1 - Carnival and Simulacra in Reinaldo Arenas's El color del verano

Summary

This chapter focuses on an analysis of El color del verano in the light of Bakhtin's dialogic theory. I shall explore the Bakhtinian concepts of carnival, dialogism and the polyphonic novel, concentrating my analysis on the concept of carnival as reflected in this novel and its various functions within it. Another important aspect of my analysis is the use of the mask as a performance of identity, as it often appears related to the concept of representation, theatre and carnival.

There has been a boom in the number of critical studies focused on the life and works of Reinaldo Arenas in the last two decades, particularly by critics interested in queer studies. It is not by chance that there are over 300 entries in the MLA International Bibliography alone dedicated to works on Arenas. However, when it comes to the study of El color del verano in particular, the research is noticeably thinner on the ground. The most significant works are those of Rita Molinero (1994), Carmelo Esterrich (1997), Suzanne Kaebnick (1997), Humberto López-Cruz (1997b, 1998, 1999), Dinora Cardoso (2001), Enrique Del Risco (2003), Laurie Vickroy (2005), Rosa M. Díez-Cobo (2007), Roberto Ignacio Díaz (2007), Christopher Winks (2008), Daphne Grace (2009) and José Ramón Vilahomat (2010).

López-Cruz has already explored the important role played by Arenas's narrative in creating a site of resistance and subversion with reference to ‘la necesidad de escribir la historia oficial’ (1999: 25), although he does not connect this point in his study with the chronotope of the carnival which will be at the core of my analysis here.