Critical survey of poetry. Latin American poets PDF
Preview Critical survey of poetry. Latin American poets
Critical Survey of Poetry Latin American Poets Editor Rosemary M. Canfield Reisman Charleston Southern University Salem Press A Division of EBSCO Publishing, Ipswich, Massachusetts Cover photo: Octavio Paz(© William Coupon/CORBIS) Copyright © 2012, by Salem Press, A Division of EBSCO Publishing, Inc. Allrightsinthisbookarereserved.Nopartofthisworkmaybeusedorreproducedin anymannerwhatsoeverortransmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronicorme- chanical,includingphotocopy,recording,oranyinformationstorageandretrievalsys- tem,withoutwrittenpermissionfromthecopyrightownerexceptinthecaseofbrief quotationsembodiedincriticalarticlesandreviewsorinthecopyingofimagesdeemed tobefreelylicensedorinthepublicdomain.Forinformationaddressthepublisher,Sa- lem Press, at [email protected]. ISBN: 978-1-58765-915-7 ISBN: 978-1-42983-664-4 CONTENTS Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv LatinAmericanPoetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 ClaribelAlegría. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 JorgeLuisBorges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 ErnestoCardenal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 SorJuanaInésdelaCruz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 RubénDarío. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 CarlosDrummonddeAndrade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 EnriqueGonzálezMartínez . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 JoséHernández . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 GabrielaMistral . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 PabloNeruda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 NicanorParra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 OctavioPaz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 AlfonsoReyes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 CésarVallejo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 DaisyZamora . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 ChecklistforExplicatingaPoem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 Bibliography. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 GuidetoOnlineResources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 GeographicalIndex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 CategoryIndex. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 SubjectIndex. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 iii CONTRIBUTORS Carole A. Champagne Robert Hauptman Charles A. Perrone University of Maryland- St. Cloud State University University of Florida Eastern Shore Alfred W. Jensen Jack Shreve Rogelio A. de la Torre University of Idaho-Moscow Allegany Community Indiana University at South College Bend Rebecca Kuzins Pasadena, California Paul Siegrist Lee Hunt Dowling Fort Hays State University University of Houston Linda Ledford-Miller University of Scranton Kenneth A. Stackhouse Desiree Dreeuws Virginia Commonwealth Sunland, California David Nerkle University Washington, D.C. William L. Felker James Whitlark Yellow Springs, Ohio Caryn E. Neumann Texas Tech University Miami University of Ohio iv LATIN AMERICAN POETRY The panorama of Latin American poetry spans five hundred years, from the six- teenthtothetwenty-firstcenturies.Thefirst“Renaissance”intheNewWorld(1492- 1556)wastheeraofdiscovery,exploration,conquest,andcolonizationunderthereign oftheSpanishmonarchsFerdinandandIsabelaandlaterCarlosV.TheoriginsofLatin Americanliteraturearefoundinthechroniclesoftheseevents,narratedbySpanishsol- diersormissionaries.TheeraofcolonizationduringthereignofPhilipII(1556-1598) wasasecondRenaissanceandtheperiodoftheCounter-Reformation.Duringthistime, AlonsodeErcillayZúñiga(1533-1594)wrotethefirstepicpoem,LaAraucana(1569- 1589). ThenativesaganarratedthewarsbetweentheSpanishconquistadors andthe AraucanoIndiansofChile.ThisisthefirsttrulypoeticliteraryworkwithanAmerican theme. Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz During the period of the Austrian Habsburg kings (1598-1701), thisRenaissance wasgraduallyreplacedbytheBaroqueera.WhiletheGoldenAgeofSpanishletters wasdecliningintheOldWorld,SorJuanaInésdelaCruz(1648-1695)reignedsupreme as the queen of colonial letters.She was the major poet during the colonial era. The autodidacticnun,whowroteplaysandproseaswellaspoetry,wasknownasthetenth muse,ladécimamusa.Herpoeticmasterpiece,theautobiographical“Primerosueño,” combinesBaroqueelementswithamasteryofSpanishandclassicallanguagesandher uniquestyle.Hershorterpoems,withtheirlyricalversephrasingandnativethemes, capturepopularMexicanculture.Someofhermostfamoussonnetsare“Estequeves, engañocolorido”(whatyousee[is]darkdeception),“¿Enperseguirme,mundo, qué interesas?”(inpursuingme,world,whatinterestsyou?),“Détente,sombrademibien esquivo” (stop, shadow of my elusive love), and “Esta tarde, mi bien, cuando te hablaba”(thisafternoon,love,whenIspoketoyou).Hermostrecognizedredondillas (or“roundelays,”stanzasoffouroctosyllabiclinesrhymingabba)are“Esteamoroso tormento” (this tormented love) and “Hombres necios” (“Foolish Men”). Her charm andbrilliancewonhermanywealthyandroyalpatrons.Whilesheinitiallyaccepted theiradmiration,shediedarecluseafterrejectingherliterarycareeranddenouncingher precocious fame and vain pursuits. Neoclassicism DuringtheWarsofIndependence(1808-1826),NeoclassicismandotherFrenchin- fluencesdominatedliteraryproduction.AndrésBello(1781-1865)isbetterknownfor hisprose,buthewasalsoaprolificversewriterwhofollowedtheEuropeanneoclassical movement.Hewrotethepoems“Alocuciónalapoesía”and“Laagriculturaenlazona 1 Latin American Poetry Critical Survey of Poetry tórida” with American themes and European style. José Maria Heredia (1803-1839) wasaCubanexiledinMexicoandtheUnitedStateswhowroteaboutthebeautyofthe countriesthatadoptedhim.RomanticismcharacterizedhispoemsaboutNiagaraFalls, “Niágara,”Aztecruins,“EnelTeocallideCholula,”andotherwonderssuchasastorm in“Enunatempestad.”Hisode“Himnoaundesterrado”relateshisexperienceasanex- ileinadoptednations. GertrudisGómezdeAvellaneda(1814-1873)leftCubatowriteinSpainbecauseof thegreaterfreedomshecouldenjoythereasafemalepoet.Romanticisminfluencedher poemsaboutlove,God,andherhomeland,suchas“Nochedeinsomnioyelalba”(night of insomnia and dawn), “Al partir” (upon leaving), and “Amor y orgullo” (love and pride). José Hernández (1834-1886) wrote about theArgentinean gauchos in ElGaucho MartínFierro(1872;TheGauchoMartinFierro,1935)andLavueltadeMartínFierro (1879; The Return of Martin Fierro, 1935; included in The Gaucho Martin Fierro, 1935). His Romantic verses followed the structures and lyrical rhythms of popular songsthatromanticizedthegauchosasadyingbreedinthewakeofindustrialization. Modernismo By1875,therootsofapoeticmovementhadgrownintoanewpoeticera.TheLatin AmericanModernistaswereinnovatorsandcriticsoftheconservativethematicandsty- listic structures that persisted from the colonial period. In Latin American society, globalindustrialization,capitalism,NorthAmericanculturalandeconomicimperial- ism,andSpain’slossofallitscolonieshadasignificantimpactonartisticdevelopment. A definitivemoment intheprogress of themovement resulted from José Martí’s publicationofIsmaelilloin1882.Thepoetandhero,whodiedfightingforCubaninde- pendence (1853-1895), published Versos libres that same year, a collection that fol- lowedVersossencillos,publishedin1881.Allthreecollectionscharacterizedtheexis- tentialangstoftheeraastheyexperimentedwithnewlyricalformsandthemes.Martí approachedlanguageasasculptorapproachesclayandmoldedwordsintonewforms. HisinnovationshaveallowedhimtobeconsideredthefirstgreatvisionaryLatinAmer- icanpoetashesoughttodefineNuestraAmérica,aLatinAmericanidentitystruggling forartisticaswellaspoliticalandeconomicindependence.Throughoutthemovement, the anguish, emptiness, and uncertainty of modernity provided a unifying thread for poets seeking innovation. TheMexicanmodernistManuelGutierrezNájera(1859-1895)wasajournalistre- nownedforhisprosewritingsinhisowntime.HefoundedLaRevistaAzul,aliteraryre- viewthatpromotedModernismothroughoutLatinAmerica.HiscontemporaryRubén Darío(1867-1916),however,definedtheModernistapoetic.Darío’spoetrywasareac- tion to the decadence of Romanticism in which he sought a unique voice while reinvigoratingtheSpanishlanguage.Heledamovementthatborrowedthemespopu- 2 Latin American Poets Latin American Poetry larizedbytheEuropeanRomanticsandstylisticmodelsoftheFrenchParnassianmove- ment.Daríonotonlywasaninstigatorandinitiatorofthevindicationofhislanguage, butalsoservedasabridgetothesecondstageofModernismo.HisAzul(1888;blue)and Cantosdevidayesperanza,Loscisnes,yotrospoemas(1905;songsoflifeandhope, theswans,andotherpoems)representDarío’sdynamicstyle,respectforbeauty,search forharmoniouswords,andcelebrationofpleasure.DespitetheDecadenceofhislater poetrycollections,Daríomaintainedconfidenceinthesavingpowerofartanditsuseto protest against social and historical injustices and resolve existential enigmas. The Modernistas defended humanism in the face of economic progress and international imperialism, which devaluated art. They elevated art as an end in itself. LeopoldoLugones(1874-1938) wasthemajorArgentineanModernistapoet.His poems “Delectación morosa,” “Emoción aldeana,” and “Divagación lunar” lament ephemeral beauty captured and immortalized by perfectly placed words. Alfonsina Storni(1892-1938)wasinfluencedbypostmodernisttendencies.Herintenseverseex- perimentedwithSymbolismandothertwentiethcenturyinnovations.Hervividsensual poems include “Tú me quieres blanca,” “Epitafio para mi tumba,” “Voy a dormir,” “Hombrepequeñito,”and“Fieradeamor.”TheUruguayanDelmiraAgustini(1886- 1914)wroteintenselyemotionalanderoticpoemsthathighlightedthedualitiesofhu- mannature.Pleasureandpain,goodandevil,loveanddeathcreateandmaintainverbal tension. These opposites struggle for dominance in poems such as “La musa,” “Ex- plosión,” and “El vampiro.” Allof theseindividualelementscometogetherinthesepoets’faithintheartistic poweroftheword.Thisautonomousaestheticpoweropposedthefindesiglo(turnof thecentury)angstresultingfromindustrialism,positivism,andcompetingideologies. While reflecting on their predecessors, the Modernistas created original verse with uniqueusageofsometimesarchaicorexoticwords.Thelanguagewassometimesluxu- riousandsensual,adaptingclassicalandBaroqueusage,fromelementsoftheParnas- sianstothoseofthePre-RaphaelitestotheArtNouveauandEuropeanSymbolistmove- ments and tendencies of decadent Romanticism. The symbolic impact of words characterized the movement as a whole. This all-encompassing factor defines the movementanditsexistentialnature.Thispoetryisthelivingexpressionofaneraof spiritualcrises,personalandsocietalanguish,anduncertaintyaboutthefutureofartas well as humanity’s direction as it embarked upon the twentieth century. Postmodernism and the Vanguard NoexactdatemarksthetransitionfromLatinAmericanmodernismtopostmodern- ismortoavanguardmovement.Acombinationofhistoricalandsocietalfactorsinflu- encedtheartisticdevelopmentofindividualLatinAmericancountries.Inthefirsttwo decadesofthetwentiethcentury,WorldWarIandtheMexicanRevolutioninterrupted artisticandliteraryexchangebetweentheOldWorldmodelsandtheNewWorldinno- 3 Latin American Poetry Critical Survey of Poetry vators.Theurbanbourgeoisie,whowerepatronsofthearts,weredisplaced.TheUnited StateshadgraduallyreplacedtheEuropeanmastersinscienceandindustryaswellas politics, and its dominance permeated all levels of Latin American society. Altazor (wr. 1919, pb. 1931), by Chilean Vicente Huidobro (1893-1948), marks a break with the past. Huidobro originated stylistic practices never seen before in Latin Americanpoetry.Increacionismo,hispersonalversionofcreationism,hesoughttocre- ateapoemthewaynaturemadeatree.Hiswords,investedwithautonomouslinguistic and symbolic significance, reinvent themselves by creating a world apart from other words.Theyareantilyrical,intellectual,anddisconnectedfromemotionalandspiritual experience.Nevertheless,Huidobro’sworld,createdbyhisuniqueuseofwords,wasa human creation because in it the poet experiences alienation and existential angst. Huidobro’spoems“Artepoética,”“Depart,”and“Marino”voicehisdespairinisolation. Huidobrohadasignificantinfluenceonyoungerpoets,particularlyinhisdevelop- mentofaschoolofthoughtthatcenteredonthetheoryofUltraísmo,whichattemptedto constructalternativelinguisticchoicestothoseofferedbytheexternalworld.Ultraísmo synthesized Latin American with Spanish and European tendencies. AmongthoseinfluencedbyUltraísmowereJorgeLuisBorges(1899-1986),andin fact,Borgesbecameitsmainproponent.Whilehisshortstorieshaverepeatedlycaused himtobenominatedfortheNobelPrizeinLiterature,hispoetryrevealsalinguisticex- pertiseandlyricalgeniusunparalleledbyhiscontemporaries.Hebelievedthatlyricism andmetaphysicsunitedtojustifythemeansofthepoeticprocess.Thisfusionprovides thegenesisofhismostrepresentativepoems,“EverythingandNothing,”“Everness,” “Laberinto,” “Dreamtigers,” and “Borges y yo.” ThePeruvianCésarVallejo(1892-1938)developedauniqueanddistinctivepoetic voice.HisLosheraldosnegros(1918;TheBlackHeralds,1990),Trilce(1922;English translation,1973),andPoemashumanos(1939;HumanPoems,1968)demonstratethe impossibilityofmutualcommunicationandcomprehension,theabsurdityofthehuman condition, and the inevitability of death. In1945,GabrielaMistral(1889-1957)wasthefirstLatinAmericanwritertoreceive theNobelPrizeinLiterature.Herversesechothefolksongsandtraditionalballadsof hernativeChile,theCaribbean,andMexico.Theynaturallyblendnativedialectswith Castilian in a lyrical fusion. Some of her best poems include “Sonetos a la muerte,” “Todos íbamos a ser reinas,” “Pan,” and “Cosas.” Mistral’scountrymanPabloNeruda(1904-1973)alsowontheNobelPrizeinLitera- ture,in1971.DuringhisformativeyearshewasinfluencedbyModernismo,experi- mentingwithvariousstyleswhileservingasaninternationaldiplomat.Thelaststageof hispoetrywasmarkedbydidacticismandpoliticalthemes,andhewasexiledforhisac- tivityintheCommunistParty.Nerudasoughttocreateaforumfor“impure”poetrythat encompassedallexperience.HisCantogeneral(1950;partialtranslationinLettheRail SplitterAwake,andOtherPoems,1951;fulltranslationasCantoGeneral,1991)voiced 4 Latin American Poets Latin American Poetry hissolidaritywithhumanityinhispoliticalandpoeticconversion.Odaselementales (1954;TheElementalOdes,1961)continuedhismissionofsolidaritywiththehumblest membersofcreation.OtherlandmarkcollectionsincludeLosversosdelcapitán(1952; TheCaptain’sVerses,1972)andCiensonetosdeamor(1959;OneHundredLoveSon- nets, 1986). Neruda believed that America and clarity should be one and the same. TheMexicanliterarygenerationknownastheTallerwasledbyOctavioPaz(1914- 1998).HewasawardedtheNobelPrizeinLiteraturein1990forhisbrilliantproseand poetrythatdefinedtheMexicancultureandconnecteditsisolationanduniversalityto othercultures.HislandmarkanalysisofpoetictheoryisproposedinElarcoylalira (1956;TheBowandtheLyre,1973).Thepoeticevolutionoflinguisticprogressioncon- sidered“signsinrotation”culminatedinPiedradesol(1957;SunStone,1963)andsyn- thesizedalltwentiethcenturypoetictheoriesintoahighlyoriginalyetdistinctlyMexi- canwork.Representativepoemsinclude“Himnoentreruinas,”“Vientoentero,”and “La poesía.” TheChileanpoetNicanorParra(born1914)developedauniqueyetpopularstyle. Hecalledhispoemsantipoemasfortheirsuper-realism,sarcasm,self-criticism,andhu- mor.Parra’spoetryspeakstothemassesandrejectspretension,asthepoetrevitalizes languageandinnovateswithwordsinaction.Hismasterwork,Poemasyantipoemas (1954; Poems and Antipoems, 1967), epitomizes antirhetorical and antimetaphorical freeverse.“Soliloquiodelindividuo”and“Recuerdosdejuventud”arerepresentative. The work of Sara de Ibañez (1910-1981) represents the antithesisof fellow Uru- guayanAgustini.Herintellectualandmetaphysicalthemesandneoclassicalstyleal- lude to the poetry of Sor Juana and Golden Age masters such as Spain’s Luis de GóngorayArgote.Loveanddeathareanalyzedin“Islaenlatierra,”“Islaenlaluz,” “Liras,” and “Soliloquios del Soldado.” The“impure”poetryofErnestoCardenal(born1925)unitespoliticaluglinessand thebeautyoftheimagination.Itischaracterizedbyexteriorismo,atechniquethatincor- poratespropaganda,soundbites,advertisements,andfragmentsofpopularcultureinto poetrythatseekstoconvertandenlighten.Theaestheticvalueofthesepoemsisnot overshadowed bytheirpoliticalandspiritualmessage.Representativecollectionsin- cludeLahoraO(1960),Salmos(1967;ThePsalmsofStruggleandLiberation,1971), OraciónporMarilynMonroe,yotrospoemas(1965;MarilynMonroe,andOtherPo- ems,1975),andCánticocósmico(1989;TheMusicoftheSpheres,1990;alsoknownas Cosmic Canticle). RosarioCastellanos(1925-1974)isbestknownforhernovelsandessaysaboutso- cialinjusticeinhernativeChiapas.Becauseshefocusedonthestatusofwomenwithin theMayancultureandwithinMexicansocietyasawhole,shewasconsideredafemi- nist.Herpoetryandproseareconcernedwiththehumancondition,notonlywiththe plight of women. Her most representative poems are “Autorretrato,” “Entrevista de Prensa,” and “Se habla de Gabriel.” 5
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