I am thoroughly enjoying SPAN365. I have found each text, apart from Cumandá (which for me lacks literary merit and reinforces my distaste of nationalism, literary or otherwise), to be a gem. From the tropical warmth of Mamá Blanca and the cold winds of Piedra callada to the brilliantly depicted perverion and madness of Hortensias (a deceptive title if there ever was one), my only regret is having to pass through them so quickly. Regarding the Uruguayan pianist, he is about to be admitted into my own private canon of personal faves and I am keen to read everything he has written.
Regarding span365´s hilo conductor--representations of la familia--I'm not sure I really get it. Sure, we've seen a normatively catholic family (Cumanda), a bourgeois family (Memorias), a dysfunctional family (Piedra) and a psychotic pseudo-family (Hortensias), but I still don't have the sense that family is the dominant theme in these texts. Each seems to stand alone and demand treatment respecting its singularity. I admit this attitude may have something to do with my own prejudices: I spent much of my twenties calling decrying the heteronormative family (though age and the recent legalization of same-sex marriage has softened my attitude somewhat), the over-determination of the latter (and the homophobia that goes with it) in Latin America being for me one of that region's least appealing characteristics. My preference would have been for a course structured chronologically around geographic region and genre.
2 comments:
Felisberto Hernandez is outstanding, without a doubt my favorite hispanic author that I have encountered so far. Good idea to see what else he has written, and I wonder whether or not it is as twisted as Las Hortensias....
I agree, I don't fully see family as being the principal connecting theme between these works. Besides, where is family mentioned in Neruda's poetry, seems more like a man's conflict with personal desire and passion...
Absolutely a serious problem in South America. Strong homophobic sentiments unfortunately exist in much of Africa and Asia too... however, one positive note is Spain's adoption of same sex marriages, surely something unexpected from a devoutly catholic country.
If you're interested in reading more by Felisberto Hernández, a bunch of stories are online at the Biblioteca Virtual Ciudad Seva. These include some quite short stories, such as "Muebles 'El Canario'".
Meanwhile, I wouldn't claim that the family is the only thread linking the books we've read, but I suggest it as a pretty good entry point. And NB that the course is indeed also structured both chronologically and in terms of (a diversity of) geographic region and genre!
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