The works of the late 1982 Columbian literary Nobel Laureate Gabriel Garica Marquez reflect not only the sentiments of postcolonial Columbians, but also the surreal realities lived by Latin Americans in the New World. This surreal reality is what Marquez has become synonymous with — magic realism. The literary genre, magic realism, can be found in Marquez’s books and short stories such as 100 Years of Solitude and “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”. Literary critics and audience alike have marveled at how Marquez masterfully connected the ethereal and the mundane with such precision in diction and syntax that the narratives seem more than commonplace but actually feasible and tangible. In Marquez’s Nobel Prize Lecture, he champions the experience of Latin Americans and its influence on his stories. In general, he then theorizes that the experience of Latin America is, in fact, an experience of solitude, in which buds great curiosity and inquiry. In his lecture, Marquez contends that Latin American lives are divinely magical and thus their experience cannot be understood; consequently, leaving them in a state of seclusion. His works are catalysts for social, political and cultural change. His lecture works to embody not only his sentiments but also those of his community. The Latin community is in seclusion because it is not understood by its counterparts.
In the short story “ Artificial Roses” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Marquez explores guilt, and its relationship with the church, as well as in the family structure. In the story there are two main characters. Mina, a young woman, who makes a living by creating roses, out of paper and wires, and her blind grandmother. The first thing you learn about the pair is that they share a room. There is an obvious sense from Mina that she feels her personal space is invaded by her blind grandmother. As noted in the film old women are the ones who tell the stories, and have “magical powers.” But Mina is unaware of her grandmothers power of perception, and in the story Mina learns that her grandmother is quite aware of Mina’s actions. The story is essentially a battle of wits, and undeniable guilt, between the two.
Biography of Federico Garcia Lorca
Federico García Lorca was born into an educated bourgeois family in Fuente Vaqueros, in Andalusia, Spain, in 1898. His mother was a teacher and his father a rich farm labourer. He read literature and music at Granada University and in 1919, at the age of 21, he published his first book, Impresiones y Paisaijes, that was inspired by a trip around Spain that he took as part of his degree. That year, Lorca went to Madrid to continue with his studies. He moved into the Residence of Scholars (residencia de estudiantes), a liberal institution that taught according to the social, political and religious philosophies of Krause.
Biography of Federico Garcia Lorca
Born in Fuente Vaqueros, Granada, Spain, June 5,1898; died near Granada,
August 19,1936, García Lorca is Spain's most deeply appreciated and highly
revered poet and dramatist. His murder by the Nationalists at the start of the
Spanish civil war brought sudden international fame, accompanied by an excess
of political rhetoric which led a later generation to question his merits; after the
inevitable slump, his reputation has recovered (largely with a shift in interest to
the less obvious works). He must now be bracketed with MACHADO as one of
the two greatest poets Spain has produced this century, and he is certainly
Spain's greatest dramatist since the Golden Age.
As a poet, his early reputation rested on the Romancero gitano (Madrid, 1928; tr.
R. Humphries, The Gypsy Ballads of García Lorca, Bloomington, 1953), the
poems of Poema del Cante Jondo (Madrid, 1931), and Llanto por Ignacio
Sanchez Mejias (Madrid, 1935; tr. A. L. Lloyd, in Lament for the Death of a
Bullfighter, and Other Poems, London, 1937), all profoundly Andalusian, richly
sombre in their mood and imagery, and disquieting in their projection of a
part-primitive, part-private world of myth moved by dark and not precisely
identifiable forces; but, beneath the flamenco trappings, there is a deeper -
perhaps personal - anguish, as well as a superb rhythmical and linguistic sense
(the Llanto is one of the four best elegies in the Spanish language).
Historical Themes of Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude
Garcia Marquez has said that "One Hundred Years of Solitude is not a history of Latin America, it is a metaphor for Latin America" (Dreifus 1983:1974). The historical themes include conquest and colonization, settlement and scientific discovery, civil wars, foreign economic intervention, technological change, and finally the decay and disappearance of a long-established way of life.
The original Spanish conquest is alluded to when, in the first chapter, Jose Arcadio Buendia finds an old suit of armor and the remains of a galleon, mysteriously stranded several kilometers from the sea. The early Spanish colonization and the devastating pirate raids of the English sailor, Sir Francis Drake, are referred to in the second chapter. Subsequently, no more is made of this theme.
Federico Garcia Lorca considered the “problem of women” in Spain in the early 20th century to be the oppression of women which was created by ambiguous Spanish traditions. During this time period women were struggling to find their voice in the political, social and economic issues of Spanish society. Only to be viewed as fragile, objects of beauty and regarded as submissive sex objects. Most women were expected to marry whom their parents arranged for them, take care of their home, have children and remain voiceless. Federico Garcia Lorca illustrates how society viewed women during this time and their struggle to find their voice throughout his plays Blood Wedding, Yerma and The House of Bernarda Alba.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Love in the Time of Cholera
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, author of Love in the Time of Cholera, depicts his characters by having them act in certain ways, in ways of love and care towards others. Each character acts certain ways to certain people, either to gain respect, love, friendship or hatred. Marquez’s character Florentino Ariza, is desperately in love with Fermina Daza, a beautiful young lady (early in the novel), who promises him her hand in marriage then breaks that promise by marrying Dr. Juvenal Urbino. Although heartbroken Ariza’s love for Fermina would still continue over many long years, thus showing how much he was in love with her.
In Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez takes a complete turn from the usual notion that love comes straight from the heart. The story follows the journey of Florentino Ariza in reclaiming the unrequited love from Fermina Daza, wife of Dr. Juvenal Urbino. The three protagonists share different views about love but share Marquez 's underlying principle that love is a driving force in a person 's life. The author shows that the actions of the each protagonist depend on their perspective on love. Fermina Daza 's interprets love as a means of achieving utmost self-satisfaction. At first, she shows affection towards Florentino, in defiance of her father 's disapproval of Florentino. Fermina only loved Florentino to rebel against her father 's decision. Also,
On April 2, 1513, a Spaniard named Ponce de Leon had first discovered Florida while searching on a voyage for the Benimy and its islands. When he had first arrived they had thought Florida to be one of Benimy’s Islands, naming it La Florida after the spacious lush and fertile landscape. On his second voyage, in 1521, he had returned with both horses and seven Andalusia cattle, which is also the direct ancestors to the Texas Longhorns we see today. Ever since his first exacerbation to La Florida, he had known that it would be perfect land for cattle to be raised on. In turn, Ponce de Leon had turned Florida into America’s oldest cattle industry.
Nacio el 6 de marzo de 1928 en Aracataca, Columbia , en el hogar de Gabriel Eligio Garcia, telegrafista y de Luisa Santiaga Marquez Iguaran. Siendo muy niño fue dejado al cuidado de sus abuelos maternos, el Coronel Nicolas Marquez Iguaran -su idolo de toda la vida- y Tranquilina Iguaran Cortes. El reconoce que su madre es quien descubre los personajes de sus novelas a traves de sus recuerdos. Por haber vivido retirado al comienzo de su padre, le fue difícil tratarlo con confianza en la adolescencia; "nunca me sentia seguro frente a el, no sabia como complacerlo. El era de una seriedad que yo confundia con la incomprension", dice Garcia Marquez. En 1936, cuando murio su abuelo, fue enviado a estudiar a Barranquilla. En 1940, viajo a Zipaquira, donde fue becado para estudiar bachillerato. "Alli, como no tenía suficiente dinero para perder ni suficiente billar para ganar, preferia quedarme en el cuarto encerrado, leyendo", comenta el Nobel. En 1946 termino bachillerato. Al año siguiente se matriculo en la Facultad de Ciencias Politicas de la Universidad Nacional y edito en diario "El Espectador" su cuento, "La primera designacion". En 1950, escribio una columna en el periodico "El Heraldo" de Barranquilla, bajo el seudónimo de Septimus y en 1952, publico el capítulo inicial de "La Hojarasca", su primera novela en ese diario, en el que colaboro desde 1956. En 1958, se caso con Mercedes Barcha. Tienen dos hijos, Rodrigo y Gonzalo. Gabriel Garcia Marquez, quien esta radicado en Ciudad de Mexico desde 1975, en una vieja casona restaurada por el mismo, es amigo cercano de inportantes personalidades mundiales, lo fue de Omar Torrijos y conserva fuertes lazos con Fidel Castro, Carlos Andres Perez, Francois Miterrand, los presidentes de Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia y otros muchos. El 11 de diciembre de 1982, despues de que por votacion unanime de los 18 miembros de la Academia Sueca, fue galardonado con el Premio Nobel de Literatura por su obra. La vida y obra del Nobel Garcia Marquez ha sido reconocida publicamente: en 1961 recibio el Premio Esso, en 1977, fue homenajeado en el XIII Congreso Internacional de Literatura Iberoamericana; en 1971, declarado "Doctor Honoris Causa" por la Universidad de Columbia, en Nueva York; en 1972, obtuvo el Premio Romulo Gallegos por su obra "La Candida Erendira y su abuela desalmada". En 1981, el gobierno frances le concedio la condecoracion "Legion de Honor" en el grado de Gran Comendador.