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La fiesta del Chivo, Novel and Film: On the Transition to Democracy in Latin America
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 September 2022
Abstract
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In this article, I compare the attitudes to the recent democratic transition in Latin America in La fiesta del Chivo, the 2000 novel, and in its 2005 film adaptation. In the novel, Mario Vargas Llosa describes how Joaquín Balaguer, the Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo's puppet president, put on the mask of a democrat, absorbed Trujillo's absolute power, and went on to serve as president for twenty-four years. In the novel, Balaguer is a stand-in for the Peruvian dictator Alberto Fujimori, who prepares to serve as president for a third term in a row. Why do Balaguer and the artificial democratic transition that he enacted go missing in the film adaptation? The film details instead the crimes of the dictator Trujillo and his inglorious end. I argue that the director adapts the novel's message to a changed political reality in Peru: the dictator Fujimori fled, and the newly elected president is restoring democratic institutions and government accountability.
Resumen
El ensayo compara las actitudes a la reciente transición democrática en Latinoamérica en La fiesta del chivo, la novela de Vargas Llosa y su adaptación cinematográfica. La novela describe cómo Joaquín Balaguer, presidente títere del dictador dominicano Trujillo, se puso la máscara de demócrata, absorbió el poder absoluto de Trujillo y pasó a ocupar la presidencia del país por veinticuatro años. La novela, publicada en 2000, alude con el personaje de Balaguer al autócrata peruano Alberto Fujimori que se prepara para ocupar la presidencia por tercera vez consecutiva. ¿Por qué desaparece Balaguer y la transición democrática que él puso en marcha en la adaptación cinematográfica de la novela? La película opta por detallar los crímenes del dictador Trujillo y su despreciable fin. El cineasta adapta el enfoque de la novela a una nueva realidad política peruana: el autócrata Fujimori ha huido y el nuevo presidente se dedica a restaurar las instituciones democráticas y la responsabilidad y transparencia del gobierno.
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- Copyright © 2016 by the Latin American Studies Association
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