You can find most of the required tradiciones online here. One of them ("Los siete pelos del diablo") wasn't there, but I found it here.
Overall, not a bad read! They're pretty short and somewhat interesting.
Sobre el autor y la obra
-
Ricardo
Palma
o
Vida:
1833-1919, Peru
o
Liberal
political views
o
Tomaba en serio
los derechos de la conciencia libre y de la soberanía popular y los valores
morales de bondad, honradez y justicia
o He was the
assistant director of the Peruvian National Library
o
As a writer, he’s got a tongue-in-cheek tone,
but doesn’t necessarily go as far as satire
-
This work is a compendium/collection of various
separate writings, which originally appeared individually in newspapers and
magazines
-
With this work, he created a new genre, the
“tradición” – They are short stories of historical fiction that relate events
based on historical fact and that are descriptive of the way people lived in
different moments in Peruvian history.
Contexto político/social
-
Peru-Chile War of the Pacific: 1879-1883
-
Palma was writing relatively soon after gaining
independence. Lima (the capital city) was still very colonial, rather than
republican.
-
Peru had a really tumultuous political situation
after independence – dictators, military-based governments, absence of a solid
ruling class (power of estancieros/gauchos),
many violent shifts in presidential control. The country was stabilized
somewhat (temporarily) starting in 1845 with the rule of General Ramón
Castilla. However, all during Palma’s life, the government was uneasy.
COMPS
-
From chronicle to novel in Spanish-America. The
development of the narrative (novelistic elements such as dialogue, character
development, interpolated narratives) as portrayed in the works of some of the Cronistas of the XVIth and XVIIth
centuries and continuing on through the XIXth century (Sigüenza y Góngora, Fernández
de Lizardi, Echeverría, Isaacs, Palma).
-
Proyectos
nacionales e identidades
Key characteristics of the Tradiciones
(Wikipedia)
-
Use
of popular language full of proverbs, sayings, songs and verses.
-
Some
stories are based on historical events that are backed up by archives or
documents (Palma was librarian of the Biblioteca Nacional del Perú)
-
Other
stories with no firm historical basis are used to explain facts, such as the
names of streets and houses in Lima.
-
Oral
tone, often containing a dialog with the reader. (The writer sometimes refers
to himself in the third person plural).
-
Critique
of political, social, and religious institutions of the era.
-
Mostly
set in Lima, but with a significant portion of the stories set in the rest of
what used to be the Viceroyalty of Peru.
What Franco says about the Tradiciones
(Chapter 2)
-
He was famous as the inventor of an original
genre, the tradiciones, which are
short historical anecdotes that “covered every period of Peruvian history from
pre-conquest times to the period in which he was writing” (68)
-
His tradiciones
were published first in newspapers and then in a series of books
-
“Unlike the writers of historical novels, he
does not preach nationalism in the tradiciones;
at the same time, his correspondence reveals a man who was deeply concerned
with the lack of national spirit which he witnessed during the Peruvian-Chilean
war” (68)
-
Idea of author standing at a distance and
allowing the reader to draw his own conclusion from the tale (69)
-
Best of the tradiciones
are set in period of the Viceroys; Palma’s attraction to the formality and
order of the colonial period (69)
-
Entertaining and witty feel to the anecdotes
(70)
Notes from the introduction of A’s edition of the text
-
Huge effect of the Peru-Chile War of the Pacific
– they destroyed the Peruvian National Library (low blow, yo!)
-
Palma’s new genre, the “tradition” – combination
of historical fact and invention expressed in the vernacular speech of the
inhabitants of Lima
-
Comic sensibility of Lima’s criollo, whose penchant for irony and satire is well known in
Peruvian culture and literary history
-
Use of popular speech with the idea of building
and maintaining a national historical memory/identity
-
Irreverent approach to portraying characters and
events from Peru’s colonial past
-
It’s hard to truly define the genre of the
“tradición”; it’s a hybrid narrative
-
Satiric nature of the “tradición”
-
Importance of orality – use of colloquialisms and popular speech
-
Important role of the tradiciones in the creation of national memory/identity
-
Palma was a romantic in his youth, but rejects
romanticism in his later years (yet it
seems to influence somewhat in these stories)
Temas/ideas importantes
-
Estilo de escritura
o
Uses a mischievous, tongue-in-cheek tone; almost
picaresque
o
Frequent use of colloquialisms and regional
expressions
o
Use of popular and American language
o
Makes himself a reliable narrator – says he’s
retelling a popular story, or quotes from “more reliable” sources
o
Awareness of reader, of the fact that he has an
audience
-
Genre
o
Combines elements from many genres in order to
create a new genre, the tradición:
the historical novel, the cuadro de costumbres, the legend, and the short story
o
Fact and fiction mix freely
-
Romanticism (Influence)
o
Interest in capturing the past
o
Focus on individual – emphasis on the endless
resourcefulness and idiosyncrasy of the human individual
o
Combination of genre / lack of clarity of genre
– mix of truth and fiction
o
Original/creative/personalized writing style –
popular and American language
-
Orality
o
Use of
colloquialisms and popular speech
o
Idea of recounting some popular stories (as
indicated in the introduction to the story “El alcalde de Paucarrolla”)
-
Gender
o
Women can be good leaders; example of wife of
viceroy in “Beba, padre, que le da la vida”
o
Women
can be clever – “Beba, padre,” “El latín de una limeña”
-
Social commentary
o
Describes how people are (influence of
costumbrismo)
-
Political commentary
o
Necessity of fairness/justice in order to be a
good political leader (“El alcalde de Paucarrolla”)
-
Religious commentary
o
Fascination
with the devil (“Los siete pelos del Diablo,” “El alcalde de Paucarrolla”)
o
Idea that society does better with some extent
of religious discipline (“El alcalde de Paucarrolla”)
Notes from the different tradiciones
|
“Apocalíptica”
o
Dios
quiere inaugurar el Juicio Final y usa Vicente Ferrer (un revolucionario) con
una trompeta para sonar el final
o
El
Juicio Final no puede comenzar porque hay gente de un pueblo que no viene: la
gente de Lima
o
Ferrer
dice que los limeños no se levantan para nada
o
Por
eso los limeños no sufrirán en el Juicio Final porque Dios los ignorará
o
Alaba
a la Santa Pereza
“Los siete pelos del Diablo”
-
A colonel tells his lieutenant that he has to be
locked up for 24 hours as a punishment for having shown several of the seven
hairs of the devil. The lieutenant doesn’t understand this colloquial/popular
expression (“frase que ya había oído en boca de viejas”), so this story
explains it.
-
When the devil caused issues in heaven, God
kicked him out of heaven and he fell down to earth. When the devil saw men,
what he was most curious about was their moustache; he wanted to have one.
-
The devil tried everything to grow a moustache –
special creams, etc. He says he knows that if he just asked God, He would give
him one, but he didn’t want to ask his enemy for a favor. God hears this, and
over time He gives the devil seven hairs – each hair is representative of a
sin: pride/arrogance (soberbia), envy (envidia), anger (ira), greed/gluttony
(gula), luxury (lujuria), laziness (pereza), and avarice (avaricia). (These are
the seven deadly sins).
“El alcalde de Paucarcolla”
De cómo el Diablo, cansado
de gobernar en los infiernos, vino a ser alcalde del Perú.
-
“This is a very well-known story, but my version
is slightly different from the popular one.”
-
In colonial times, the devil was more active
amongst the people, but nowadays he doesn’t really bother us morals. “ya el diablo pasó de moda… ya el diablo
se murió, y lo enterramos”
-
When the devil was active among us, there were
less problems and vices. (Idea that devil controlled the situation; people were
scared to go to hell). We need the devil back… “Eliminar al Diablo es
matar la tradición.”
-
Going to tell about something that occurred in
the pueblocito Paucarcolla in the 17th century. At that time, the mayor of the
pueblo was one don Ángel Malo (“don’t make fun of the name, it’s true”).
-
One day, a young Spaniard arrived in the pueblo,
and everyone welcomed him there graciously. After a while, however, they
started to mock him for supposedly being a converso. He didn’t really care, and
just minded his own business. He did so well in the town that after three
years, he was named the new town mayor. (He was don Angel Malo). The pueblo was
very happy under his government; everything was very fair. He gave great laws
and advice, yet didn’t practice what he preached. (Examples: He suggested
wonderful romantic matches for others, but always remained single himself; he
made everyone go to Church, but he never worshipped in any way).
-
“Sospecho
que el alcalde de Paucarcolla habría sido un buen president constitucional” (critique of the republic?)
-
One day a friar passes through the pueblo, on
his way to Lima. The mayor loans him his mule, since the friar’s in a hurry…
the friar’s able to make it to Lima incredibly quickly. “Viaje tan rápido no
podia haberse hecho sino por arte del
diablo.” – This was something that had to be investigated by the Inquisición.
-
The inquisition arrived in the pueblo, and don
Ángel (the converso mayor) high-tails it, most likely remembering the evil that
the inquisition had done with his ancestors.
-
The people of the pueblo believe that the mayor
was the devil himself, who bailed for fear of being in danger when the
Inquisition showed up. Whatever the case may be, that mayor was the best leader
there ever was in all of Peru.
“¡Beba, padre, que le da la
vida!”
Crónica de la época de mando
de una virreina; A la distinguida escritora Clorinda Matto de Turner. (Siglo 17)
-
Doña Ana de Borja was the wife of the viceroy of
Peru; when he had to go handle business somewhere, she was left as the regent
of the nation.
-
“The count of Bornos said that the most learned
woman is capable of governing only twelve hens and one rooster. Nonsense! ….I
know women capable of governing twenty-four hens… and up to two roosters.” (tongue in cheek mockery of anti-feminism)
-
Palma quotes some other sources that indicate
that Doña Ana was a good regent leader, just in case the reader doesn’t believe
it, since she was a woman (awareness of
reader – almost a little bit like metafiction)
-
Description of Doña Ana – very proud, not
well-loved by the other women of Lima
-
Ana had a crazy idea: There was a friar that
arrived there, and there was word he was actually a spy just pretending to be a
religious man. The men were thinking of hanging him, but Ana was hesitant, so
she told them that she’d be able to discover whether he was a friar/monk or
not. (“The habit does not make the monk but the monk the habit”). So she
invites the friar to dinner to test him. Since he gobbles down his food and
guzzles his drink with gusto, he’s proven to be a true friar, not a fake one.
-
Title is because when Ana gives him water, she
encourages him to drink it with the title line.
-
End: “Now, then, it’s up to you to say whether
or not the woman who governed Peru was very much a man!” (Thoughts on gender roles…)
“El latín de una limeña”
-
In the education of the past, students had to
“waste” three years studying Latin, which left them unable to properly speak
either Latin or Spanish. Students didn’t truly learn anything, just how to
speak pedantically.
-
“Among the medicines of that innocent age, none
amuses me more, being both cheap and speedy, than the virtue attributed to
prayers of Christian doctrine” (mockery
of religion, religious discourse)
-
There was a mix of Latin and Spanish everywhere
– examples: in the medical field (“the sick chose to die in Spanish”) and in
the courthouse
-
Popularity of Gongorism in literature of the
time – competitions of extravagance between poets
-
There was a woman poet, doña María Manuela
Carrillo de Andrade y Sotomayor (extravagant,
satirical name). Her poetry was horrible… “she martyrized both Spanish and
Latin muses” This is proof that: “Even women acquired the knack of Latinizing”
-
There was a girl in Lima named Mariquita
Castellanos, who was pretty and clever. A poet was courting her, and promised
to buy her a gift, but never did. She was sick of him so she was cold with him
one day. He started throwing her Latinized verses, so she responded back in
Latinzed verses herself and totally burned him.
“Las tres etcéteras del
Libertador”
Siglo 19 (May 1824) – Blogger’s note: Peru didn’t really finish
fighting for Independence from Spain until December 1824
-
The governor of a small town is told that the
army of Independence will be coming to his town, including His Excellency the
Liberator (Bolívar), so he needs to prepare for their arrival. He was ordered
to prepare comfortable lodging for Bolívar, with “good food, a good bed, etc.,
etc. etc.”
-
Bolívar was supposedly very luxurious. – Expensive to maintain. (Bit of mockery: “his daily consumption of cologne
amounted to a bottle a day”)
o
“I’m not inventing this, or exaggerating – I
could prove it to you if the necessary documentation hadn’t disappeared in 1884
in a ‘possibly malicious’ fire” – reference
to fire that destroyed Peru’s national library in Peru-Chile War of the Pacific
-
The governor’s a simpleton and really concerned
about getting stuff right for Bolívar – he doesn’t know what the “etcetera” in
the instructions could possibly mean! (Oh no!)
o
Maybe the etceteras are women! – The governor
finds the three prettiest women he can and has them taken prisoner (haha wow).
-
Aside: Bolívar had the “tastes of an Oriental
sultan as far as skirts were concerned.” Women always saved his life (provides three
examples) – this is how he was able to be the great liberator!
-
When Bolívar got to the down and discovered that
the governor had locked up three women for him, he immediately set them free
and removed the governor from his post. (Side note: Bolívar already had a woman
with him).
-
The governor’s friends made fun of him for
losing his post, but he says that it’s the fault of the person who wrote the
letter unclearly.
“Con días y ollas
venceremos”
Junio-julio de 1821
-
The patriotic army (for Independence) had the
title phrase as a password
-
The general San Martín didn’t want to take Lima
due to battle successes, but rather due to well-managed politics. He didn’t
want to risk the lives of his soldiers. So he tries to secretly communicate
with the patriots in Lima to form a plan, but people keep intercepting the
messages.
-
So the general comes up with the plan to have a
potter make some pots (ollas) with a secret compartment to hide letters in; and
sends an Indian to go to Lima to “sell” the pots
-
The Indian goes in the street where the priest
Francisco Luna Pizarro (who is supposed to receive the messages) lives, and is
“pregonando” calling out his wares (costumbrismo
– habits of pregonando – “casas había en que para saber la hora no se
consultaba reloj, sino el pregón de los vendedores ambulantes”)
o
Palma reflects on how he could always tell the
time as a child passed on the gente pregonando
-
So the Indian was always selling pots to the
priest’s slave. And every day the slave would come out and complain about the
pot from the day before saying it seems like it’s going to break, trade it out
for another one (this is how the priest is sending the messages back to the
other patriots). So the Indian finally gets annoyed and he and the slave get
into a fight. (Not sure if this was a ruse, because the Indian does know what’s
going on…)
-
So the patriots were able to take Lima with no
casualties because of the messages they were able to pass back and forth in the
pots; so they were able to win (vencer) with time (días) and pots (ollas)
“Genialidades de la ‘Perricholi’”
Al señor Enrique de Borges,
ministro de Francia en el Perú y traductor de mis Tradiciones.
Siglo 18.
-
Maria Micaela Villegas Hurtado
(September 28, 1748 – May 16, 1819), known as La Perricholi, was arguably the most
famous Peruvian woman of the eighteenth century. She was a celebrated
entertainer and the famous mistress of Manuel de Amat y Juniet, Viceroy of Peru
from 1761 to 1776. Their son, Manuel de Amat y Villegas, was one of the signers
of Peru’s declaration of independence from Spain on July 28, 1821. (Wikipedia
– just a bit of background info)
-
So lots of people
believe things about Micaela Villegas / la Perricholi that aren’t really true –
she wasn’t really very poetic, and wasn’t born in Lima.
-
She wasn’t beautiful in the conventional sense,
but was pretty for her grace. (“si
la gracia es la belleza, indudablemente que Miquita era digna de cautivar a
todo hombre de buen gusto”)
-
The viceroy of Peru, Amat, was already old when he met
her as a young woman, but he seduced her and had no shame about flaunting his
relationship with her.
-
The viceroy Amat was not well-loved in Peru. (Palma
goes off on a tangent here about Amat).
-
La Villegas was an actress in the theatre (that’s what
she was doing when Amat fell for her). She didn’t need to act to make a living
since she was Amat’s lover, but theatre was her great passion. (“antes de
renunciar a él [el teatro] habría roto sus relaciones con el virrey”) One day
she was presenting a play and her fellow actor insulted her and she got mad and
made a scene on stage and ruined the play. Her lover the viceroy Amat got
pissed and broke it off with her.
-
So the way that the chick got her nickname was that
Amat had a strong catalán accent, so he called her “perra-chola” when he broke
it off with her but it came out sounding like “perri-choli”
-
Amat didn’t see the chick for several months. “Oh, by
the way, I forgot to say that they had a kid!” (ORALITY). So Amat was sad and wanted to go back to her for the sake
of their kid and their old love. But he had to reconcile everything with the public
too. So after a bit she returns to the theatre and does well.
-
There’s a poem about the sadness of this chick during
her separation from Amat. (Mythological
references)
-
So then the viceroy received some honor from Spain, and
the chick Perricholi had the “audacity” to enter in the parade in her own carriage
(which was a privilege reserved for titled people). Afterwards she was going to
her house in the carriage and saw a poor priest walking and gave him the
carriage to use.
-
When the viceroy left Peru to go die in Spain, the
chick Perricholi gave up the theatre forever and went into a convent
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