One approach to Crónica de la lluz y la solombra (‘Chronicle of the light and the shadow’), by Antón García, from a biocultural perspective

Abstract

Crónica de la lluz y la solombra (Saltadera: 2015), by Antón García, is the narrative of a crime that occurred toward the end of the 19th century in the remote and isolated village of La Zorera, in the Tinéu county: the death of Manulina’l Cura and her newborn son at the hands of Rafael Gancedo  husband and father to the victims– with the possible intention of marrying his lover Concha Calzón, and of the equally tragic death of the assassin two years later after being condemned to death by garrote. This article is the exploration of the contradictory nature of the human spirit, with its kindness and misery, its «lights and shadows» –that is present in the novel– from a bio-cultural perspective within the evolutionary theory framework that has emerged during the past two decades not only in the fields of science but also in the field of the humanities. The idea that the arts respond to an adaptive process similar to other basic social behaviors –a perspective backed by scholars such as Brian Boyd, Joseph Caroll, Jonattahn Gottschall, Geoffrey Miller, Denis Dutton, Ellen Disanayake, Steven Pinker, among others– and therefore focus on themes vital to human beings as derived from our needs and interests –the so-called universal topics: love, adultery, resentment, deception, homicide and the sense of justice– serve as a guide for the study of Antón García’s novel, Crónica de la lluz y la solombra.