Rodó according to Carlos Maggi: a critical approach from the ‘45

Abstract

The present work analyzes the figure of José Enrique Rodó from the perspective of playwrighter Carlos Maggi, who belongs to another generation and period of uruguayan literature. In his essays as well as in his theatrical play Esperando a Rodó (1968), it is possible to perceive a critical revision of Rodó and its mythological figure, emphasizing on the Arielists ideology from the early twentieth century. Clearly establishing an intertextual relationship with one of the most outstanding works of Samuel Beckett, Carlos Maggi establishes an equivalence in which the waiting for Rodó represents the attitude of inertia of the uruguayan society. The passive attitude towards impending events is seen as an evil that affects all social strata, undifferentiating economic, political or cultural variations. The figure of Rodó, from Maggi’s view, is understood as a germinator of certain ideological keys which are fundamental to the formation of an Uruguayan idiosyncrasy.