The figure of the scavenger

Elizabeth Valencia Chávez

Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos (UAEM)

[Autonomous University of Morelos State]

Abstract
The paper presents the discourse analysis that the scavenger figure has
constructed in the History of México. During the prehispanic and colonial
periods, this figure has existed and its modus vivendi represented threats and
losses for the agricultural work, since the scavenger is located outside of the
production system, he lives from its losses and falls. The arriving of Industrial
Revolution displace the scavenge to industrial wastes; onwards, the industry
produces for a disposable consumption and not for a lasting consumption, the
result is an industry that multiplies the spaces for its wastes with scarce
recycling. Life conditions of scavengers bring to the reflection Walter Benjamin’s
question: When does the human misery reach its limit? At the same time, the
skills to live from the wastes of others are weaved between the real and the
imaginary, which construct the scavenger as a figure. In this sense, literature
and cinema surround the figure of the scavenger of modern myths, one them is
the enrichment promise, realized or frustrated, but at least postponed from
civilization and progress.

Key words: figure, scavenger, discourse.

Curriculum Vitae
Full time professor-researcher in the Autonomous University of Morelos State
(UAEM), from August 2012 to present.
Professor of the Aesthetic course in Philosophy degree, UAEM.
Subject professor of Open University at Philosophy and Letters Faculty of the
National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM)
Member of the Nation System of Researchers (SNI), level I.
Research lines: Modern and Contemporary Aesthetic. Author of Travel across
the modern experience, published by UAEM, 2014. Faculty member and
Coordinator of Philosophy degree.