Magic, religion, and idols in Zapata Olivella's En chima nace un santo and Carpentier's El reino de este mundo

• In Event: Narrating the Afro Colombian Experience through Manuel Zapata Olivella’s Literature

Abstract

This paper will examine Olivella’s En chima nace un santo (1963). Specifically, it will examine how the creation of a saint-like mystical figure in a small Colombian town leads to a greater discussion of how the creation of idols reflects sociological issues of poverty and corruption, which will briefly be connected to the use of magic and Afro-diasporic religion found in Alejo Carpentier’s El reino de este mundo (1949). The themes of magic, religion, and the real maravilloso will come together to reflect on the Afro-diasporic experience in Latin America and the Caribbean, specifically in predominantly Afro Latin American and Caribbean societies and how this is used to comment on sociological problems stemming from the colonial era.

Author

• Savannah Saavedra, University of Miami