Quetzalcóatl

Fernando Díaz Infante follows Abram Kardiner and others in correlating the psychic life of an individual with the history of an entire people. In particular the Oedipus phase is seen as a necessary cultural stage, and it is to the collective “complejo de Edipo” of the Nahua tribes that the Quetzalcóatl legends are here attributed. Following the recent literary and philosophical interpretations by Garibay and León Portilla, Díaz Infante identifies a principle of dualism and an internal dialectic in Nahua society. The introduction of psychological symbols (acatl is masculine and calli is feminine) is a new refinement. Conditions appropriate to the pre-Oedipus stage, the full Oedipus flowering, and the age of maturity are noted. Myth resembles dream in seeking to reconcile the problems of reality at times of crisis. Thus Quetzalcóatl, both male and female, comprehends the dualism in idealized harmony. This brief work (there are about forty pages of text) is rich in theory and correspondingly deficient in empirical research.