Friday, December 6, 2013

Vicente Huidobro - Altazor (1931) & Novelas Ejemplares (1935)



Altazor (1931) – Vicente Huidobro

Sobre el autor: Vicente García-Huidobro Fernández, y su obra
-          Chile, 1893-1948
-          Aristocratic/noble family – never had to worry about money (unlike most of his contemporaries)
-          Lived much of second half of life in Paris (European/French influence)
-          He wrote in many genres: essays, poetry, narrative, etc.

Huidobro’s style and work
-          Creacionismo/Creationism – artistic movement that held belief that a poet should bring to life the things he or she writes about, rather than just describe them
-          Influences of avant-garde, modernism, and cubism
-          This work, Altazor, was considered his masterpiece
o   Use of experimental language – influence of vanguardism
o   Divided in 7 semi-related “cantos”
-          Plays with idea of connotations (like Mallarmé) but does so in a different way

Comps Questions
-          The historical vanguards (especially surrealismo, negrismo, and creacionismo) and their impact on modern narrative, poetry, and theater. Authors: Bombal, Huidobro, as well as periods of Vallejo and Neruda; Guillén. Some suggested readings: Unruh, Osorio, Nelson, Verani, Videla de Rivero.
o   Huidobro’s Altazor is one of the best examples of creationism.

Political/Social context
-          Started writing in 1919 and published in 1931. This was an optimistic time period, after World War I and before World War II. There was the idea that the “war to end all wars was over, and now there was a new world to create.” (Introduction to  A’s version of text)
-          Tone of “need for speed” – this is “surely the fastest-reading long poem ever written” (intro)
-          Obsession in the time period with flight and airplanes – Charles Lindbergh’s famous flight from New York to Paris in 1927
-          Titanic sunk in 1912 (there are some references to water, ocean, shipwreck, and icebergs)

“Summary” of Altazor (Wikipedia)
El Canto I es el más largo, con casi setecientos versos, y también el más estructurado. Su contenido es de corte metafísico, y en él el poeta se representa como «Altazor». El Canto II, en cambio, es una oda a la mujer. Los Cantos III al VII, finalmente, buscan jugar con la progresiva desarticulación del lenguaje y sus límites expresivos.

Creationism
-          This literary movement/trend originated roughly around 1912-1916, and is an example of a literary movement by Latin Americans that affects European literature (another example is modernism)
-          “Huidobro’s banner, in the proliferation of isms, was Creationism, a movement of which he was essentially the only member. It declared that poetry, the gloss on, or simulacram of, reality, was dead. In the new world, the poets, ‘little gods,’ would invent their own worlds… It was a movement that was simultaneously modern, in its belief that in the new era human imagination would be able to do anything, and archaic, reflecting the contemporary preoccupation with the ‘primitive,’ particularly the spells and charms of sympathetic magic.” (Introduction of A’s version of text, by Eliot Weinberger)
-          Creacionismo/Creationism – artistic movement that held belief that a poet should bring to life the things he or she writes about, rather than just describe them (Wikipedia)
-          Idea of creating new linguistic worlds/realities
-          Antimimético, pero comprometido con época y existencia humana – idea that the writer should be a witness for his time period (in this text, he’s a witness to the time period between world wars)
o   Mimesis es algo que viene de los griegos – idea de imitar al mundo ------ antimimético: we no longer need to imitate the material world around us, we can create our own world because we as poets have power
o   Creationism creates its own world with its own rules (example: in Huidobro’s world of Altazor, you can float on a parachute for an indefinite amount of time)
-          Some characteristics/techniques of creationism:
o   Play with connotations and polysemy (plurality of meaning)
o   Requires very active reader
o   Internal logic – autonomy (freedom, independent stance) of literary work [“la obra tiene en sí su propia razón para ser”]
o   “concretar lo abstracto o abstraer lo concreto”
o   Criticism of institutions (such as traditional poetry, religious beliefs, etc.) and of morals and logic of conventional society – idea that the human being as an individual creates/directs his own life rather than  having to be guided by institutional authorities (such as Christian God)
o   Typographical disposition of the words
o   Use of neologisms (new, invented words)

Temas/ideas importantes [en el poema]
-          Estilo de escritura
o   Very random, disoriented style of writing. Kind of like stream-of-consciousness.
o   Contradictions/contrasts in things he says
o   Use of versification / verse length to emphasize certain areas (example pg. 20, 22 – “No”)
-          Literary techniques
o   Repetition (in various ways – words, verb type, sounds)
o   Metaphor
o   Simile (ex: “Ya vas a la muerte derecho como un iceberg que se desprende del polo” – pg. 16)
-          Influence of vanguardism (maybe?) – historical vanguardism
o   Experimentation
-          Influence of creationism
o   “Manicura de la lengua es el poeta… Y todo lo que dice es por él inventado / Cosas que pasan fuera del mundo cotidiano / Matemos al poeta que nos tiene saturados” (68, 70) – poet’s ability/responsibility to change/beautify language, CREATIONISM
o   Criticism of Christian religious institution  (Canto I, pg. 18)
o   Relation to a specific time period – you can see some of Huidobro’s worries about his own time period in the poem, although it seems like a random jumble at first glance.
-          Influence of modernism
o   Plays with concept of religion, some profanity/secularization
o   Power/responsibility of poet as special person who can create new things with language – (example: pg. 68,70)
-          Religion
o   “Abrí los ojos en el siglo / En que moría el cristianismo / Retorcido en su cruz agonizante / Ya va a dar el último suspiro / Y mañana qué pondremos en el sitio vacío? … Morirá el cristianismo que no ha resuelto ningún problema / Que sólo ha ensenado plegarias muertas / Muere después de dos mil años de existencia… El Cristo quiere morir acompañado de millones de almas”  --- RELIGIOUS THOUGHTS (Canto I, pg. 18)
-          Experimentation
o   Switching back and forth of perspective
o   Disjointed language/theme
o   Use of versification / verse length to emphasize certain areas (example pg. 20, 22 – “No”)
-          Experimentation with language
o   “the old language of poetry is consumed with the body of the poet, and a new language, progressively more radical, is created out of puns, neologisms, animal and plant dialects, and pages of identical rhymes” (introduction)
o   “Huidobro’s vision of poetry as a divine game of language” (introduction)
o   “One should write in a language that is not the mother tongue.” / “Se debe escribir en una lengua que no sea materna.” (Prefacio, pg. 4)
-          Gender / Role of women
o   Canto II is an ode to woman
o   Objectification of woman – focus on physical attributes
-          Theme of falling [into space]
o   “La vida es un viaje en paracaídas y no lo que tú quieres creer.” (Prefacio, pg. 8)
o   Constant references to parachute, falling, and stars
-          Nature
o   Birds, especially – unknown bird, nightingale (ruiseñor), doves (palomas), swallow (golondrina)
o   Air and sky – stars especially
o   Also waters – ocean (?)
-          Abstract vs. concrete
o   “Sé triste tal cual las gacelas ante el infinito” (Prefacio)
§  Gacela es concreta, pero infinito es abstracto – combinación de los dos lados
-          Intertextuality (references to both other texts and the time period)
o   “Ya La Europa enterró todos sus muertos” – reference to World War I (Canto I, pg. 18)

General Notes – Altazor
Prefacio
-          Summary / Basic ideas
o   Narrator recalls birth and childhood, and his parents
o   Obsession with parachute (“paracaídas”) since childhood
o   Nature – birds, particularly
o   Heard the voice of “the Creator” (“el Creador”) one day – tells about how the earth was created
§  Slight profanity – this creator says that He drank cognac in process of making earth
o   “One should write in a language that is not the mother tongue.” / “Se debe escribir en una lengua que no sea materna.” (4)
o   Says he met the Virgin (6)
o   “La vida es un viaje en paracaídas y no lo que quieres creer.” (8)
§  Tú = el lector (ACTIVE READER)
-          Various references to technology of the period – reflects period’s interest/obsession with Charles Lindbergh and the airplane
-          Creationist characteristics
o   Mocking a bit of Christian religion (criticism of institutions)
o   Creation of different internal logics – “four cardinal points are three”

Canto I
-          Style
o   Second person – directed at “Altazor” in you form [or is it directed at reader???] … switches back and forth in perspective/point of view from second person (you) to first person (I)
o   No consistent style of stanza/rhyme
o   Use of versification / verse length to emphasize certain areas (example pg. 20, 22 – “No”)
-          Summary/things noticed
o   Basically: Why did you lose confidence? (12)
o   “You’re falling” – Repetition of “fall” (14)
o   Idea of being trapped (Altazor) – “encerrado en la jaula de su destino” (16)
o   “Abrí los ojos en el siglo / En que moría el cristianismo / Retorcido en su cruz agonizante / Ya va a dar el último suspiro / ¿Y mañana qué pondremos en el sitio vacío? … Morirá el cristianismo que no ha resuelto ningún problema / Que sólo ha ensenado plegarias muertas / Muere después de dos mil años de existencia… El Cristo quiere morir acompañado de millones de almas”  --- RELIGIOUS THOUGHTS (18)
o   “Soy yo que estoy hablando en este año de 1919” (18)
o   Ya La Europa enterró todos sus muertos” – reference to World War I (18) - INTERTEXTUALITY
o    “Todo ha de alejarse en la muerte esconderse en la muerte” (24)
o   “¿qué has hecho de mí Vicente Huidobro?” (24)
o   Stopped reading this Canto at pg. 26
-          Creationist techniques/characteristics
o   Criticism of Christian religious institution
-          Violation of generic conventions
o   Plays with use of anaphora (anáfora) – uses it in unconventional way (example: pg. 14)
§  Anaphora = repetition of a word or words at the beginning of two or more successive verses, clauses, or sentences
-          Existential themes
o   Theme of falling – [possibly] mortal fall?
§  also: reference to the fall of Adam and Eve and an evil angel that protects the entrance of the garden of Eden

Canto II
-          Style
-          Summary/Basic ideas
o   Una oda a la mujer.
o   Directed at a woman (first word: “mujer”) (54)
o   Focus on physical attributes of woman: eyes, head, lips, hair, arches of brows (54)
o   Comparison of woman with flower? – “Sin más abrigo que una flor se apaga” (56)
o   “tu gracia frágil” (56)
o   Woman is supremely important – “Haces dudar al tiempo,” “Lejos de ti todo es mortal,” “Sólo lo que piensa en ti tiene sabor a eternidad” (56)
o   Idea of a certain attachment between male narrator and woman – “Estamos cosidos por la misma estrella” (58)
o   “¿Qué sería la vida si no hubieras nacido?” (60)
o   He’s really into this woman; says she erases all bitterness from life  – “Y borras en el alma adormecida / La amargura de ser vivo” (60)
o   “Tu voz hace un imperio en el espacio / Y esa mano que se levanta en ti como si fuera a colgar soles en el aire” (62)
o   “Si tú murieras / Las estrellas a pesar de su lámpara encendida / Perderían el camino / ¿Qué sería del universo?” (64)
-          Existential themes
o   Idea that the woman is what gives sense to his existence; existence depends upon the woman

Canto III
-          Style
o   First part of this poem is uniform in style – two line stanzas; also something sort of like rhyming (rima asonante)! (Wow!)… but then he bursts into all that random mess that’s not at all uniform
§  For a while, even that seems like it could be re-broken up into couplets (rhythm remains the same). Towards end even that fades out as rhythm continues changing.
o   Series of similes (pg. 70, 72)
o   Repetiton:
§  “poesía” (pg. 70)
§  Verb style – all infinitives AND also similes (pg. 72)
-          Summary/Basic ideas
o   “Y el avión trae un lenguaje diferente / Para la boca de los cielos de siempre” (66)
o   Idea that nature will change and transform… “Conducirá el rebaño (flock) a su pastor” (68)
o   “Manicura de la lengua es el poeta… Y todo lo que dice es por él inventado / Cosas que pasan fuera del mundo cotidiano / Matemos al poeta que nos tiene saturados” (68, 70) – poet’s ability/responsibility to change/beautify language, CREATIONISM
o   “Etc. etc. etc.” (72)
o   “Todas las lenguas están muertas / Muertas en manos del vecino trágico / Hay que resucitar las lenguas” (74)
o   “Vive vive como un balón de fútbol” (74)
o   Metaphor of poetry (¿?) like sport – I think (74)
-          Role of writer/poet
o   “Manicura de la lengua es el poeta… Y todo lo que dice es por él inventado / Cosas que pasan fuera del mundo cotidiano / Matemos al poeta que nos tiene saturados” (68, 70) – poet’s ability/responsibility to change/beautify language, CREATIONISM
-          Violation of generic conventions
o   Repetition in various ways
o   Excessive repetition of similes in one section (pg. 72) – perhaps mocking the over-frequent usage of similes and comparisons by other poets (idea that comparison isn’t way to truly describe something and make it come alive, you have to go deeper than that)
-          How is he constructing lines of poetry? What sorts of experiments are going on with the lines?
o   Pg. 72 – last word of line goes into next word (here he’s playing with the stereotypes about repetition being bad style in poetry)
-          Existential themes, human condition and his time period
o   “Todas las lenguas están muertas / Muertas en manos del vecino trágico / Hay que resucitar las lenguas” (74)

Canto IV
-          Style
o   Directed at a “you/tú”
o   Mixed length of stanzas; paragraph-like stanza pg. 86
o   No rhyme except very randomly and occasionally
o   Repetition:
§  “no hay tiempo que perder”
§  Series of “or” and “and”, with similes – pg. 86
§  Series of “ya viene” – pg. 88
§  Series of “Aquí yace” – pg. 94
o   Use of onomatopoeia or sound based verse in last three lines – pg. 98
o   Word play – combination of multiple words in one, creation of new words
-          Summary/ things noticed
o   Focus on rapid passage of time
o   The importance of the eye – scientific interest (80)
o   “Ahora que me siento y me pongo a escribir” – metafiction? (82)
o   Again, passage of time – “darse prisa darse prisa” – have to rush to be able to do everything (82)
o   Vague [objectifying] references to women – “la más novia que se esconde en su piel de flor,” “préstame tu mujer con pantorrillas de florero de amapolas jóvenes” (84)
o   Stopped really reading at pg. 86
o   New, almost stumbling, words on way to saying “rosinol” – pg. 90
o   Play with the word “golondrina”
o   At end, onomatopoeia-like sounds for last three lines – could be related to both bird sounds (from previous bird reference) or idea of falling
-          Influence of creationism
o   Word play – combination of multiple words in one, creation of new words
o   Use of estribillo
-          Existential themes
o   The idea of the unstoppable passage of time
§  “No hay tiempo que perder” (78) – repeated
§  “De su canto llorando al tiempo / porque se escurre entre los dedos” (78)
§  “darse prisa darse prisa” (82)
o   “porque el hombre malo o la mujer severa / no pueden nada contra la mortalidad de la casa” (84)

Canto V
-          Style
o   Sometimes directed at a “tú”
o   Mixed stanza lengths; turns into five-line stanzas for a bit pg. 106
o   Repetition of “Molino” (114-124) – abuse of anaphora technique/strategy
-          Summary/quotes
o   “Aquí comienza campo inexplorado” (100) – idea of exploration in desire of new creation
o   Theme of shipwreck (naufragio) – pg. 100, 102
o   “El miedo cambia la forma de las flores / Que esperan temblando el juicio final” (100)
o   “La joven pálida como su propia estatua / Que yo amé en un rincón de mi vida” (102) – again, slightly objectifying view of women (as statues)
o   “Como está creciendo la idea del suicidio en la bella jardinera” (104)
o   Idea of masculine vs. feminine – pg. 102, 106
o   Constant references to a comet that “never comes” (ex: pg. 106)
o   Stopped really reading at pg. 108
o   Spaced repetition of “se abre la tumba” – pg. 110
o   Repetition of “molino” (114-124)
o   “Así reímos y cantamos en esta hora” (126) – reference to when / what time period it was written in
o   “Y yo oigo la risa de los muertos debajo de la tierra” (136)
-          Influence of creationism
o   “Aquí comienza campo inexplorado” (100) – idea of exploration in desire of new creation
-          Influence of modernism
o   Some vague biblical references – ex: 100, 102
o   Play with creation of new words: “una flor que llaman girasol / y un sol que se llama giraflor” (106)
o   Some play of where words are on page (ex: 112)

Canto VI
-          Style
o   Odd spacing of words on page
o   Tons of one-word repetition
o   Repetition: “apoteosis,” “molusco,” “noche,” “nudo,” “cristal”
-          Summary/quotes
o   “apotheosis” –
o   Seemingly random words thrown on page… but there is some repetition… he’s trying to express some idea but I just don’t care enough to find it!
o   Repetition of “cristal” – at the end: “cristal sueno,” “cristal viaje,” “cristal muerte” (146)
o   Los contrastes: Lo duradero/fijo y lo no-fijo/efímero
§  Duradero/fijo – estatua, nudo, molusca?, cristal
§  Lo delicado/lo no-fijo – noche, seda, nube
§  Objects with different connotations
o   Idea de cosas del mar (otra vez referencia al tema del naufragio)
§  Moluscas
o   Mention of “la rosa” – symbolic reference to previous poetry
o   “el clarín de la Babel” – biblical reference, but also idea that this part of the poem is converted in a type of Babel, lack of understandable communication
-          Influence of creationism
-          Influence of modernism
o   Play with where words are on page

Canto VII
-          Style
o   Play with where words are on page – disposición tipográfica
-          Summary/quotes
o   It’s all onomatopoeia based sounds that vaguely seem to warp words but don’t really seem to mean anything…
o   These sounds could be representative of someone falling
-          Influence of creationism
o   Invention/creation of new words – based very loosely on true words, but new.
o   Forces active reader participation



GENERAL NOTES/TOPICS OF DISCUSSION (In class)
-          Lo lúdico (playful/fun)
o   Jerigonza (gibberish)
o   Nueva lógica
-          Metapoesía y papel del poeta
-          Innovaciones creacionistas
o   Con palabras, estribillos
o   Estrofas / versos / rima
§  No set pattern, switches/changes constantly, or is completely absent/random
§  Abuses/exploits technique of anaphora (repetition)
o   Reglas de poesía anterior
§  Mocks and twists conventional rules: example – abuse of technique of anaphora
o   Gramática
§  Grammar doesn’t really exist in the conventional sense in the later cantos… ex: changes gender of words
o   Juegos/experimentación
§  Idea of possibility of self-re-creation in his words/language/declarations.
·         Ex: “y ahora soy mar,” etc. etc. etc. (Canto V, por ejemplo)
§  Use of rhetorical voice to question new ideas and new “rules”
§  Very playful repetition
o   Disposición tipográficas
-          Cambios desde los primeros cantos a los últimos
o   Primeros: temas existenciales
o   Últimos: lúdicos
-          Lenguaje
o   Jerigonza (gibberish)
o   Neologismos
o   Comunicación vs. Incomunicación
§  Referencia a Babel, Canto V
§  Conflict between communication and lack thereof – contrasts; these are the two extremes
§  The danger of the game/experimentation with poetry is arriving at a complete lack of communication due to going too far to the extreme.
-          Papel del lector
o   Obra abierta
o   Obra cerrada
o   Polisemia
o   Requires very active reader that participates and interacts with the text to work to understand it




Tres novelas ejemplares (1935)

“Salvad vuestros ojos (Novela posthistórica)”
-          Seems totally nonsensical at beginning… “Era el día de Navidad, el 1º de mayo”
-          Metafiction: “Como el lector debe haber comprendido”
-          Man has disappeared from earth and there’s a new type of being now: “glóbulo hermafrometálico”
o   Like a mechanized being (Huidobro’s interest in technology…)
-          The beings’ names
o   Antonio – lone male
o   José – males in group
o   Carolina – females in big group
o   Rose Marie – females in small group
-          Describes talents/skills of the different beings
-          “Para la perfecta comprensión de nuestra historia…” – repeated
-          The beings transformed the Earth
-          Some sexual innuendo with Rose Marie and José
-          End: “Para la perfecta comprensión de nuestra historia, aquí debemos terminar nuestra historia”  WHAT???

-          **Creationism: invented words / neologisms, abstract stuff, experimental style, commentary on “institution” of human life, internal logic
-          **Huidobro: interest in technology, some French language (he lived in Paris)

“La cigüeña encadenada (novela patriótica y alsaciana)”
-          Cigüeña = stork
-          The country of Alsacia – Highland country……. Alsacia = Germany??
-          Some references to German language
-          Hans Gunter
-          Metafiction – some references to reader; references to writers Arp and Huidobro (with first names exchanged)
-          Some references to war
-          Importance of name Duval: some great leader – everyone is named Duval, Duval becomes the only word of a new language
-          Nonsensical language
o   Couple at end: all they say is “duval” but supposedly it has meaning, which narrator interprets

-          **Creationism: neologism/invented words, internal logic, experimental style
-          **Huidobro: references to war

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