Juan Oso and the Redemption of the Savage Man

Abstract

The main goal of this paper is to show how a myth can be used to explain the otherness in self cultural terms. The fist part of this text presents an analysis of the Spanish tale of Juan Oso and concludes that it symbolizes de redemption of the savage man. The second part explains how Juan Oso was calibrated to describe new realities during the colonization process: the origin of mixed ethnic populations (mestizos). Finally, it exposes how this kind of myth subsists in modern western societies.