The Kingdom of This World, a Reading for the West
Keywords:
Alejo Carpentier, The marvelous real, Christian symbolism, Latin American identityAbstract
This article provides a critical analysis of Alejo Carpentier’s novel The Kingdom of This World (1949), focusing on the role of Christian symbols as a hermeneutic device that renders Haitian—and more broadly American—reality intelligible to Western readers. Drawing on the concept of “the marvelous real,” the study argues that understanding the novel requires an attitude of faith, not in a doctrinal sense, but as a cultural and symbolic condition for accessing a worldview beyond European rationality. The article examines Carpentier’s historical and biographical context, his ambivalent relationship with Europe, and his engagement with the Haitian Revolution, before analyzing key figures such as Mackandal, Henri Christophe, Pauline Bonaparte, and Ti Noel through analogies with the New Testament. Particular attention is given to the symbolic parallel between Mackandal and Ti Noel and the figure of Christ, as well as to the reconfiguration of sacrifice, resurrection, and collective redemption. The article concludes that Carpentier employs Christian imagery as a strategy of cultural translation, enabling European readers to understand Afro-Caribbean mythic reality, and ultimately affirms that human greatness is not found in the Kingdom of Heaven, but in the “Kingdom of This World,” conceived as the historical realm of suffering, action, and transformation.Downloads
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