42 Copyright © Canadian Academy of Oriental and Occidental Culture ISSN 1923-1555[Print] ISSN 1923-1563[Online] www.cscanada.net www.cscanada.org Studies in Literature and Language Vol. 7, No. 1, 2013, pp. 42-46 DOI:10.3968/j.sll.1923156320130701.3096 Cultural Symbols of Latin America in Marquez’s Literary Discourse Mohammad B. Aghaei [a];* , Safar Hayati [b] [a] Department of English Language, East Azarbaijan Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran. [b] Department of Social Science, East Azarbaijan Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran. * Corresponding author. Received 17 March 2013; accepted 22 July 2013 Abstract This article deals with the cultural aspects of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s literary discourse that are manifested or represented through its narrative units, carrying cultural semantic contents. These units indeed serve as socio-symbolic mediations that relate the literary text to his culture. For this reason, Marquez has immensely applied the figurative elements in his novels, making a bridge between his works and the world to which he belongs or claims to belong. These textual elements can be thus interpreted by taking into consideration the cultural aspects of his society. Hence, this article surveys the cultural components of his novels and mainly to decode them according to the cultural values and social conventions of his culture. Key words: Figural elements; Conventional symbols; Natural references and cultural codes Mohammad B. Aghaei, Safar Hayati (2013). Cultural Symbols of Latin America in Marquez’s Literary Discourse. Studies in Literature and Language , 7 (1), 42-46. Available from: http://www. cscanada.net/index.php/sll/article/view/j.sll.1923156320130701.3096 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/j.sll.1923156320130701.3096 INTRODUCTION Being sensitive to the uniqueness of the socio-cultural aspects of his country and the complexity of themes that he has intended to present in his novels, Marquez is indeed induced to construct and develop a highly original literary idiom for portraying his society with its distinguishable cultural features and complicated history; a society that had been a victim of the political oppressions and repressions under the domination of past colonialism and recent imperialism for almost three centuries; a society that has lost its salient cultural traits and identity due to the influence of African and Spanish cultures during the period of colonization; a society that has been controlled by the unfaithful and unreasonable Catholic authorities whose dark and cruel behaviors have condemned many innocents and professional figures to death; a society that has been influenced by the superstitious beliefs of the alien cultures; a society in which moral depravities have been considered as acceptable norms; a society that is composed of multi-racial communities; a society that has been ruled by the inefficient ruling system and the dictatorship without any well-organized government; a society in which violence, insecurity, injustice and poverty form a part of people’s life; a society that is male-dominated and where women are considered as an inferior social class and are often exposed to sexual harassment; a society that has isolated the weak but honorable characters from the members of the higher social class due to their poverty; a society that immensely suffers from smuggling, kidnapping and assassination; a society in which the bloody conflicts between the political parties affect the majority and take the life of thousands of people; a society in which the period between the modernity and pre-industrialization is the most critical era in its history. These are some noticeable peculiarities of Latin America’s society that make it quite different from the other societies of the world. Therefore, the society with these features impels Marquez to devise a relevant and appropriate literary style for presenting them in his literary discourse, mainly by symbolizing them with the figural devices. For this reason, every ingredient of his literary discourse –such as the names of the characters, their behaviors, thoughts, traits, expressions, allusions, death, and also the settings and events – is wisely but ruefully presented by means of various figural devices, consequently comprising multiple implications.