La novela histórica en clave etnográfica: lectura del mestizaje en Río de las congojas, de Libertad Demitrópulos (1981)

Abstract

The goal of this article is to study some subaltern representations of colonial characters in the genre of the historical novel. I particularly analyze the way in which certain ideas regarding miscegenation in the early colony are transmitted in Rio de las congojas [River if Sorrows]. Thus, I selected a case study strategy based on the analysis of miscegenation as a social, cultural and biological phenomenon, as well as individual trajectories of the characters in the novel. The analysis al­lowed me to conclude that there is an ethnographic and historically guided re­presentation of miscegenated identities, and at the same time to point out some aspects of this type of source in ethno-historical investigation.