En el artículo proponemos que la novela Mezquina memoria del escritor Antonio Gil actualiza la compleja relación entre poesía e historia que instituye a La Araucana de Alonso de Ercilla como canto épico fundacional. Según esta propuesta de lectura, Mezquina memoria se configura a partir de una hipótesis que constantemente se frustra y que dice relación con la imposibilidad de construir un relato --unitario, un “gran relato”-- sobre la escritura de Ercilla como acto poético creador. De esta manera, la dimensión (...) mitohistórica de la novela da lugar a una lectura crítica de Chile como territorio simbólico. In this text we propose that the novel Mezquina memoria, of the writer Antonio Gil, updates the complex relationship between poetry and history that establishes the La Araucana, of Alonso de Ercilla, as a foundational epic. In our proposal for reading, Mezquina memoria is configured from a hypothesis that constantly frustrates and that said relationship with the impossibility of constructing a story --unitary, a “meta recit”-- about the writing of Ercilla as an act of poetic creation. In this way, the mythistorical dimension of the novel, gives rise to a critical reading of Chile as a symbolic territory. (shrink)

Travel writing is characterized by a narrative discourse that describes landscapes, transforms adventure into a mythical journey and reveals the fears of humankind. The sea gathers momentum when the protagonists overcome the fear of death. However, the significance of the tune of sea songs has not been adequately highlighted, being relegated as side special effects that embellish the narration. The aim of this paper is to analyze the symbolical element of the songs to foreground its function in sea travel writing (...) in the English and American fiction from the 18th to the 21st century accounts, and their symbolic implication. (shrink)