The Protagonist at Our Feet: A Critical Reading of the Zapatista Short Story Series Don Durito de la Lacandona

• In Event: Animals in Latin American Literature and Visual Arts

Abstract

Since its official inception when it boldly introduced itself to the world on 1 January 1994, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) has been heavily defined and characterized by the diverse wealth of written texts that it has produced. The EZLN is peculiar, and perhaps unique, among Latin American insurgent revolutionary groups in the 20th and 21st centuries in the central role that written texts have played not only in defining critical moments in their movement, but also in gaining an international base of support, sympathy, and solidarity. The texts produced by the EZLN occupy a broad range of literary styles and genres, from explicitly subversive writings to highly literary short fiction and poetry. One series of short fiction stories that focus on the scarab beetle Don Durito de la Lacandona has gained particular attention from readers and scholars for its literary quality, its capacity for political and social commentary, and the inclusion of Subcomandante Marcos as a character. The subordination of Marcos’s fictional alter ego to the protagonist Don Durito is among the most striking elements of these stories, and decidedly central to this series of short fiction is Don Durito’s status as an anthropomorphized scarab beetle. This paper will explore in analytical depth Don Durito’s capacity as narrative agent and aesthetic object to comment on and perhaps even add new dimensions to the EZLN’s political and literary project from within the movement.

Author

• Mark D Fitzsimmons, Indiana University, Bloomington