La laberíntica historia del Diablo. Primera recepción de Flusser en México / The Labyrinthine History of the Devil. The First Reception of Flusser in Mexico
In 1960s, Mexico has a period of notable cultural development known as the “Latin American Boom". This literary movement was pushed by numerous young writers and consolidated by various publishing houses, with prominent figures who played a driving role, such as Efraín Huerta and Octavio Paz. It was within this context that a correspondence between Octavio Paz and Vilém Flusser was established in 1966. Based on this epistolary exchange, we propose a comparative reading of Paz's The Labyrinth of Solitude and Flusser's History of the Devil, with the aim of analyzing the conceptual and biographical convergences that emerge in both works.
Emphasis is placed on the shared experience of exile and solitude during both authors' youth, as well as their interest in subjects such as Zen Buddhism. Likewise, the philosophical perspective of their works is highlighted, which we consider to be phenomenological in both authors. The essay offers deliberately reflective guidelines on how the intellectual dialogue between Paz and Flusser might have developed, had that first contact given rise to a successful collaboration. The fundamental aim of this work, therefore, is to establish a link between these two intellectual universes, moving beyond the limitation of their brief epistolary exchange. Finally, we wish to offer readers of Vilém Flusser an entry point into the work of Octavio Paz, and vice versa, as well as to extend an invitation toward a broader and renewed reception of Flusser's work in Mexico.