Octavio Paz, Carlos Castaneda y la búsqueda de otra dimensión de la realidad

Abstract

This study is dedicated to the prologue Octavio Paz wrote for the second Mexican edition of Castaneda’s The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge (1968), entitled “La mirada anterior.” It discusses a problematic of great relevance for Paz which, however, was thoroughly underestimated by the major part of scholarly work on the Mexican author. At issue is Paz’ interest in psychoactive phenomena in relationship to cultural creation and, especially, regarding the links between poetry and psychotropic experiences of consciousness alteration. The prologue examines the interconnections between anthropology and narration/literature in The Teachings of Don Juan. According to Paz, only the literarization of the experiencies emerging from the contact with the Yaqui shaman Juan Matus, allows Castaneda to access knowledges that are inaccesible from the viewpoint of ‘objective’ anthropological analysis.