The Labyrinth of Images in “Viva mi fama”, by Carlos Fuentes

Abstract

This article deals with the textual representations of images in the novel “Viva mi fama”, by the Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes, based on the concept of ekphrasis. By analyzing excerpts of the literary work, it is demonstrated that the description of works of art – both real and fictional – by the Spanish painter Francisco de Goya are used as symbolic elements and for narrative construction, according to the parameters of ekphrasis proposed by Tamar Yacobi (1995). The inclusion of the photographic image in Goya´s historical time in the fictional narrative is analyzed using the theory by Vilém Flusser (2009), which associates photography with magical thought, and related with the symbolic universe of the Spanish tradition of the bullfights, employing aspects from the research by Mariate Cobaleda (2013).