written by Horacio Quiroga
[I] 16-27
Summary:
On the day the father finally feels at ease letting his son go out into the woods alone, the son goes with his gun to hunt at 9 AM. He promises to return at noon. The father meanwhile continues to wander about the house; he is at ease, but not completely, as his son is his whole entire life.
He then has illusions that his son has died, but these are quickly dismissed. At around 10 AM, the father hears a shot in the forest, and thinks (hopefully) that his son has killed something. Noon arrives, then 12:30 PM …
The father leaves to look for his son. He yells out for his son, continually losing hope. He meets up with his son and talks with him …
But his son is just an illusion – the son died from a hunter’s trap. Sonríe de alucinada felicidad ... Pues ese padre va solo […] su hijo bien amado yace al sol, muerto desde las diez de la mañana (23).
The story reflects the dark, tragic life Quiroga lived. He, a pessimist, believed that we do not have control when we are fighting nature.
Themes:
-la decadencia del orden establecido y el descontrol
-la tenue línea entre lo real y lo ilusorio
-los cuentos del siglo XX
Showing posts with label real y ilusorio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label real y ilusorio. Show all posts
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
El Sur
written by Jorge Luis Borges
[I] pp. 143 - 154
Summary:
Juan Dahlmann is a man of two heritages, his parents heralding from Argentina and Germany, and that he is a bookkeeper. But this really isn't that important. What is important, though, is that Dahlmann has a farm in the South of Argentina that he wants to settle in.
One day in February 1939, something hit Dahlmann on the head while he was walking with the book One Thousand and One Nights. He walks back to his room, where a fever and some nightmares overtake him. He is taken to the hospital, un sanatorio, where he has surgery and endures great pain, both physically and psychologically. All he wants to do is go to his farm.
After noticing symmetries between his time before and after his hospital stay, Dahlmann takes a trip to the South of Buenos Aires. He sees a cat, and realizes that he doesn't know where he is: aquel contacto era ilusorio (147).
He goes to the train station where he boards the train, happy to be alive after his ordeal. He observes nature, eats, lives, and feels. He takes a nap, and dreams, before again realizing that perhaps he is not going to his farm: la soledad era perfecta y tal vez hostil, y Dahlmann pudo sospechar que viajaba al pasado y o sólo al Sur (149). Dahlmann then gets kicked off the train.
A series of parallels between the two worlds then emerge: the loud cafeteria, the customer who looks like a hopsital employee, a light brush on his face. He then decides to read his book, but others laugh at him. Then a compadrito from the rowdy crowd approaches him with a large dagger, and they are about to fight. Perhaps this is a way for Dahlmann to come to terms with his pain: Era como si el Sur hubiera resuelto que Dahlmann aceptara el duelo (153). He wants to fight, but is unable. Fortunately, the compadrito leaves, and Dahlmann leaves towards his farm, towards El Sur.
The story is somewhat autobiographical, and is a good example of desdoblamiento. The reader is left with a large degree of ambiguity in what is real and what is fake.
Translation:
http://www.akirarabelais.com/borges/elsur.html
Themes:
-el desdoblamiento y la dualidad de ser
-la tenue línea entre lo real y lo ilusorio
-el cuento fantástico del siglo XIX y del siglo XX
[I] pp. 143 - 154
Summary:
Juan Dahlmann is a man of two heritages, his parents heralding from Argentina and Germany, and that he is a bookkeeper. But this really isn't that important. What is important, though, is that Dahlmann has a farm in the South of Argentina that he wants to settle in.
One day in February 1939, something hit Dahlmann on the head while he was walking with the book One Thousand and One Nights. He walks back to his room, where a fever and some nightmares overtake him. He is taken to the hospital, un sanatorio, where he has surgery and endures great pain, both physically and psychologically. All he wants to do is go to his farm.
After noticing symmetries between his time before and after his hospital stay, Dahlmann takes a trip to the South of Buenos Aires. He sees a cat, and realizes that he doesn't know where he is: aquel contacto era ilusorio (147).
He goes to the train station where he boards the train, happy to be alive after his ordeal. He observes nature, eats, lives, and feels. He takes a nap, and dreams, before again realizing that perhaps he is not going to his farm: la soledad era perfecta y tal vez hostil, y Dahlmann pudo sospechar que viajaba al pasado y o sólo al Sur (149). Dahlmann then gets kicked off the train.
A series of parallels between the two worlds then emerge: the loud cafeteria, the customer who looks like a hopsital employee, a light brush on his face. He then decides to read his book, but others laugh at him. Then a compadrito from the rowdy crowd approaches him with a large dagger, and they are about to fight. Perhaps this is a way for Dahlmann to come to terms with his pain: Era como si el Sur hubiera resuelto que Dahlmann aceptara el duelo (153). He wants to fight, but is unable. Fortunately, the compadrito leaves, and Dahlmann leaves towards his farm, towards El Sur.
The story is somewhat autobiographical, and is a good example of desdoblamiento. The reader is left with a large degree of ambiguity in what is real and what is fake.
Translation:
http://www.akirarabelais.com/borges/elsur.html
Themes:
-el desdoblamiento y la dualidad de ser
-la tenue línea entre lo real y lo ilusorio
-el cuento fantástico del siglo XIX y del siglo XX
Friday, March 27, 2009
Chac Mool
written by Carlos Fuentes
[I] 190 – 205
Summary:
The narrator begins: Filiberto murió ahogado en Acapulco (191). He seems to know why he drowned – he was tempted to go, then swam too much for his age. Filiberto is to be transferred in his coffin via truck, and the narrator is going to deliver him. The narrator looks through Filiberto’s briefcase and finds his journal …
“Filiberto’s journal begins normally: he meets with a lawyer about his pension and dines in a café. He talks with his friend Pepe about religion and work, where someone died the water red.
“He also has an affinity for certain forms of indigenous Mexican art. He’s been looking for a reasonable replica of Chac Mool, the Mayan god of rain, which he finds in la Lagunilla. He is very skeptical of its originality – although it looks so elegant, it has tomato sauce smeared on it to sell its authenticity. He puts Chac Mool in his basement.
“The plumbing broke, putting water in the basement. Chac Mool becomes covered with moss. That night, Filiberto begins to hear moans from the basement; the night they stop, more rain water inundates the basement. Scraping off the moss was difficult – it seemed to have become part of the stone already. Also, the figure grew softer; the skeptical Filiberto thinks the statue was actually plaster. Later, though, he notices the figure is the texture of flesh, of rubber, and that Chac Mool has hair on its arms. Of this impossibility, Filiberto writes, “Tendré que ver a un médico, saber si es imaginación, o delirio, o qué, y deshacerme de ese maldito Chac Mool” (198).”
Filiberto’s handwriting deteriorates to that of a child here.
“What is real and what is imaginary? … the line between the two is indistinguishable. The Chac Mool has become smooth, elegant, and golden, almost as if indicating he is a God. He begins to awaken; one night, Filiberto opens his eyes to see a grotesque, noisome creature at his bed; entonces empezó a llover (200).”
In the real world, Filiberto is pinned with rumores de locura y aun robo (200).
“Chac Mool has fantastic stories about myths and his birth, but has an inhuman stench that emanates from flesh that isn’t flesh. He desires soap and sleeps in Filiberto’s bed.
“When the dry season begins, Chac Mool demands water; says Filiberto, debo reconcerlo: soy su prisionero (202). Chac Mool wears his clothes and is used to being obeyed. Filiberto discovers Chac Mool leaves the house at night to hunt for dogs, rats, and cats for food; later in the dry season, Filiberto is forced to order out rice with chicken. He also has to run trips to get water; if he tries to flee, he will be struck down by Chac Mool, also god of lightening. Filiberto also notices that Chac Mool eventually has to turn back into stone, that he is getting more irritable, and that he is falling into human temptations. Also, Chac Mool wouldn’t die and leave Filiberto alive; Filiberto thus must flee.
“He decides to flee to Acapulco at night; he plans to swim away with his little remaining money. He is sick of Chac Mool: a ver cuánto dura sin mis baldes (buckets) de agua (204).”
The diary of Filiberto ends, and the narrator arrives at the terminal. When he gets there, the door opens; a yellow Indian appears; his appearance is repulsive, his face is covered in powder, he reeks of cheap lotion, his lips are smeared with lipstick. This man (Chac Mool?) says: “Lo sé todo. Dígales a los hombres que lleven el cadaver al sótano” (205).
Translation:
http://web.mit.edu/jikatz/www/ChacMool.pdf
Themes:
-la decadencia del orden establecido y el descontrol
-la tenue línea entre lo real y lo ilusorio
-el cuento fantástico del siglo XIX y del siglo XX
[I] 190 – 205
Summary:
The narrator begins: Filiberto murió ahogado en Acapulco (191). He seems to know why he drowned – he was tempted to go, then swam too much for his age. Filiberto is to be transferred in his coffin via truck, and the narrator is going to deliver him. The narrator looks through Filiberto’s briefcase and finds his journal …
“Filiberto’s journal begins normally: he meets with a lawyer about his pension and dines in a café. He talks with his friend Pepe about religion and work, where someone died the water red.
“He also has an affinity for certain forms of indigenous Mexican art. He’s been looking for a reasonable replica of Chac Mool, the Mayan god of rain, which he finds in la Lagunilla. He is very skeptical of its originality – although it looks so elegant, it has tomato sauce smeared on it to sell its authenticity. He puts Chac Mool in his basement.
“The plumbing broke, putting water in the basement. Chac Mool becomes covered with moss. That night, Filiberto begins to hear moans from the basement; the night they stop, more rain water inundates the basement. Scraping off the moss was difficult – it seemed to have become part of the stone already. Also, the figure grew softer; the skeptical Filiberto thinks the statue was actually plaster. Later, though, he notices the figure is the texture of flesh, of rubber, and that Chac Mool has hair on its arms. Of this impossibility, Filiberto writes, “Tendré que ver a un médico, saber si es imaginación, o delirio, o qué, y deshacerme de ese maldito Chac Mool” (198).”
Filiberto’s handwriting deteriorates to that of a child here.
“What is real and what is imaginary? … the line between the two is indistinguishable. The Chac Mool has become smooth, elegant, and golden, almost as if indicating he is a God. He begins to awaken; one night, Filiberto opens his eyes to see a grotesque, noisome creature at his bed; entonces empezó a llover (200).”
In the real world, Filiberto is pinned with rumores de locura y aun robo (200).
“Chac Mool has fantastic stories about myths and his birth, but has an inhuman stench that emanates from flesh that isn’t flesh. He desires soap and sleeps in Filiberto’s bed.
“When the dry season begins, Chac Mool demands water; says Filiberto, debo reconcerlo: soy su prisionero (202). Chac Mool wears his clothes and is used to being obeyed. Filiberto discovers Chac Mool leaves the house at night to hunt for dogs, rats, and cats for food; later in the dry season, Filiberto is forced to order out rice with chicken. He also has to run trips to get water; if he tries to flee, he will be struck down by Chac Mool, also god of lightening. Filiberto also notices that Chac Mool eventually has to turn back into stone, that he is getting more irritable, and that he is falling into human temptations. Also, Chac Mool wouldn’t die and leave Filiberto alive; Filiberto thus must flee.
“He decides to flee to Acapulco at night; he plans to swim away with his little remaining money. He is sick of Chac Mool: a ver cuánto dura sin mis baldes (buckets) de agua (204).”
The diary of Filiberto ends, and the narrator arrives at the terminal. When he gets there, the door opens; a yellow Indian appears; his appearance is repulsive, his face is covered in powder, he reeks of cheap lotion, his lips are smeared with lipstick. This man (Chac Mool?) says: “Lo sé todo. Dígales a los hombres que lleven el cadaver al sótano” (205).
Translation:
http://web.mit.edu/jikatz/www/ChacMool.pdf
Themes:
-la decadencia del orden establecido y el descontrol
-la tenue línea entre lo real y lo ilusorio
-el cuento fantástico del siglo XIX y del siglo XX
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
La noche boca arriba
written by Julio Cortázar
[I] pp. 177 - 189
Summary:
An unnamed man is in the modern world, riding his motorcycle through town. He swerves out of the path of a woman crossing the street, but as a consequence, goes unconscious. Fue como dormirse de golpe. (178) When he comes to, he realizes he is bloody, his knee is hurt, his right arm is in pain, and his eyebrow has a large gash. He is taken to the hospital, where a hombre de blanco approaches him con algo que le brillaba en la mano (180)...
He is in a strange dream, with fragrances. Y todo era tan natural, tenía que huir de los aztecas que andaban a caza (hunt) de hombre, y su única probabilidad era la de esconderse en lo más denso de la selva […que] los motecas conocían (180). He stands there, nervous from unexpected sounds around him, clutching his stone dagger. When he smells the smell he fears most, he wakes up with a fright.
He just wakes up, and finds himself thirsty and in a cast. He has la fiebre (182), allowing him to fall in and out of consciousness.
He is again in confusion, but soon realizes that la guerra florida había empezado for tres días y tres noches (183). He kills some enemies that attack him, but is eventually caught with a rope.
The patients at the hospital are convinced it is la fiebre, but it is more. The blurred line between reality and dream continues: se oía toser, respirar fuerte, a veces un diálogo en voz baja (184), ¿Quién hubiera pensado que la cosa iba a acabar así? (184). He then feels like he has been transported through time and space: tenía la sensación de que ese hueco, esa nada, había durado una eternidad. No, ni siquiera tiempo, más bien como si en ese hueco él hubiera pasado a través de algo o recorrido distancias inmensas (185).
He awakens on his back, naked and tied in ropes. He hears the rituals of the aztecas and knows he is ascending the steps of the sacrifice. He knows he will be carried to the top where he will be sacrificed. He wishes this recurring dream will end.
He sits in the hospital, glad that he is awake. Yet he cannot manage to keep his eyes open; he sleeps and returns to being tied up, about to have his heart ripped out. At this point, he realizes that his “dream” is actually his reality; when he is about to die, ahora sabía que no iba a despertarse (188). Alguien se le había acercado con un cuchillo en la mano, a él tendido boca arriba, a él boca arriba con los ojos cerrados entre las hogueras (188-9). He dies.
Translation:
http://deeblog.squarespace.com/journal/2008/5/9/la-noche-boca-arriba-part-1.html
Movie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX+auFxEskM
Themes:
-desdoblamiento y dualidad de ser
-la tenue línea entre lo real y lo ilusorio
-el cuento fantastic del siglo XIX y siglo XX
[I] pp. 177 - 189
Summary:
An unnamed man is in the modern world, riding his motorcycle through town. He swerves out of the path of a woman crossing the street, but as a consequence, goes unconscious. Fue como dormirse de golpe. (178) When he comes to, he realizes he is bloody, his knee is hurt, his right arm is in pain, and his eyebrow has a large gash. He is taken to the hospital, where a hombre de blanco approaches him con algo que le brillaba en la mano (180)...
He is in a strange dream, with fragrances. Y todo era tan natural, tenía que huir de los aztecas que andaban a caza (hunt) de hombre, y su única probabilidad era la de esconderse en lo más denso de la selva […que] los motecas conocían (180). He stands there, nervous from unexpected sounds around him, clutching his stone dagger. When he smells the smell he fears most, he wakes up with a fright.
He just wakes up, and finds himself thirsty and in a cast. He has la fiebre (182), allowing him to fall in and out of consciousness.
He is again in confusion, but soon realizes that la guerra florida había empezado for tres días y tres noches (183). He kills some enemies that attack him, but is eventually caught with a rope.
The patients at the hospital are convinced it is la fiebre, but it is more. The blurred line between reality and dream continues: se oía toser, respirar fuerte, a veces un diálogo en voz baja (184), ¿Quién hubiera pensado que la cosa iba a acabar así? (184). He then feels like he has been transported through time and space: tenía la sensación de que ese hueco, esa nada, había durado una eternidad. No, ni siquiera tiempo, más bien como si en ese hueco él hubiera pasado a través de algo o recorrido distancias inmensas (185).
He awakens on his back, naked and tied in ropes. He hears the rituals of the aztecas and knows he is ascending the steps of the sacrifice. He knows he will be carried to the top where he will be sacrificed. He wishes this recurring dream will end.
He sits in the hospital, glad that he is awake. Yet he cannot manage to keep his eyes open; he sleeps and returns to being tied up, about to have his heart ripped out. At this point, he realizes that his “dream” is actually his reality; when he is about to die, ahora sabía que no iba a despertarse (188). Alguien se le había acercado con un cuchillo en la mano, a él tendido boca arriba, a él boca arriba con los ojos cerrados entre las hogueras (188-9). He dies.
Translation:
http://deeblog.squarespace.com/journal/2008/5/9/la-noche-boca-arriba-part-1.html
Movie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX+auFxEskM
Themes:
-desdoblamiento y dualidad de ser
-la tenue línea entre lo real y lo ilusorio
-el cuento fantastic del siglo XIX y siglo XX
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