The Moon as the Patroness of Doubles and Magic. Miguel Ángel Asturias and His Guatemala Dream

Abstract

The subject of this paper is the image of the Moon in the works of the Guatemalan indigenist writer Miguel Ángel Asturias. His artistic reality can undoubtedly be called magical. Nobel laureate, he let the voice and spirit of Guatemala into his works, revived the mythological and legendary past of his country. Here Maya myths, witchcraft and dreams are closely intertwined with reality. In Asturias’ Guatemala universe the Moon rules the over mythological space and time, carries the heroes into the world of dreams, rituals, magic and shapeshifting. The image of the Moon is the key to understanding Latin American literature, and within the artistic image of Latin American night helps a person to perceive himself and the true essence of being. The Moon is Asturias’ works possesses the property of mirror and dublicates reality, creates the doubles and is the one itself. In this paper we consider the influence of the moonlight on the landscape and the metamorphoses it initiates in the Asturias’s characters. The Moon becomes the conductor of the mystic gift to change the world by words in “Legend of the Singing Tablets”, helps the “Men of Maize” characters to unite with their naguals, reveals the image of love in the play “Kukulkan” and tunes the ritual time in all the works named.