Vol. 62 No. 2 (2014)
Research Article

Naming Clues to the Layers of Transgression in El crimen del Padre Amaro

Published 2014-06-01

Keywords

  • anthropology,
  • Arabic,
  • Bedouin,
  • categories,
  • folk taxonomy,
  • language and culture,
  • lexical semantics,
  • zoonymy
  • ...More
    Less

Abstract

Abstract

Mexican director, Carlos Carrera, employs names in El crimen del Padre Amaro (2002) to illuminate the complex internal struggles of key characters as well as the power struggles between them. Names in the film also expose contemporary moral and religious dilemmas in Mexican society. The film is based on a nineteenth-century Portuguese novel of the same name. This investigation discusses the way in which nomenclature in the modern cinematic work reveals clues about individual transgressions as well as larger societal and institutional corruption that determine the fate of the characters and the parish where the story takes place.

References

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