The American man in zama, by Antonio Di Benedetto: a reading from the philosophy of Arturo Roig

Abstract

This paper proposes a reading of Antonio Di Benedetto’s novel Zama (1956), as from certain notions which the philosopher Arturo Roig labours on his thoughts around Latin American philosophy, fundamentally on his work Teoría y crítica del pensamiento latinoamericano (1981). Roig’s concept a priori antropológico, understood as self-recognition of his own value which the subjet does, is especially useful to interpret Diego de Zama –the protagonist of the novel– on his vital swings and on the failure of his persistent attempt to be recognized by the Spanish Crown. Although it is necessary to considerate Zama as a representative universal man, the reading from Roig philosophy enriches this perspective because it allows placing the character on a time and a space that singularize him.  Thereby, Zama represents colonial Latin American man split between European and originative culture, which is still unable to achieve self-recognition as a valuable subject. The novel, whose story is placed nearby independences times (1790-1799), put  the reader facing the man that feels exiled  and, on the same time, tied to the continent where he has born and, with the pessimist tone which Di Benedetto uses to put into his texts, fails because he doesn’t consummate liberating act of self-recognition and self- affirmation. Thus, the interdisciplinary crossing of this work helps to a better understanding about what Zama can say us about American man, without taking off the universality of every great novel.