2021/12/22 by José Manuel Mateo, Mateo, José Manuel
Arts and Humanities · #Comparative Literary Analysis and Criticism #Literature, Culture, and Aesthetics #Spanish Literature and Culture Studies #biography #essay #history #popular culture #theory
paper · doi:10.23692/imex.10.13
openalex publication_date 2021/12/22 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/01
pp. 158-176. In this article is carried out a follow-up of the phrase "Gray is the theory and green is the tree of gold of life", which José Revueltas took as vital watchword. From 1939 until 1975, shortly before the death of the Mexican author, the phrase appears in letters, notes, and essays, as well as drafts of Los días terrenales, one of the greatest novels of the author. In addition to a minimum record of the occasions in which these words of the Goethe Mefistófeles appear in life and literary work of Revueltas, one explores the role that plays Faust as a substrate of Los días terrenales and sets some parallels between Goethe and Revueltas with regard to the way in which both authors conceived the theory in relation to life.