MYTHS AND LITERARY ARCHETYPES IN THE ROMANCE THE TUNNEL, BY ERNESTO SABATO

Abstract

This article analyzes the presence of myths and literary archetypes in the novel The Tunnel (1948) by the Argentine writer Ernesto Sabato (1911-2011) from the perspective of Analytical Psychology. Myths have a pedagogical character that leads individuals to self-knowledge by assuming the social roles that literature fictionally re-signifies in its characters. Sabato's work presents the confession of a passionate crime narrated by the murderer himself, the painter Juan Pablo Castel, whose psychological profile reveals the construction of archetypal images of the shadow within the literary text. These are manifested in the character’s emotional imbalance, the idealization of the beloved woman, and the exacerbated jealousy characteristic of Othello Syndrome. To this end, we use the shadow as the narrative thread of Sabato’s work, incorporating the contributions of Jung (2002, 2008, 2015), Hillman (2018), Von Franz (1990, 2002). In view of this, we discuss the role of myths as foundational models of human conduct, drawing on the studies of Bolen (2002), Campbell (1991, 2005), Durand (2004, 2019), Eliade (2004), Frye (1973, 2004), and Meletinsky (1987, 2002), as these authors propose dialogues between myths, literature, and Analytical Psychology.