THE AVATAR IN PANAMA - Theses - Flinders University

3.1 Shoes and Mirrors: Images of Doubling The Avatar in PanamaTHE MODERN, THE POSTMODERN AND THE NEW3.1 Shoes and Mirrors: Images of DoublingMás que zapatos, parecían ser parte de mi propio cuerpo, una especie de envolturaprotectora que daba a mi paso firmeza y seguridad. Su piel era en realidad una pielmía, saludable y resistente. Sólo que daban ya muestras de fatiga. Las suelassobretodo: unos amplios y profundos adelgazamientos me hicieron ver que loszapatos se iban haciendo extraños a mi persona, que se acababan […] Quise, conespíritu ambicioso, prolongar la vida de mis zapatos.Juan José ArreolaFrom folklore to fairytales, axioms and adages, narrative tonursery rhymes, symbols and images appear often in an identical orsimilar context throughout world literature. Two images falling into thatcategory are those of shoes and mirrors which are both historicallylinked to the representation of personal identity and selfhood and assuch are used regularly in the literature of the double.Shoes and mirrors are employed in the traditional sensesignifying possession and truth respectively. Two iconic taleshighlighting this symbolism are Charles Perrault’s “Cinderella”, and theBrothers Grimms’ “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves”. In relation tothe shoe, the beautiful Cinderella is owner of a glass slipper as opposedto her ugly, evil stepsisters who want to own it. 1 In Grimm’s tale of SnowWhite, the animated looking-glass is ever-truthful acting as a means ofmagic and tool of vanity when asked the question which sets in motionevents comprising the famous fairytale. 2 These inanimate materialobjects are also used in the postmodern sense as images of fleeting,transient identity in the case of the mirror and as commercial statussymbols in that of shoes.Several studies have touched upon certain imagery in EnriqueJaramillo Levi’s work and much has been made of el espejo, la1 Wickedness has been virtually synonymous with ugliness in the past and this isevidenced by many fables and tales. This applied to feet during the Middle Ages whenflat or crippled feet were considered deformed and people with them weremarginalised from society as they were seen as a bad omen.2Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Karl Grimm (1786–1859), became universallyfamous as the authors of fairy tales. “She had a wonderful looking-glass, and whenshe stood in front of it and looked at herself in it, and said, looking-glass, lookingglass,on the wall, who in this land is the fairest of all”. 03 Sept. 2008..142