The Crime of Emiliano Zapata: The Relationship Between Literature and History, and the Resurrection of the Myth in Pedro Ángel Palou's Novel

Abstract

This article addresses the novel Zapata, by Pedro Ángel Palou. Emphasis is placed on the crime of the protagonist, which elucidates the historical, mythological, and political elements around the Caudillo del Sur. Palou’s literary work makes it easier to delve into the context of the Mexican Revolution, but it also allows us to do so through a modern scope. In that sense, the concept of myth is quite relevant since it articulates the remote past, in contrast with the present, in a circular movement. Literary interpretation allows us to glimpse between lines of continuity and difference. This article shows the connections between history, literature, and mythology, while aiming for a deeper and more complex approach, which ranges from looking at narrative strategies and its correlation with historical events, from Emiliano Zapata’s time to the present. In this analysis, we can see the constant resignification of his role as a bandit, a hero, and a controversial figure in sexual diversity discourses. In order to analyse this process, the correlation between literature and history is essential; therefore, the interdisciplinary aspect of metahistory as an approach is the main tool from which this literary work is interpreted, which is, in turn, meaningful within the current movement of the historical novel.