Abstract
Malcolm Lowry’s semi-autobiographical modernist novel, Under the Volcano (1947) journeys us back to the Day of the Dead in Cuernavaca in November 1938. How does this vibrant and colourful Mexican festival link an actual geographical place with the metaphysical, spiritual, and cosmic spaces of the mind? To what extent does this ‘landscape of memory’ illustrate a clash between ancient Aztec (and Mayan) civilizations and modern Latin American culture? What are the advantages and disadvantages of a psychoanalytic perception of psychogeographic impact? Do mankind’s supernatural and celestial roots lie in shamanism and cabbalistic astrology, or in the natural environment exemplified by Lowry’s Dollarton Eridanus in Canada?
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Faculty of Arts Research Festival |
| Subtitle of host publication | Provocations |
| Place of Publication | Brighton, UK |
| Pages | 0-0 |
| Number of pages | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2010 |
| Event | Faculty of Arts Research Festival: Provocations - University of Brighton Duration: 3 Jan 0001 → … |
Conference
| Conference | Faculty of Arts Research Festival: Provocations |
|---|---|
| Period | 3/01/01 → … |
Keywords
- Malcolm Lowry
- The Day of the Dead
- Aztec
- civilization
- Modernism
- Under the Volcano
- Cuernavaca
- Mexico
- festival
- folklore
- metaphysical
- spiritual
- cosmic
- landscape of memory
- psychogeography
- Maya
- Latin America
- psychoanalytic
- supernatural
- celestial
- shamanism
- shamanic
- Cabbala
- Kabbalah
- environment
- Dollarton
- Eridanus
- Canada
- British Columbia
- Nigel Foxcroft
- literature
- English literature
- twentieth-century English literature
- modern literature
- comparative literature
- ethnography
- anthropology
- historical.