Viaje físico y viaje espiritual en la novela Río de sombras (2003), de Jorge Velasco Mackenzie

Abstract

This thesis aims to analyze, through hermeneutics, the emblematic novel Río de sombras (2003) by the Ecuadorian author Jorge Velasco Mackenzie, who unexpectedly passed away on September 24, 2021, in the city of Guayaquil, leaving an enormous legacy to Ecuadorian and Latin American literature. To begin this work, the hypothesis has been proposed that in this narrative, both a physical journey and a spiritual journey occur, through which the cartography of Guayaquil, the physiology of its inhabitants, and the unconscious of the city are revealed. Thus, through the use of the following bibliography specialized in the theme of aesthetic walking: Walking (1817) by Henry David Thoreau, The Walk (1917) by Robert Walser, The Practice of Everyday Life (1990) by Michel de Certeau, Walkscapes: Walking as an Aesthetic Practice (2002) by Francesco Careri, The Arcades Project (2012) by Walter Benjamin, Walkers (2019) by Edgardo Scott; it has been proven that these journeys indeed materialize through the traverses in the public and natural spaces of the city made by two types of walkers: the "pievagante" and the "imaginante". The hermeneutic analysis was carried out with the postulates of Time and Narrative I (1983) by Paul Ricoeur and his theory of triple mimesis. This research is expected to contribute to the critical studies of Ecuadorian literature.