La pervivencia del bandido generoso. Del asesino nato a la víctima de las injusticias sociales

Abstract

The figure of the generous bandit has remained for centuries in the popular collective imagination, but it will be Diego Corrientes (1757-1781) that did not commit any crime of blood, who best embodies this myth. Faced with the violent chapbooks about natural born killers as Francisco Esteban or Pigetas, the popularity of this character was a turning point in the telling of these stories, where the legend seems to win the battle to reality. The stories of arrogant criminals gave way to the social dramas of heroes with a impeccable moral, who are doomed to a life outside the law as victims of the injustices they have had to confront. This new model will prevail in the popular literature of the last bandits as Pernales (1879-1907), despite his infamous life.

Keywords

• Generous bandit
• myth
• reality
• Diego Corrientes
• Francisco Esteban
• Pernales