Rhetorical figures in the founding myth of Bécal

Abstract

The data used to write down this article, was collected during a field work period in the Chenes, a mexican southeast region, formed by Calkiní, Hecelchakán and Hopelchén, all cities at the Campeche state. Bécal is a town of the first city. The founding myth of the town of Bécal, in a narrative context, exhibits: accidents and geographical features of space, real and extraterrestrial beings, man concerns about his time, an apparent anchoring in history and the introduction into a fantastic world (Morote, s/f); but also, rhetorical figures: metaphors and hyperboles (Beristaín, 1997). Both, contribute to the foundation of ideological differences in which the adversary becomes the enemy of society (Le Guern, 1990). Rhetorical figures are considered to be symbolic forms that give meaning to daily life, in this sense the question that runs through this article is what is the functioning of metaphor and hyperbole in the foundational discourse of a Mayan town and its people? A first approach to the analysis of the founding myth of Bécal shows that there is a conflict of a social nature, centered on interests of inclusion and exclusion, which are exposed through the ideological functioning of naturalization whose repercussion remains valid despite time and space.