Cuadernos Literarios

Partera de la historia. Violencia en literatura, performance y medios audiovisuales en Latinoamérica

Fernando Rodrïguez Mansila — 2023-12-01

On Animals and Internal Voices: Nine Poems by Chrystian Zegarra

Chrystian Zegarra — 2023-12-01

Chrystian Zegarra, a distinguished Peruvian scholar and professor based in the United States, crafts poetry that transports readers to unforeseen realms and situations. His work showcases a remarkable ability to embody diverse voices, transcending the already intricate manipulation of lyrical language. This selection of his poetry spans Zegarra’s recent past and present, tracing his poetic journey from its origins in the late 1990s with the Inmanencia poetic collective. It encompasses a collection of poems from Animal(x)s, published in 2021, alongside three pieces from his upcoming work, Parvedad de alpiste. Animal(x)s aligns with a growing literary trend that prominently features animals, challenging anthropocentric perspectives. The poems from Parvedad de alpiste reveal a poetic voice that observes scenes from an external vantage point. This poetic voice speaks about himself with uncompromising honesty, culminating each poem with profoundly impactful images that resonate long after reading.

Octavio Paz in India: Letters to Jean-Clarence Lambert

Enrique Bernales Albites — 2023-12-01

This article analyzes some aspects of the life and work of Octavio Paz in India, through the letters he wrote to his friend, the French translator and poet, Jean-Clarence Lambert. Much has been written about this fundamental stage in the life and work of Octavio Paz, during the years of his service as Ambassador to India, Ceylon (currently Sri Lanka) and Afghanistan, but the difference is that in this article we are going to stop and reflect on the beginning of that transformative journey that includes a personal crisis of the author, Nobel Prize winner in Literature (1990), until the much needed encounter with his French “muse”, the plastic artist Marie-José Tramini, after the divorce and the stormy relationship with the Mexican intellectual and novelist Elena Garro. All of this is deeply connected to the discovery and falling in love with a culture as rich and complex as that of
the Hindustani subcontinent. In this article it will be very clear that for the consolidation of Paz’s critical and artistic work it was essential to find that emotional and loving stability that comes with Marie-José. I argue that much of the quality of Paz’s production would be unthinkable without that loving relationship. Thus, in this article we will trace some essential and even unknown aspects of the life of the author of Labyrinth of Solitude (1950) and which are confided with great honesty and transparency by a subjectivity as sensitive as that of the Mexican poet and intellectual.

The False Heroism of the Macrocriminal Character in News of a Kidnapping (1996)

Jesús Miguel Delgado Del Aguila — 2023-12-01

In this article, we seek to clarify the resemantization of the concept of hero, based on the incorporation of Pablo Escobar, which is explicit in the literary work of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, News of a Kidnapping (1996). Considering this premise, it is notable that the text presents a duality in the construction of this character, either due to his criminal configuration, as well as his humanitarian side, since he not only resorted to criminal practices, such as homicide, blackmail, extortion, etc., but his deliberate support for the communes and his affiliation to the Catholic religion was also evident. To examine this dichotomy carefully, the methodology of Cultural Studies will be necessary, which on this occasion will consist of the interdisciplinary epistemological consolidation of Literature and sociology, whose purpose is to interpret and analyze some passages of the book in question.

Notes on Detective Fiction and the Novella in the Río de la Plata: on El modelo aéreo (2012) by Leonardo Sabbatella

Arturo Ruiz Mautino — 2023-12-01

This essay examines El modelo aéreo, a novel by Argentine author Leonardo Sabbatella, published in 2012. It explores key aspects of critical discourse on Latin American detective fiction, proposing that El modelo aéreo offers an alternative approach
to the detective genre. The analysis contrasts the novel with some ideas on the novella genre produced in the Río de la Plata region, while also examining its engagement with the structural elements of detective fiction. This engagement is assessed within the framework of post-autonomous literatures, as defined by Josefina Ludmer. Sabbatella’s novel, through its innovative approach to the actantial dynamics of noir fiction, provides a new reading model for the debate on autonomy versus post-autonomy in relation to the treatment of highly codified fictional genres.

Farce, Carnival and Court in Amor, gran laberinto by Sebastián Salazar Bondy

Luis Tadeo Valverde Molina — 2023-12-01

This article aims to explain the use of the farce subgenre in the play Amor, gran laberinto (farce in two acts and an epilogue) by Peruvian playwright Sebastián Salazar Bondy. We propose to contextualize the piece within the early years of a foundational generation for Peruvian dramaturgy in the mid-20th century, characterized by state institutional support and the tension between new dramaturgy and earlier aesthetic proposals. Additionally, we will delineate the aesthetic proposals of the farcical subgenre in theater to understand its particularities in relation to comedy and tragedy. Finally, we will analyze key scenes from
Amor, gran laberinto to illustrate the resources employed by the playwright in composing this farce. We conclude that Salazar Bondy conducts a unique dramaturgical experiment by utilizing the aesthetics of the grotesque to assess the limits of representation and characterization of characters in a farce that, through its theatrical resources, manages to express a dramatic conflict without committing to a singular interpretation.

The Dialogical Strategy in Sangama (1942) by Arturo Hernández

Williams Nicks Ventura Vásquez — 2023-12-01

The novelistic production of Arturo Hernandez (1903-1970) has allowed him to be considered a writer who explores and vindicates the Amazonian environment. The idiosyncrasy of the jungle space, the spirit of the Amazon, the flora and fauna, are perceived in Sangama (1942), Selva trágica (1954) and Bubinzana (1960). In the meticulous construction of the complex riverside environment, the use of dialogue can be highlighted as a poetic resource to portray the space, the oral interaction of the characters, as well as the Amazonian customs, beliefs and legends. For that, based on the approach of novelistic and theatrical semiology, proposed by María del Carmen Bobes Naves, this research aims to approach the dialogic portrait of Sangama. Novela original de la selva amazónica (1942). Specifically, the process of dialogue work will be analyzed in a particular segment of the novel: the moment when the character Chuya narrates the legend of the flute player.

Scars, Ironies and Resilience: Females Voices in The Daughters of Terror after the Peruvian Armed Conflict

Marcos Moscoso Garay — 2023-12-01

The internal armed conflict in Peru (1980-2000) stands as one of the most tragic episodes in its history, marked by violence from both subversive groups and the State, which inflicted severe suffering on the civilian population, particularly on economically marginalized women. This analysis examines Las hijas del terror, a poetry collection by Rocío Silva Santisteban, which amplifies the voices of women who were subjected to kidnapping and sexual violence during this period. Through an interpretive methodology, this study explores how the poems evoke not only sorrow and despair but also employ irony and
absurdity to critique power structures of the sexist, colonial and racist type. The concept of the “open scar” is introduced to reflect on resilience and the interconnectedness between victims and society. Specific poems, including “BavioLADA”, “Are You Afraid of Blood?”, “What Does Not Destroy Me Strengthens Me”, and “Chunniqwasi”, are analyzed to delve deeply into these themes.

El caso de Uchuraccay y la construcción de la memoria histórica a través de la ficción en Rupay

Pedro Carlos Espinoza Huaroto — 2023-12-01

The objective of our research is to help build a Peruvian historical memory based on the fictionalization of the elements of the Rupay comic strip, in particular the story around the Uchuraccay massacre, January 1983, which was adapted by Jesús Cossio, Luis Rossell and Alfredo Villar. This work needs to be analyzed from conceptual frameworks around history and literature. From this, the relationships between concepts such as historical memory (Maurice Halbwachs, Tzvetan Todorov, Elizabeth Jelin), fictionalization (Lubomír Doležel) and the elements of the language of the comic strip (Juan Acevedo, Daniele Barbieri, Scott McCloud) allow us to provide a novel literary aesthetic around the theme of terrorism in Peru. Based on the correlation of these concepts, it will be possible to demonstrate that the elements of the comic strip build a Peruvian historical memory around the events that occurred in Uchuraccay and that they are part of Rupay.

The evil in all of us. Alê Motta's four short stories

Manuel Barrós — 2023-12-01

In this opportunity, Manuel Barrós translates a selection of short stories by the Brazilian writer Alê Motta, originally published in Velhos [Old people] (2020). The selected short stories represent a significant part of its poetics: synthetic, ironic, of contemporary eloquence and uses popular language. Thus, the translator expands the panorama of Brazilian narrative available in Peru and Latin America.

Dreaming about the guillotine. Ademir Demarchi's ten poems

Manuel Barrós — 2023-12-01

In this opportunity, Manuel Barrós translates a selection of poems by Ademir Demarchi, originally published in the Gambiarra [Hack] (2018). Satire, intertextuality and the multiple relationships between poetry and politics are some characteristics of the poetics that the author constructed regarding a historical process of corruption in contemporary Brazil: from the dismissal of Dilma Rousseff to the imprisonment of Lula da Silva. It is a reading from poetic creation. Thus, the translator expands the panorama of Brazilian poetry available in Peru and Latin America.