LOS TRES ANTONIOS, EN EL SUEÑO DE LA HISTORIA, DE JORGE EDWARDS/THE THREE ANTONIOS, IN THE NOVEL EL SUEÑO DE LA HISTORIA, BY JORGE EDWARDS

Headnote

Resumen

El presente estudio sólo se centra en las figuras históricas de los tres Antonios, que aparecen como personajes en la novela El sueño de la historia (2000), de Jorge Edwards. Estos tres personajes, defensores de las ideas de la Ilustración, dos franceses y un chileno, operan en Chile durante la época de la colonia, a finales del siglo XVIII y comienzos del XIX. Estos años de luchas independentistas terminarán con la instauración de una república en la Capitanía de Chile.

El texto presenta un lenguaje paródico cuya función es invitar al lector a desconfiar del discurso oficial de la historiografía. El estudio parte con dos conceptos: el mito y la instauración del archivo. El texto de Edwards es una muestra de lo que actualmente se denomina como novela histórica contemporánea.

Palabras clave: Ilustración francesa, colonialismo español, lenguaje paródico, nación, clase, género, etnicidad, deslegitimar.

Abstract

This text focuses on three historical characters: "The three Antonios", with emphasis on the third character, who was born in Chile and whose name is José Antonio de Rojas. The three characters come from the novel The Dream of History (2000), by Jorge Edwards. Two of them were French and the third one was Chilean. The thing that they had in common was that they were influenced by the French Enlightenment. They lived in Chile during Spanish Colonialism at the end of the 18th century and at the beginning of the 19th century. This historical period was full of political, social and military conflicts, which led to the establishment of a Republic in Chile. However, this process of liberation was not unique for this country but took place in the whole American Continent.

The text is characterized by a very parodic language and this parody has a specific function, i.e., to highlight identity related factors such as nation, language, class, gender and ethnicity. This is achieved by questioning and making illegitimate (invalid) the current discourse of historiography.

Key Words: French Enlightenment, Spanish Colonialism, parodic language, nation, class, gender, ethnicity, illegitimate.

1. Introducción

En el presente estudio que hacemos de la novela El sueño de la historia (2000), de Jorge Edwards, sólo nos centramos en las figuras de los tres Antonios. Estos tres personajes históricos, imbuidos en las ideas...