María Zambrano y Octavio Paz – Dos obras en diálogo

pp. 77-94 María Zambrano and Octavio Paz began publishing each other’s writings since they met at the Second International Congress of Anti-Fascist Writers in 1937 in Valencia. With respect to their continued collaborations in Mexico, France, and Spain, the scarcity of comparative studies of the two authors is surprising. Essays like 'Filosofía y poesía' (1939), 'La destrucción de las formas' (1944) and 'Poema y sistema' (1944) by Zambrano show a clear repercussion in the essayistic and poetic work of Paz, also beyond his books El arco y la lira (1956) and Los hijos del limo (1972/1974). Some of the most obvious parallel aspects between the two oeuvres are the description of analogies, the metaphors of masks, the observations of a dialectic between opposites, and the quest for a lost unity. With the re-readings of the aforementioned essays, I propose to portray the underestimated influence of the philosopher in the work of the poet.