The Image of the River in Latin/o American Literature: Written in the Water PDF
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The Image of the River in Latin/o American Literature Ecocritical Theory and Practice SeriesEditor:DouglasA.Vakoch,METI AdvisoryBoard BruceAllen,SeisenUniversity,Japan; HannesBergthaller, NationalChung-HsingUni- versity,Taiwan;ZéliaBora,FederalUniversityofParaíba,Brazil;IzabelBrandão,Feder- al University of Alagoas, Brazil; Byron Caminero-Santangelo, University of Kansas, USA; Simão Farias Almeida, Federal University of Roraima, Brazil; George Handley, Brigham Young University, USA; Isabel Hoving, Leiden University, The Netherlands; Idom Thomas Inyabri, University of Calabar, Nigeria; Serenella Iovino, University of Turin,Italy;DanielaKato,KyotoInstituteofTechnology,Japan;PetrKopecký,Univer- sityofOstrava,CzechRepublic;SerpilOppermann,HacettepeUniversity,Turkey;Chris- tianSchmitt-Kilb,UniversityofRostock,Germany;HeikeSchwarz,UniversityofAugs- burg, Germany; Murali Sivaramakrishnan, Pondicherry University, India; Scott Slovic, Universityof Idaho,USA;J.EtienneTerblanche, North-WestUniversity,South Africa; Julia Tofantšuk, Tallinn University, Estonia; Cheng Xiangzhan, Shandong University, China;HubertZapf,UniversityofAugsburg,Germany Ecocritical Theory and Practice highlights innovative scholarship at the interface of literary/cultural studies and the environment, seeking to foster an ongoing dialogue be- tweenacademicsandenvironmentalactivists. 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Rivero LEXINGTONBOOKS Lanham•Boulder•NewYork•London PublishedbyLexingtonBooks AnimprintofTheRowman&LittlefieldPublishingGroup,Inc. 4501ForbesBoulevard,Suite200,Lanham,Maryland20706 www.rowman.com UnitA,WhitacreMews,26-34StannaryStreet,LondonSE114AB Copyright©2018byLexingtonBooks ExcerptsfromLosfuegosdeSanTelmobyJoséPedroDíaz,©JoséPedroDíaz.Originallypublished byMinistryofEducationandCulture—ArtigasLibraryin2008.Reprintedbypermissionofthe estateofJoséPedroDíaz. ExcerptsfromStudiesinTranslations:JoséPedroDíaz’sSaintElmo’sFireandJuanCarlosOnet- ti’sTheFarewellsbyTimothyE.GuymonreprintedbypermissionofTimothyE.Guymon. ExcerptsfromArtistStatement(1999)aboutReconstruccióndelretratodePabloMíguez,courtesy oftheartistClaudiaFontes. CastillaLeopoldo.“Laredada.”Lacancióndelausente:Cuentos1976–1977,11–30.Rosario:Edito- rialCiudadGótica,2006.ReprintedbypermissionofLeopoldoCastilla. MempoGiardinelli,AnImpossibleBalance,trans.GustavoPellón(Newark,DC:JuandelaCuesta, 2009),29.ReprintedbypermissionofJuandelaCuestaandLinguaText,LLC. ReprintedfromTheYoungestDollbyRosarioFerrébypermissionoftheUniversityofNebraska Press.OriginallypublishedbyEditorialJoaguinMortiz,S.A.asPapelesdePandora,copyright1976 byRosarioFerré.Englishtranslationcopyright1991bytheUniversityofNebraskaPress. ExcerptsfromEllibroflotante,©LeonardoValencia,publishedin2006byParadisoEditores. ReprintedbypermissionofLeonardoValencia. Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedinanyformorbyany electronicormechanicalmeans,includinginformationstorageandretrievalsystems, withoutwrittenpermissionfromthepublisher,exceptbyareviewerwhomayquote passagesinareview. BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationInformationAvailable LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Names:Murphy,Jeanie,editor,author.|Rivero,ElizabethG.,editor,author. Title:TheimageoftheriverinLatin/oAmericanliterature:writteninthewater/editedbyJeanie MurphyandElizabethG.Rivero. Description:Lanham,Maryland:LexingtonBooks,2017.|Series:Ecocriticaltheoryandpractice| Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. Identifiers:LCCN2017049361(print)|LCCN2017053051(ebook)|ISBN9781498547307(elec- tronic)|ISBN9781498547291(cloth:alk.paper) Subjects:LCSH:LatinAmericanliterature--Historyandcriticism.|Riversinliterature.|Waterin literature.|Water--Symbolicaspects. Classification:LCCPQ7081(ebook)|LCCPQ7081.I3572017(print)|DDC860.9/36--dc23 LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2017049361 TMThepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirementsofAmerican NationalStandardforInformationSciencesPermanenceofPaperforPrintedLibrary Materials,ANSI/NISOZ39.48-1992. PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica Contents Introduction:WrittenintheWater:TheImageoftheRiverin Latin/oAmericanLiterature 1 ElizabethG.RiveroandJeanieMurphy I:MemoryofWater:RiversandthePoliticsandPraxisof Remembrance 13 1 AlongtheRiverofMemory:LosfuegosdeSanTelmobyJosé PedroDíaz 15 ElizabethG.Rivero 2 FloatingStatuesandStreamsofConsciousness:Memory WorkinArgentina’sRíodelaPlataandRíoSalí 35 BridgetV.Franco 3 From“ObstinateMemory”toExplosionsofRecollections: RiversasCulturalSitesofRemembrance 55 JuliaA.Kushigian II:RiversattheCrossroads:Borders,Land/Cityscapes,and SocialImaginariesasContestedSpaces 77 4 TheRiverasPoliticalQuagmire:MempoGiardinelli’sAn ImpossibleBalance 79 JeanieMurphy 5 RipplingBordersinLatinaLiterature 95 RebecaL.Hey-Colón 6 SocialandGeographicalLandscapes:TheRiveras MetaphorforFemaleSexuality 117 KathrynQuinn-Sánchez 7 MythandReality:ImagingtheRiverinEarlyColonial SpanishWritings 139 J.ManuelGómez 8 WritingtheRiverbanksinEllibroflotantedeCaytranDölphin byLeonardoValencia 165 RenataÉgüez Index 187 AbouttheContributors 191 v Introduction Written in the Water: The Image of the River in Latin/o American Literature Elizabeth G. Rivero and Jeanie Murphy This volume includes scholarly works that explore the use of the river imagery in Latin/o American literature from the colonial period to con- temporary works, creating a space in which to study both its literal and figurative meanings, associated as much with processes of a personal nature as with those of the collective experience and significant periods of transformation in the region. Although there are individual scholarly publications that discuss these themes, this book seeks to offer a more inclusive collection that,throughatranshistoricalandtransgeographical perspective,allowsus,fromthevantagepointofthetwenty-firstcentury, toreflectontherichanddynamicimageoftheriverand,byextension,on thevitalcontextofLatin/oAmerica,itspeopleandsocieties. Thedepictionofnaturalenvironmentshasbeenaconstantpreoccupa- tion of Latin/o American literature. From pre-Columbian narratives to postmodern,newmillenniumliterarymanifestations,thetropeofnature isapowerfulmetaphorthatreflectstheshiftingtimesinwhichtheywere produced.Throughtheanalysisofselectedtextsrangingfromthelitera- ture of discovery and conquest to late twentieth-century narratives, Becky Boling has pointed out that the conception of the natural world undergoes several modifications that are aligned with its contextual po- liticalandculturalpanorama.1Fromasimilarperspectiveandasamode of example, in this introduction we refer to five works that, besides underscoringthefluidityoftheperception ofnatureandbeingparadig- maticoftheirideologicalsettings,aremarkedbysignificantreferencesto water imagery: Christopher Columbus’s Diario [Journal] of his first voy- age(1492–1493),DomingoFaustinoSarmiento’sFacundo(1845),JoséEus- taquio Rivera´s La vorágine [The Vortex] (1924), Rómulo Gallegos´s Doña Bárbara(1929),andaselectionofshortstoriesfromEduardoGaleano´sEl librodelosabrazos[BookofEmbraces](1989).Fromtheconceptualization ofnatureasproviderofmarketablesuppliesinthewritingsoftheexplor- ersandconquerors,2throughitsperceptionaspropertyofthenewinde- pendentStatesinthefoundationaltexts3andasobstacletodevelopment 1 2 ElizabethG.RiveroandJeanieMurphy asconceivedintheregionalistnovels,4tothenotionofinterdependence between man and natural world in recent ecological writings,5 these se- lected works underscore the shifting ideological tenets of the Latin Americanworld. The literature of discovery and conquest emphasized the abundance ofnaturewhileperceivingitasaresource.6SincehisfirsttriptotheNew World in 1492, Christopher Columbus was overwhelmed by the beauty and bounty of its natural environment, which he described as “marve- lous.”7Withintherhetoricalapparatusoftravelliterature,inhisDiarioof thefirstvoyageandinhislettersheconstructeda“figurativegeography” that,inordertomaketheaccountsofhisjourneysmeaningfulandcom- prehensible to his intended audience, defined the relationship between thenewlyfoundlandsandtheold,familiarspaces.8Bydescribingthese environmentsthroughthediscoursepracticesofexplorationandpilgrim- age,9Columbuselaborateda“metaphoricalmapping”thatestablisheda certainwayofapprehendingandimaginingthem.10Bothnarrativeecon- omiesallowedhimtodealwiththeextraordinary11characterofthenew spaces.However,whilethepilgrimagegrammarbestsuitedthespiritual objective of the enterprise, the narrative of exploration adapted to the mercantilistideologythatinformedhisjourney.12 AsrecordedinhisDiarioofthefirstvoyage,uponhisencounterwith the first island that they touched on October 12, 1492, Columbus was amazed by the exuberance and splendor of the local flora,13 which he described in terms of its lack of resemblance to European species.14 In view of the materialistic side of the expedition, he tried to justify the enterpriseintheeyesoftheSpanishsovereignsbyhighlightingtheabun- dantrichesthatthisnaturalenvironmentcouldprovide.15Tothatend,he described the variety of the native herbs and trees, which he believed could provide valuable dyes and medicinal spices.16 When they arrived at the island of Cuba, being now more familiar with the new territories, Columbus’s attitude toward nature started to shift, as he found similar- itiesbetweentheautochthonousfloraandfaunaandthatofSpain.With the economic objective of the voyage in mind once again, he described the island’s numerous pine trees, which represented both a source of richesandofnavalmight.17BythetimetheyreachedHaiti,theAdmiral found a striking resemblance between the island and Castile in terms of itsclimate,geography,andlandandseaproduce.Hispaniola,the“Span- ish island” as Columbus named it, even surpasses Castile in beauty and abundance,anditisawelcomingplacewheretheSpanishcansmoothly acclimate.18Inshort,Columbus’sDiarioofthefirstvoyagedepictsafluc- tuatinganddynamicspacethatsynthesizeshisamazementinfrontofthe splendorous nature of the new territories, filtered by the ever-present utilitariangoalofhisexpedition. The nineteenth century brought about independence for the Latin Americannationsand,inthatsense,theirterritoriescould,onceagain,be Introduction 3 branded as the “New World.”19 Within their foundational narratives, in order to consolidate the new nations, nature needs to be contained and domesticated.20 Paradigmatic among the literary productions emanated from these young states is Argentinean intellectual and statesman Do- mingoFaustinoSarmiento’sFacundo.Producedwithintheframeworkof theEnlightenmentandRomanticism,Facundoelaboratesa“cartography” ofthenewnationinwhichthedepictedterritoriesandlandscapesareas much real as imagined spaces in their capacity as foundations for the cultural, social, political and economic organization of the novel State.21 With nature in the focal point, Sarmiento’s “mapping” of the vast and isolated lands aims to structure and set limits to those fascinating but unruly territories in an effort to ensure their governability and their progress.22 In other words, the “barbaric” nature of the Argentinean desert has to be “civilized” through its subjection to the precepts of cul- tureinordertoguaranteenotonlythepoliticalconsolidationofthenew- lyindependentnationbutalsoitsproductivity,therenderingofthefruits of the land.23 With this view in mind, Sarmiento casts his narrative as a brochure addressed to two different readerships.24 On the one hand, he elaborates a “didactic geography” aimed at Argentinean citizens and withthepurposeofpersuadingthemthat,inordertoknowthenation,it is essential to know the Argentine land.25 Interestingly enough, he con- sideredthatnavigatingitsnumerousriverswouldreducetheisolationof theterritoriesand,therefore,theirbarbarism.26Sarmientoclaimsthatthe efficient navigation of rivers would bring about the much-needed intel- lectual and commercial traffic between the city and the countryside,27 showing in this way his conviction that trade fosters the modernizing project and is the motor of industrial progress.28 On the other hand, he composeshisnarrativeasa“marketablegeography”intheefforttolure foreignreaders(especiallyEuropeanandNorthAmericanimmigrants)to come and populate the exuberant Argentine lands,29 thus bringing with themnewideasthatwouldshakeupthestagnancyoftradition.30 AsexemplifiedbyFacundo,therhetoricofnaturepermeatedthefoun- dationaldiscoursesofSpanishAmericasincenature,bothintheperspec- tive of European capitalists and the Creole elites that shaped the new republics, was the source of prospective wealth and the ground for eco- nomic growth and development.31 This cultural metaphor of nature tra- verses different periods and literary styles and is easily identified in the regionalist novels of the 1920s.32 In them, modernization and progress depended on the domination of man over nature, regarded as evil and primitive.33 Unfairly regarded by many critics as mere simplistic representations of life as manifested in a particular natural environment, the regional novelspresentanuanceddepictionoftherelationshipbetweenenviron- mentandcultureinSpanishAmerica.34Ratherthanofferinganidealized or bucolic image of rural life,35 they project the profound effects of
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