HIERARCHIES AND ROLES IN THE ETHNICITY-NATION DICHOTOMY IN THE WORK EL JETÓN Y OTROS CUENTOS BY ARTURO AMBROGI

Abstract

Introduction: This study focuses on the historical period between the coffee republic and the Salvadoran dictatorship. During this period, the Creole elites, and literature in particular through literary costumbrismo, provide important elements for this analysis. Objective: Based on the reading and interpretation of Arturo Ambrogi's El jetón y otros cuentos, written and published at the juncture of the 1929 crisis and the rise of the martinato, to characterize how ethnic hierarchies are consolidated from the narrative under the concept of nation as an imagined community. Method: The method used was hermeneutic analysis with a qualitative approach, which helped to understand the meaning that Ambrogi assigns to the characters in his stories under the dichotomous concept of Ethnicity-Nation. Conclusion: The concept of nation as an imagined community in the characters of the stories “El Jetón” is consistent with their ethnic origin. The concept of ethnicity is key to understanding the roles assigned within Arturo Ambrogi's stories. The Salvadoran nation of the 1930s, from Ambrogi's perspective, is rural and agrarian.