The Grotesque and the Process of Degradation of Balta in "Fabla salvaje" by César Vallejo

Abstract

This article aims to demonstrate that in the novel Fabla salvaje (1923) the grotesque is evidenced as the main resource to allegorize the degradation process of the protagonist: Balta Espinar. It is based primarily on the critical studies proposed by Kayser (1957) and Bajtin (1987), the main theorists of this aesthetic in the 20th century. In this way, it was possible to establish categories such as the mixture of heterogeneous elements, the degradation of environments, animalization, and the dreamlike. Furthermore, it can also be noted that these resources acquire greater relevance when, as the distorted reality advances, there is the possibility of something promising, which could be called an utopian function.