Power Relations: Mario Vargas LIosa’s The Feast of the Goat

Abstract

The notion of ‘power’ is one of the most debatable notions in sociological studies, and this is because of its inevitable presence in social relations and interactions. In all his relations within the society, man can feel the influence of power, either as the one in power or as the powerless one. Power does not exist in vacuum and it should be considered in relation with other social concepts such as class, race, gender, space, etc. Along with these concepts, different embodiments of power in the society can be revealed and different models of exercising of power will be formed. One of the most directly related notions to power is the notion of ‘politics’. What allows politicians to use different policies is power and what gives them power to fulfill their will and impose their own desire and interests on the other is politics. The other concept which serves these two notions is ‘discourse’. It is obvious that without ‘discourse’ and ‘language’ the existence of ‘power’ and ‘politics’ is only a probability, because ‘discourse’ is the means of exercising the power and applying the politics. Thus, here is a triangle of ‘power’, ‘politics’, and ‘discourse’. In this regard, a very brief historical overview of power is given. The base of discussion and analysis in this article is the different forms of power according to S. Westwood’s Power and the Social. This article explores the relation between the three angles of the mentioned triangle in Liosa’s The Feast of The Goat, a dictator–historical novel set in Dominican Republic. This study investigates various shapes of power exercised by Dominican dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo through politics and discourse.

Key words: Power; Race; Class; Gender; Space; Vision; S. Westwood; Mario Vargas LIosa; The Feast of the Goat