Hybridity as a key element in the process of identity construction in Rudolfo Anaysa's 'Bless Me, Ultima' - Analysis of the main character Antonio Márez

Studienarbeit aus dem Jahr 2015 im Fachbereich Literaturwissenschaft - Allgemeines, Note: 1,3, Universität Osnabrück (Anglistik/Amerikanistik), Veranstaltung: Magical Realist Border Fiction, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: The main focus of this term paper are the different steps and binary forces Antonio goes through and has to face in order to finally being able to constitute his transcultural identity. Furthermore, the paper should highlight the necessity of difference and a 'double vision' which make the constitution of a new identity possible. Therefore my thesis is: Hybridity as a key element in Rudolfo Anaysa's 'Bless Me,Ultima' in the process of identity construction, exemplified in the main character Antonio Márez. The term paper starts with the magical realist elements and features of the Bildungsroman present in 'Bless Me, Ultima', which are part of the novel's formal hybridity which is discussed in the subsequent paragraph, apart from the content-related hybridity. Afterwards, I will focus on Antonio's search for identity throughout the novel with its different steps, from alienation at the beginning, his loss of innocence in the middle up to his final understanding and therefore the last step of his move from childhood to adolescence. Apart from the novel 'Bless Me, Ultima' itself, the central literature I will work with is Angelika Köhler's essay The New World Man: Magical Realism in Rudolfo Anaya's 'Bless Me, Ultima' and Juan Bruce-Novoa's 'Learning to Read' (and/in) Rudolfo Anaya's 'Bless Me, Ultima' . 'She took my hand, and the silent, magic powers she possessed made beauty from the raw, sun-baked llano, the green river valley, and the blue bowl which was the white sun's home.' It is this opening paragraph in 'Bless Me, Ultima' which introduces the reader directly to Antonio's state of alienation at the beginning of the novel since these natural surroundings represent separated entities for him. And this is exactly what he is struggling with through the entire novel: There are several dichotomies in his life that seem irreconcilable to Antonio, especially the oppositional traditions of his parental lines, the Lunas and the Márez, and closely related to that the religious question he struggles with. When Ultima comes to live with his family, Antonio starts his journey towards self-discovery, going through different steps until he can finally complete his rites of passage and esteem his hybrid mestizo identity.