world of art, and especially literary art, of the thirties in Mexico; in other ways, it departs dramatically from art of its time. The administration of L?zaro C?rdenas was especially conducive to artistic production in all media; mural painting constitutes perhaps the most dramatic manifestation of this production. Orozco, Siquieros, Rivera, and Rufino Tamayo returned to Mexico from abroad; their work blossomed as they were able to exercise full artistic freedom (Bradley Smith 286). These artists' preoccupation with the history of Mexico and their desire to identify lo mexicano is the visual equivalent of the predominant theme of Mexico's literature in the thirties. Criollismo, regionalism, lo mexicano, and social protest dominated literary art in Mexico of the thirties. As in the case of most of the muralistic production, the focus in individual works was not generally on single individuals but on society as a whole, often leading to seas of names and faces. Many works sought to look at the essence of being Mexican, resulting in excellent non-novelistic texts such as El perfil del hombre y la cultura en M?xico by Samuel Ramos and El Gesticulador by Rodolfo Usigli. Two of the predominant themes of the novel in the nineteen-thirties are indigenismo and the revolution, both of which have intimate ties to lo mexicano. Campamento, La