Myth and Subversion in the Contemporary Novel

This bilingual work aims to identify and explain the subversive rewriting of ancient, medieval and modern myths in contemporary novels.The book opens with two theoretical essays on the subject of subversive tendencies and myth reinvention in the contemporary novel. From there, it moves on to the analysis of essential texts. Firstly, classical myths in works by authors such as Andre Gide, Thomas Pynchon, Julio Cortazar, Italo Calvino or Christa Wolf (for instance, Theseus, Oedipus or Medea) are discussed. Then, myths of biblical origin - such as the Flood or the Golem - are revisited in the work of Giorgio Bassani, Julian Barnes and Cynthia Ozick. A further section is concerned with the place of modern myths (Faust, the ghost, Ophelia...) in the fiction of Guenter Grass, Paul Auster, or Clara Janes. The contributors have also delved into the relationship between myth and art - especially in the discourse of contemporary advertising, painting and cinema - and myth's intercultural dimensions: hybridity in the Latin American novels of Augusto Roa Bastos and Carlos Fuentes, and in the Hindu-themed novels of Bharati Mukherjee.This volume emerges from the careful selection of 37 essays out of over 200 which were put forward by outstanding scholars from 25 different countries for the Madrid International Conference on Myth and Subversion (March 2011).Este volumen bilinguee identifica y explica la practica subversiva aplicada a los mitos antiguos, medievales y modernos en la novela contemporanea.Abren el libro dos estudios teoricos sobre la tendencia subversiva y la reinvencion de mitos en la actualidad. Prosigue el analisis de diversos textos de primera importancia. En primer lugar se revisan los mitos clasicos en autores como Andre Gide, Thomas Pynchon, Julio Cortazar, Italo Calvino o Christa Wolf (p. ej., Teseo, Edipo, Medea). En segundo lugar, la reescritura de los mitos biblicos segun Giorgio Bassani, Julian Barnes o Cynthia Ozick (p. ej., el diluvio o el Golem). En tercer lugar, mitos modernos en la ficcion de Guenter Grass, Paul Auster o Clara Janes (p. ej., Fausto, el fantasma, Ofelia). El volumen presta igualmente atencion a las relaciones entre mito y arte (su recurrencia en la publicidad, la pintura y el cine contemporaneos) y a la vertiente intercultural de los mitos: el mestizaje en la novela latinoamericana de Augusto Roa Bastos y Carlos Fuentes, o en la de tematica hindu de Bharati Mukherjee.La compilacion resulta de una exquisita seleccion de 37 textos entre los mas de 200 propuestos para el Congreso Internacional Mito y Subversion (Madrid, marzo de 2011) por investigadores de prestigio procedentes de 25 paises.