The paradigm of lucidity in the narrative of Julio Cortázar

Abstract

The present article is the necessary follow-up of a previous inquiry on the topic of authenticity in the narrative of Julio Cortázar. “A todo o nada: el problem de la (in)auten­ticidad en Rayuela” (Ralón, 2014) put forth an initial exegesis centered on the indi­vidual search of Horacio Oliveira in the context of Martin Heidegger’s existential-ontological philosophy. This article seeks to broaden that analysis by way of a systematic comparison with two of his most notable predecessors: Johnny Carter and Persio. The underlining assumption is that the failed, “all or nothing” explorations of Cortázar’s pursuers occur within a lucid paradigm which represents the systematization of a reduccionist epistemology. The individual failures of the protagonists –who despite their diversity of their techniques and tactics are unable to transcend the radical subjectivism and methodological individualism upheld by modernity, ending up invariably in a nihilistic solipsism – is a necessary component in a more general process of existential opening that begins with “The Pursuer” (1959), continues in The Winners (1960) and finalizes in Hopscotch (1963).