Palinuro sobre una mesa de disección (el cuerpo y sus representaciones)

Abstract

In this work we realize a study upon some of the symbolic representations of the human body in the novel Palinuro de Mexico, by Fernando del Paso. We are interested in showing in detail certain baroque and surrealist procedures which allow Del Paso to treat the human body as a metaphorical entity which is incessantly open, reticulated, and scrutinized. This fact creates a series of very complex tensions between the living body, with its context of vitality, and the body transformed into cadaver, associated with the eschatological world in perpetual decomposition. In order to achieve the construction of this stylistic and conceptual edifice, Del Paso realizes numerous, pointed procedures of micro observation and dissection. Taking a cue from medical science, the human body is seen as a neurological point where perspectives of history, religion, art and philosophy all converge.