Juan Rulfo: creator of magial realism

Juan Rulfo’s Pedro Páramo is a landmark novel in the modern literature of the Latin America. Using everyday vocabulary and the colloquial speech of rural Mexico, Juan Rulfo depicted the most intimate memories of the doomed townspeople of Comala in a style that would become known as magical realism. The story takes place during a crucial period in Mexican history: the year around the Mexican Revolution of 1910, with its struggles between rich and poor, the church and the non-believers, and the large landowners and the homeless Indians.

The powerful realism of the novel’s personal dramas activates little by little a larger framework, whether as an allegory of Mexico’s modern political history or as a mystic vision of individual lives taking part in an eternal struggle between life and death or good and evil. By presenting this picture society in turmoil, Juan Rulfo used for the first time in Latin American literature, the poetic prose and narrative techniques of XX century modernism.

For the novelist Carlos Fuentes, Juan Rulfo represents an influential break with previous literary tradition comparable to William Faulkner. It is also important to notate that Gabriel García Márquez, who admits to be able to recite the entire Pedro Páramo by memory, was highly inspired by Juan Rulfo’s Pedro Páramo to create his masterpiece 100 años de soledad.

Beckett’s Endgame (a post-apocaliptic story)

The representation of the human condition in all its “absurd” emptiness fills Samuel Beckett’s novels and plays. Beckett’s characters engage in a desperate attempt to find or to create meaning for themselves. Born into a world without reason, they live out their lives waiting for an explanation that never comes and whose existence may be only an illusion of their own imagination. In the mean time, human relationships are reduced to the most elemental tension of cruelty, hope, frustration, and cynicism around themes of birth, death, human emotions, material obstacles, and eternal consciousness.

 

When Samuel Beckett received the Nobel Price in literature in 1969, he was recognized as the purest exponent of the twentieth century’s chief philosophical dilemma: the notion of the absurd or the grotesque contradiction between human attempts to discover meaning in life and the simultaneous conviction that there’s no meaning available that we have not created ourselves. Endgame, often called Beckett’s major achievement, is a prime example of this dilemma.

 

When the curtain rises on Endgame, it is as thought the world were awaking from sleep. The sheets draping the furniture and central character are taken off, and
Hamm sets himself in motion like an actor or chess pawn:

 

“Me… to play.”

 

Yet we are also near the end for, as the title implies, nothing new will happened; an “endgame” is the final phase of a chess game, the stage at which the end is predictably in sight although the play must still be completed. Throughout, the theme of “end”, “finish”, “no more” is sounded, even while
Hamm notes the passage of time:

 

“Something is taking its course.”

 

But time does not lead anywhere; it is either past or present and always barren. The past exists as Nagg’s and Nell’s memories, as Hamm’s story, which may or may not describe Clov’s entry into the home, and as a period in which Clov once loved Hamm. The present shows four characters deteriorating away, alone in a dead world, caught between visions of dusty hell and dreams of life reborn.

In one of the biblical echoes that fills the play, Hamm and Clove repeatedly evoke the last words of the crucified Jesus in the Gospel according to John:

 

“It is finished”

 

But this is not a biblical morality play, and Endgame describes the world not of divine creation but of self-creation. Hamm may be composing and direction the entire performance: a story teller and playwright with “asides” whose dialogue keeps Clov on stage against his will.

 

Endgame has been given a number of symbolic interpretations. Some refer to Beckett’s love for wordplay: Hammas Hamm-actor, Hammlet, Hammer, and Nag and Nell as shortened forms of Nägel and nello, German and Italian words for “nail”, which are involved in the crucifixion themes suggesting the martyrdom of humanity. The setting of a boxlike room with two windows is seen as a skull, the seat of consciousness, or as a womb. The characters’ isolation in a dead world after an unnamed catastrophe suggests the world after atomic holocaust; or, the image of a pre-Purgatorial consciousness. The attitude personalized in Hamm’s towards his parents reflects the modern Western civilized values of a past generation. Hamm and Clove represents the uneasy adjustments of soul and body, the class struggle of rich and poor, the master-slave relationships in all senses.

The intellectual distance offered by comedy is entirely in keeping with the more serious side of the play, which rejects tragedy and constantly drags its characters’ escapist fancies down to the minimal facts of survival: food, shelter, sleep, and painkiller. Even though it is possible to say that Endgame describes (but only among other things) what it is like to be alive, declining toward death in a world without meaning .

Modernismo

Most critics look at Modernism as a movement that promoted an integrated prospective: literary, social, economic and political history. One of the main goals of Modernism was to revolutionize the form and content of poetic context; not just poetry, but poetic and artistic language.

Modernism is associated with the phrase: “art for art sake” that is a phrase that many people would use to characterized Modernism. In her article, Franco compares poetry as something as devoted as religion: “Art is a religion, and the poet is the worshiper of the eternal idea” By using this phrase the author kind of sets up the guideline between writer and the work or art. Therefore, if art is a religion and the poet the worshiper, then that automatically implies that the poet is a writer and a part of this process which means that they are just as important as the work itself. Another view to this idea is that the inspiration for poets comes from within, from their very own soul, that’s what makes poetry something quite sacred.

In the end it was Rubén Dario who gave the name to Modernismo. There are in reality many Modernimos. Modernismo is the different Modernismo in a sense for every poet that writes because they all come from a different social and cultural context; but there are over all writing ideals that contain similarities in the writings that are easy to distinguish among all the writers.

These are some of the characteristics of Modernism which can be found mostly in Ruben Dario’s works:

• Enrichment of the vocabulary in Spanish.
• Word choice.
• Word adaptation from other languages.
• Pointing new words.
• Big advocates of the adjective.
• Attention to detail.
• Music.
• Exotic themes and references.
• Contemplation of lost civilizations.

Realism

The nineteenth century was the century that offered a great change in the history of the Western civilization. The turmoil that followed the French Revolution allowed the brake up of the old order in Europe. The Holy Roman Empire and the Papal States also suffered a break up. Nationalism, nourished by the political and social aspirations of the middle classes, grew by leaps and bounds. In different the word “liberty” meant different things: liberation from the rule of the foreigner, there the emancipation of the serf; the removal of economic restrictions on trade and manufacturing, the introduction of a constitution, free speech, parliamentary institutions, and agitation for the rights of women.

The realists writers wanted a truthful representation in literature of reality, that is, of contemporary life and manners. They thought of their method as inductive, observational, and somehow objective. The personality of the author was to be suppressed or was to at least to retreat into the background, since reality was to be seen as raw as it could be presented.

It is safe to say that all art is critical of its society, but in the nineteenth century this criticism became much more explicit, as social, political issues became much more urgent or, at least, were regarded more urgent by those writing about within them.

When we analyze the actual practice of the great realistic writers of the nineteenth century, we can notice right away a sharp contradiction of the presentation between theory and practice. At the same time we can observe an independent evolution of the art of the novel that is obscure for us just by paying attention to the slogans that were used during that time, even those that the authors themselves advocate.

Woodsworth’s Tintern Abbey

Woodsworth’s Tintern Abbey reflects many characteristics of romanticism due to its relation with time, beauty and nature.

Tintern Abbey is old abandon church that seats at the bottom of a valley that is just into the border of England into Wales, and through here runs the river wye which he refers in the subtitle of his poem: “On revisiting the banks of the wye…”

People come to this place because of the beauty and the natural serenity of this place. The Brittish government did not preserved Tintern Abbey as a natural shrine and it has been over-run by nature.

The first stanza suggests that this is not Woodsworth first visit to this place:

“Five years have past; five summers, with the length

of five long winters! and again I hear

These waters, rolling from the mountain-springs”

In the first stanza we can see how Woodsworth describes the natural beauty of this place and how important this is to have this recognition. Through the voice of this poet we get a different vision. It is through the tranquility that the poet perceives when he visits this place that makes the reader recognize the beauty of this wonderful spot. This can be seen in the second stanza:

“These forms of beauty have not been there to me,

As is a landscape to a blind man’s eye:

But oft, in lonely rooms, and mid the din”

Later when Woodsworth in settings that are not so beautiful or not too peaceful, he can still recall the inspiration that this natural scenery gives him, and calls it to inspire him, to refresh him, to sustained him:

“Of towns and cities, I have owed to them,

In hours of wearing, sensations sweet,

Felt the blood, and felt along the heart,”

For Woodsworth nature is more than just an obvious beauty to be appreciated, but it serves as sustain, and inspiration that encourages him to a higher level of understanding, positive reception and response.

Candid (a philosophical tale)

The idea of multiplicity and openness are important factors for the literature in the XVIII century. Candid is a typical XVIII century text in that sense: it’s a satire and a parody. It satirizes the way of living, the church and politics. Parody can be understood as the target of other kinds of art which can be the adventure novel; it mentions the Bible specifically the book of Genesis and the fall of men, the original sin. The story of Candid uses the archetype of a girl and a young man in love separated from each other which can be related to the great Greek classical works of art like the Odyssey by Homer. Candid’s physical voyage can be interpreted as his maturity.

In Candid there are people telling their stories which are not related with the main story line. Voltaire plays around the disappearing and the appearing of the characters and the multiple reunions. The novel can be categorized as an upside down romance where there’s not much romance. Candid is composed by a multiplicity of narrators. In every situation, the narrator doesn’t really tells you what to think, he or she just provides you with a situation where different characters are reaction to it; the narrator doesn’t tell you what’s right or wrong or what you should believe. The narrators in Candid want you to think and decide and to critically use your ability to choose what’s right or wrong. These characters also contradict themselves all the time if they live long enough.

The effect of all these different stories is the pessimistic view that everyone has a horrible story and there’s a repetition of a story being worse than the previous story, like a repetition of misery. It’s about individual experience and the sociability of it when the characters talk and discuss about it.

Candid is composed of 30 chapters divided in three parts, these parts can be understood as three heavens: first the castle can be seen as the heaven where he was cast out, the second is Eldorado which is the future heaven that he was not ready for, and the third is the village which is the heaven that we can make for ourselves.

Life sucks on earth that’s basically what the novel is trying to tell us and you just have to get through the best you can and you do it with your friends and family and by working and don’t bother with the big stuff, you cannot answer those questions.

studia humanitatis

Professor Ivanova’s presentation on Humanism was quite fascinating. In it we learned a very profound definition of what Humanism was all about and how some authors perceived it at that specific period of time.

In his essay The origins of Humanism Nicholas Mann expresses an array of ideas regarding the translation and study of classical texts and manuscripts done mostly by humanists during the Renaissance. It was in Florence where the concept of Humanism was first studied. Historically it is known that between the XIV and XVII century, the church had too much control over what was written and what could be studied. This concept can be seen in Mann’s essay regarding knowledge and intellectualism which were mostly find in the church libraries: “Major monasteries continued to be centers of scholarship and book-production, and to promote classical literature” (Mann, 4). This can only prove the strength of the church not only within its adherents but among all the people who were interested in becoming intellectuals.

One of the most remarkable statements found in Mann’s essay is his mention of Francesco Petrarch which is considered the father of Humanism. According to the essay, Petrarch’s father wanted him to become a man dedicate to the law and at the age of sixteen he was sent to study law to Bologna; but from an early age, Petrarch developed a passion and interest in the study of classical literature and its authors. One of Petrarch’s friend and disciple was the great Italian writer Giovanni Boccaccio. Together they built a personal library containing a great list of Petrarch’s favorite books from the early 1300’s which at that time it was considered to be the largest privately own library, most of these books were actually a large collection of Roman literature. Although many of these books have been dispersed, some of the surviving books contain comments not only in regard of the words but in regard of facts.

Petrarch’s life was not around classical literature and humanism, he became madly in love with a fictitious woman named Laura. This lady became Petrarch’s most profound inspirational muse from which a series of beautiful poetry were born. Being an intellectual at that time, Petrarch’s portrait can be observed wearing laurels around his head. This though opens the idea that maybe he idolized his own self and his fame in a narcissistic kind of way. And maybe that’s where the fictitious name of Laura came about.

In his poem 61 Petrarch writes:

and bless be all the sheets

where I acquire fame, and my thoughts

that are only of her, that no one else has part of.

Petrarch’s poetry is in fact beautiful and when these pieces of art are recited in Italian the beauty of these poems can be perceived even further. However, the thought about Petrarch’s using this fictitious woman (Laura) to dedicate his love in ways of poetry gives a sense of not being sincere regardless of the beauty found in his art.

Welcome to my blog page

Thank you for visiting my blog page.

Reading has been one of my favorite hobbies. The way I see literature is like an open door to a world of history, culture and as an array of artistic forms of expression. I have a high interest regarding World Literature which has allowed me to study and learn about many important writers from classic to contemporary literary works.

Just like in literature, I also have a fascination in music. To me music is what makes the world turn. I have a strong fascination and respect with the Middle Eastern culture and religion. I find the music from that part of the world to be extremely artistic, soothing and very relaxing.

My future plans are to learn how to speak Arabic just so that I can read and understand the Holy Qur’an in its purity and without the need of any type of either English or Spanish translation. Also in my top five countries that I would like to visit are Saudi Arabia & Jordan.

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