Resumo

VANDEN BERGHE, Kristine. Los “sin voz” y los intelectuales en México. Reflexiones sobre algunos ensayos de Mariano Azuela, Octavio Paz y el EZLN. Latinoamérica [online]. 2006, n.42, pp.131-152. ISSN 2448-6914.

A reading of some essays written by Mariano Azuela and Octavio Paz shows some theses of the first half of the century involve a dichotomy between popular, thoughtless action and deficient intellectual reflection. The discourse of the EZLN rejects this dichotomy, displacing the vegetal and mineral metaphors usually employed to describe the rebels and the indigenous people and redefining the division of labour between the ‘subalterns’ and their lettered representatives. At the same time, the role of Subcomandante Marcos in the zapatist discourse ‒as an author, a narrator and a theme‒ undermines to a certain extent the message that the subalterns are capable to speak for themselves. Also, it shows that it is premature to proclaim the death of the traditional intellectual as a spokesman for the people, at least in the current Mexican context.

Palavras-chave : EZLN; Subalterns; Sociology of intellectuals; Octavio Paz; Mariano Azuela.