Facing Old Age and Searching for Regeneration in a Dying American WestGregory Martin’s Mountain City

  1. David Río 1
  1. 1 Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea
    info

    Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea

    Lejona, España

    ROR https://ror.org/000xsnr85

Revista:
Atlantis: Revista de la Asociación Española de Estudios Anglo-Norteamericanos

ISSN: 0210-6124

Año de publicación: 2016

Volumen: 38

Número: 1

Páginas: 149-164

Tipo: Artículo

DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openAcceso abierto editor

Otras publicaciones en: Atlantis: Revista de la Asociación Española de Estudios Anglo-Norteamericanos

Resumen

La literatura contemporánea del Oeste norteamericano progresivamente se ha ido alejando de la tradicional asociación entre el Oeste y la juventud en el imaginario clásico de este territorio, mostrando un Oeste en proceso de envejecimiento, gris y a menudo enfermo, tal y como puede verse en diversas obras de Cormac MCarthy, Marilynne Robinson, Wallace Stegner o Ken Haruf, por citar sólo a algunos autores. Este punto de vista desempeña un papel fundamental en la obra de Gregory Martin, Mountain City (2000), un brillante relato acerca de un pueblo minero de Nevada condenado a extinguirse, con su población cada vez más envejecida. El presente artículo analiza la interacción entre el ansia vital de sus habitantes y su progresivo envejecimiento. A menudo se trata de un proceso dialógico con múltiples solapamientos en cuya representación Martin cuestiona la mitología del Oeste centrada en el tropo de la juventud y deconstruye imágenes negativas sobre la vejez y la enfermedad. Martin ofrece una visión realista de un modo de vida tradicional del Oeste en proceso de desaparición. Sin embargo, su visión pesimista sobre el viejo Oeste y sus promesas rotas coexiste en Mountain City con la aceptación de la pervivencia del arquetípico rol del Oeste como fuente de regeneración, tal y como queda de manifiesto a través del poder de esta comunidad en declive para poner fin al desarraigo del narrador y proporcionarle un sentimiento de afinidad con un lugar y una identidad cultural

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Fuente de los datos: Dialnet