There was a common joke that I used to hear frequently during my teenage years. It went like this: "Call someone from Mexico a Mexican and they will get angry and tell you they are not Mexican." I found it amusing at that time because it seemed to be true every time. However, in reality, those words must have hurt much deeper than I could have imagined. And after reading Octavio Paz's Labyrinth of Solitude, I have come to understand why.

Paz masterfully connects Mexico's history with the question of "What makes a Mexican a Mexican?" This theme permeates every chapter of this book. Instead of focusing mainly on a Marxist text or engaging in endless discussions about the Revolution, Paz delves deep into the Aztec mythos and the Cortesian aftermath of a colonized people lacking a true identity. It is a culture trapped between two worlds and incomprehensible to any other culture. Not only is this work historical, but it is also a brilliant exploration of the nature of Mexicans, with particular emphasis on some of Mexico's most prominent features: The pagan-Catholic cult of Death; the concept of the macho, or what is known as "the Chingada"; the role of women in Mexican society; the significance of the fiesta; and the idea of masks.

Although Paz doesn't cite as many sources as he perhaps should in some cases, his writing is of a poetic nature and does not convey anger. It is not a book with a specific agenda (in the strict sense), but rather an educational discussion on culture. Even though the original text was written 63 years ago, it still remains relevant today.

A major advantage of this book is the additional writings that accompany the original text. Paz continuously revisited his work decade after decade, and he had good reasons for doing so. Mexico witnessed a great deal of change in the 20 years following the writing of The Labyrinth of Solitude, notably the Mexican Olympics and the Tlatelolco massacre in 1968. Paz brings this up and even goes as far as to criticize his own previous work and Mexico itself.

Labyrinth of Solitude is one of the greatest non-fiction books ever written and can be read in various contexts. It is a precious gem that should be read by anyone interested in cultural analysis.

This is not a good book for readers unfamiliar with Mexican history.

First of all, Paz anticipates that his reader already has preconceived notions regarding Mesoamerican civilization, the colonial era, the Mexican War of Independence (1810 - 1821), the Constitution of 1857, the Mexican Revolution, and the regime of the Institutional Revolutionary Party.

Secondly, a fundamental knowledge of Mexican literature is presupposed. In my particular situation, I had heard of the political events but knew absolutely nothing about Mexican literature.

Paz seems to be of the belief that there exists a genuine Mexican national soul, composed of Spanish and Mesoamerican (also known as Indian) elements, which is unable to find itself within an infernal labyrinth.

In this convoluted reflection on the Mexican soul, Paz also made me consider that his countrymen endure the Canadian dilemma. That is to say, we Canadians transitioned from being a British colony to an American one without ever establishing our own national identity. Mexico's issue was that it freed itself from Spain only to discover itself under American domination. Paz's reflection consoled me in that it demonstrated that we Canadians are not alone in experiencing a profound identity crisis. It apparently also offered some solace to Mexicans, but I am at a loss to understand precisely how.

Octavio Paz is a renowned Mexican poet who won the Cervantes Prize in 1981 and the Nobel Prize in 1990. His work "El Laberinto de la Soledad / Postdata / Vuelta a El laberinto de la Soledad" (1950) offers an in-depth analysis of the Mexican people. In this book, Paz examines various aspects of Mexican culture, including language, rituals, and historical events. He explores the contradictions within the Mexican identity, such as the glorification of artificial festivals in a country where people work hard and earn little. The chapter "Los Hijos de la Malinche" delves into the stigmatized figure of La Malinche and the Mexican attitude towards real women compared to passive, immaculate ideals. This edition also includes a revision by the author, updating the essay with respect to important events in modern Mexican history. While the book is a must-read for Mexicans, it can be a tedious experience for some, as it is filled with citations and references that require further investigation.

Overall, "El Laberinto de la Soledad" prompts reflection on Mexicanidad, the importance of history, and the need to learn from it to improve. It is a thought-provoking work that offers valuable insights into the Mexican psyche.

Octavio Paz – El laberinto de la soledad / Postdata / Vuelta a El laberinto de la soledad (1950)



«Sentirse solo no es sentirse inferior, sino distinto. El sentimiento de soledad, por otra parte, no es una ilusión –como a veces lo es el de inferioridad– sino la expresión de un hecho real: somos, de verdad, distintos. Y, de verdad, estamos solos.»



[3.5/5] ★★★☆☆



Reseña:


El Laberinto de la Soledad es un ensayo escrito por Octavio Paz, poeta mexicano, ganador del premio Cervantes en 1981 y del premio Nobel en 1990.



Aquí podemos encontrar un análisis extenso y profundo del mexicano: sus costumbres, ideas y su forma de ver la realidad.



En el libro se examina nuestro lenguaje, nuestros rituales, todas esas cosas que hacemos casi de manera automática como mexicanos y nos demuestra que hasta nuestras groserías tienen un por qué.



Cada capítulo contiene observaciones acerca de distintos temas; desde El Pachuco, pasando por las festividades como El Día de Muertos, y acontecimientos históricos que marcaron la historia mexicana.



La crítica siempre incomoda y es muy probable que como mexicanos nos veamos reflejados en estas páginas.



Paz resalta ciertas conductas vergonzosas que quizá no nos gustaría aceptar. Se habla del macho mexicano y se explica su origen, su aceptación y su fragilidad.



Básicamente nos deja ver que el mexicano está lleno de contradicciones. Dentro de nuestros muchos rituales y fiestas adornamos con colores, danzas, fuegos artificiales y música, la desgracia cotidiana. Y es que, siendo un país en el que la gente gana poco y trabaja mucho, es natural que las fiestas sean nuestro único descanso.



Es bien sabido que hacemos fiesta por todo y Octavio Paz define a la fiesta mexicana como una revuelta en la que la sociedad se libera de las normas impuestas. Es aquí donde el caos y el desorden cohabitan con las contradictorias actitudes del mexicano.



En el capítulo Los Hijos de la Malinche nos habla de la figura tan estigmatizada de la malinche y la forma tan despectiva con que se señala y juzga a este personaje histórico mientras se glorifica deidades extrajeras. Nuestra cultura rechaza mujeres reales por ideales pasivos, inmaculados y sufridos.



Según Paz: Al repudiar a la Malinche, el mexicano rompe sus ligas con el pasado, reniega de su origen y se adentra sólo en la vida histórica.



Es también en este capitulo donde abordamos albures y groserías mexicanas, ahonda especialmente en aquella frase consolidada como insulto por excelencia; la mentada de madre o el recuerdo a los “hijos de la chingada” nos explica el origen sustancial de esta consagrada frase del mexicano y las múltiples variantes que ha adquirido este insulto.



En esta edición también se anexa una revisión hecha por el autor en el que reafirma y/o explica algunas de sus paginas y actualiza el ensayo respecto a algunos acontecimientos importantes en nuestra historia moderna.



Opinión:


Seguro que este es uno de esos libros que tienes que leer sobre todo si eres mexicano, pero creo que justo ahí radica el problema. Entregar este libro “a fuerzas” o como una de las primeras lecturas puede generar una experiencia tediosa ya que está plagado de citas, referencias y alusiones a otros autores o personajes históricos por tanto nos obliga a investigar más acerca de quienes nos habla.



Justo a la mitad del libro cuando tratan los temas de La Conquista, La Colonia, La independencia y la Revolución me resulto una lectura complicada y algo aburrida cuando en verdad son temas interesantísimos de nuestra historia.



El Laberinto de la Soledad nos lleva a reflexionar, a reconocer nuestra mexicanidad, a comprender la importancia de nuestra historia para aprender de ella y mejorar.



---


Tiempo Literario


Octavio Paz – El Laberinto de la Soledad (1950) | Video Reseña


https://youtu.be/xhqSlS68P3Y


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I have a great admiration for Paz's open-endedness. He has the remarkable ability to discuss the complex problems of Mexico and, by extension, the world, without imposing a definitive solution. He understands that our world-view is a matter of choice and a construct, and that we often find ourselves lost. This holds true even 60 years after the initial publication of his essay. Progress, he argues, "has given us more things but not more being." He firmly believes that the task at hand, which is to live comfortably in a world of diversity and contradiction, to ensure freedom while also providing equality and justice, demands a novel approach distinct from those employed in the past. The old answers simply do not suffice. As he states, "...all the modes of development that we know, whether they come from the West or the East, lead to disaster" for both humanity and the planet.

Paz predominantly focuses on Mexican society, but he places it within a broader context, both historical and geographical. Although at times I became somewhat immersed in the details of Mexican politics, the writing itself is highly perceptive and frequently poetically beautiful. I only wish that he had provided answers as profound and accurate as the thought-provoking questions he poses for the reader to contemplate.

Paz's "The Labyrinth of Solitude" offers an engaging exploration of the Mexican story. He divides his meditation on the contemporary Mexican into two parts. The first part delves into the cultural aspects that contribute to the Mexican being seen as neurotic. It examines language, interpersonal behaviors, and traditions. Paz argues that Mexicans hide their internal selves behind a mask of cultural norms and expectations, which are based on false histories from a non-native culture. This leads to a pretension of self in the social world.

The second part focuses on the historical and political aspects that have shaped contemporary Mexican society. The indigenous tradition was usurped by the colonial reformation, causing a bipolar state. The Mexican Revolution, although inevitable, was doomed to fail as the grafted philosophical traditions of liberalism and positivism were not congruent with the old world tradition. This has only strengthened the pretension in modern-day Mexico.

Personally, I find Paz's description of the Mexican mind rather depressing and it seems to contain elements of a self-fulfilling prophecy. However, it may be necessary to identify these issues for healing to begin. In modern-day Mexico, there may be a divide between the more indigenous south and the post-revolutionary north. Paz is a pragmatist, and his analysis, despite its nihilism, can be optimistic. However, he fails to make a connection with the pre-colonial Mexican. His critique of failed intellectuals and counter-productive behaviors does not address the basis of his analysis. Without a progressive, socialist example, the masses continue to languish under an order they do not identify with. The situation in Mexico is reaching a boiling point, with the gangs representing the pre-colonial social organization at war with the state powers. A pragmatist could find the best in both to heal the Mexican social order, but as long as we rely on dialectics, progress remains elusive.

I must read it again so that the sentences are engraved in my mind.

This simple statement holds great significance. Reading something multiple times is a powerful learning technique. It helps us better understand the content, internalize the ideas, and remember the details.

When we read an article or a book for the first time, we may only get a general sense of what it is about. There could be words or concepts that we don't fully grasp. By reading it again, we have the opportunity to focus on those areas and clarify our understanding.

Moreover, repeated reading allows the sentences to sink in and become part of our mental library. This can enhance our vocabulary, improve our writing skills, and even influence our way of thinking.

So, the next time you come across something that you find interesting or important, don't hesitate to read it again. Let the words and sentences soak into your mind and enrich your knowledge.

Although I am still in the process of placing the "dialectic", but the remaining text has a good flow and a good translation. But what about the book?

In fact, except for a few correct but extremely obvious and repetitive analytical and critical pieces, there was not much to say.

Of course, it has been a while since I have had any connection with this semi-philosophical, semi-everything and semi-nothing text. In my opinion, the text should have a philosophical and critical content or a scientific and analytical framework or an aesthetic of literary and narrative...

The best is to have all three :))).

And this book had none of them.

A long soliloquy that starts from solitude and reaches a plethora of topics and then ends in solitude again.

The book has good ideas. For example, the way it looks at marriage (as a bribe to society) or the distinction it makes between two types of solitude (one type that leads to a spiritual illness and another type that is forced and does not lead to a pleasant outcome).

However, it is very verbose and sometimes obvious. That is, it often rambles from one thing to another without properly grasping the thread of the discourse and sometimes it says things that are completely natural and obvious to the reader.

I took notes on some pages of the book so as not to lose my way while reading. I bring them here perhaps to ease the pain of you who are reading this:

Good solitude, indispensable solitude, natural solitude (from page 9 onwards), love as a way of escape and the result of good solitude (from page 11 onwards), the natural factor of opposition to love (from page 12 onwards), the social factor of opposition to love (from page 15 onwards), society, love, marriage, poetry (from page 19 onwards), the inherent conflict between society and the individual and as a result: the impossibility of having solitude and love simultaneously (from page 24 onwards), the stages of life: one: childhood, forgetting solitude (from page 27 onwards), language and the world (page 28), the stages of life: two: adolescence, awareness of solitude, in search of a solution (from page 29 onwards), the stages of life: three: adulthood, being submerged in time, forgetting solitude (from page 30 onwards), new solitude: illness (page 32), flashback: connection with society as a cure for health (from page 34 onwards), the old native society: group identity (from page 35 onwards), the new era of society: the gathering of solitudes, the feeling of guilt (from page 36 onwards), the new society: in search of a "place" and the center of the world (from page 40 onwards), the transition from "mythical time" to "measurable time" (from page 43 onwards), the realization of myths: in search of the golden past (from page 48 onwards).

It is amazing that suddenly you come across a book without having heard anything about it before, and its contents are exactly what you need to read.

The dialectics of loneliness examines the discussion of loneliness so accurately and coherently. It talks about loneliness after birth, loneliness because of not forming that true love between a man and a woman, loneliness in adolescence, and finally the deepest form of liberation from loneliness, which is reaching the center of the world through "the pilgrimage of loneliness."

Every sentence was valuable. Some parts were a bit confusing for me, maybe because I haven't read his previous articles, or perhaps I haven't yet reached the stage of understanding those words in this period of my life.

In any case, after reading this article, reading the complete book has definitely been added to my plan.

Nunca deberían darnos este libro mientras estamos en la secundaria. Es demasiado complejo como para entenderlo con apenas 13 o 15 años de edad. Pero ahora, años después, lo veo de forma distinta. De hecho, hasta lo disfruté. Sin embargo, en vez de creer que se trata simplemente de un análisis de México y su idiosincracia, creo que es el grito de un intelectual que se ve a sí mismo en un país hostil y profundamente indiferente.

Crítico consigo mismo, Paz aspira a una comunión con sus compatriotas. Ofreciéndoles un programa en el que se reflejen, identifiquen, y que adopten. Sin embargo, al final no lo logra. Aunque México lo celebra como un poeta y un ensayista crítico, no lo comprende realmente. Con su premio Nobel, se reafirma la profunda soledad que lo aísla del resto de sus compatriotas.

Esta edición tiene cuatro textos adicionales sobre el laberinto. El único que vale la pena es el de María Zambrano -una diosa-. Los demás sólo son zalamerías, típicos escritos de los fans de Paz que, en realidad, ahondan la distancia entre los lectores y Paz. Es una lástima que estos textos no puedan contribuir más a la comprensión y apreciación de la obra de Paz.

It is truly incredible that the majority of the reflections contained here still remain valid.

These reflections have withstood the test of time and continue to offer valuable insights and perspectives.

They touch on various aspects of life, such as human nature, relationships, and the pursuit of happiness.

Despite the changing times and the evolution of society, the fundamental truths expressed in these reflections endure.

They serve as a reminder of the universal principles that govern our lives and the importance of self-reflection and introspection.

Whether we are facing challenges or seeking inspiration, these reflections can provide us with the guidance and wisdom we need.

It is a testament to the power of thought and the ability of ideas to transcend generations.

We should cherish and study these reflections, for they have the potential to transform our lives and make us better individuals.

This booklet, as it has been mentioned in its preface, is a part of a larger book titled "The Solitude of Hazrat." The essence of the book, and consequently this chapter, presents a cultural, political, and social subject matter. However, in some places, its poetic and imaginative tone casts a shadow over the arguments and deductions, making them sluggish. In fact, it seems that the beauty and charm of the book, especially in our country, is largely due to this poetic nature, although it has a solid and scientific foundation of the subject matter in its book. The topics covered in this work are extremely scattered and disorganized. The book begins with a poetic and philosophical discussion about the solitude of human beings, reaches to birth and death, criticizes some negative views about love, and with some sluggish arguments, concludes that love is rare and almost impossible in today's world. The author then examines the inappropriate position of women in society, and then turns to the issue of language and its function in literary creation, and finally, concludes this chapter with a discussion about myths. I think the disorganization of the contents of this book is due to the fact that it has not been fully translated and we only have one chapter of the book at our disposal. Perhaps the translator has done injustice to the original work by doing this and has given the readers a half-baked understanding of it. Overall, the book is not bad, and those poetic parts, with the smooth and fluent translation that has been done by Deihimi, have their impact on the audience. But it would have been better if the complete text was available in one place.

A beautiful part of the book:

- All human beings feel themselves alone and are alone in some moments of their lives. Living means separating from what we were to reach what we will be in the mysterious future. Solitude is the deepest reality in the human condition. Man is the only being who knows that he is alone and the only being who is in search of others. His nature, if we can use this word for humans, who have created themselves by saying "no" to nature, has a desire and thirst for realizing himself in others. Man himself is the result of the pain of exile and the passage of time. Therefore, when he is aware of himself, he is also aware of the non-existence of that other, that is, his solitude.