Citlali Diaz Humanities
Juan Rulfo’s Desolate Plains and the Pueblos’ Stories Still Singing in Lowland Jalisco
Scholars Journal
Juan Rufo’s two short novels vividly portray Rulfo’s home state of Jalisco, Mexico, specifically its southern region defined by its scattered country villages. Scholars of Rulfo have stayed true to his illustrations of lowland Jalisco, further describing the regions as primitive places of hard labor filled with dying frugal people. They seem to have forgotten that despite Rulfo’s own words asserting the region as one of no hope, there is still life in these villages. Citlali aims to return to these villages to demonstrate what many scholars have missed. By interviewing individuals in the southern Jalisco countryside for their own folktales, Citlali’s project strives to conduct a critical analysis of how these stories relate to Rulfo’s own work as well as to demonstrate a region that is alive in culture, history, and narratives.
Major: English
Mentor: Raul Coronado, English