Philippine novelist, poet, playwright, and essayist writing in English, the National Artist for Literature. Joaquin is widely considered the best postwar author in his country. He has written largely about the Spanish colonial period and the diverse heritage of the Filipino people. Often he deals with the coexistence of 'primitive' and 'civilized' dimensions inside the human psyche. In his short story 'The Summer Solstice,' set in the 1850s, Joaquin portrayed the collision between instincts and refined culture. Doña Lupeng first rejects ancient beliefs, but under the spell of the moon, she becomes possessed by the spirit of the Tadtarin cult - she does not want to be loved and respected anymore but adored as the embodiment of the matriarchal powers.
"He lifted his dripping face and touched his bruised lips to her toes; lifted his hands and grasped the white foot and kissed it savagely - kissed the step, the sole, the frail ankle - while she bit her lips and clutched in pain at the windowsill, her body distended and wracked by horrible shivers, her head flung back and her loose hair streaming out of the window - streaming fluid and black in the white night where the huge moon glowed like a sun and the dry air flamed into lightning and the pure heat burned with the immense intense fever of noon." (from 'The Summer Solstice' in Tropical Gothic, 1972)
Nick Joaquin was born in Paco on Calle Herran, as the the son of Leocadio Y. Joaquin, a lawyer and a colonel of the Philippine Revolution, and Salome Marquez, a schoolteacher. After three years of secondary education at the Mapa High School, Joaquin dropped out of school to work on Manila's waterfront and in odd jobs. On his spare time he read widely at the National Library and on his father's library. English had became the official medium of instruction in 1898 after the Spanish-American war. Especially through the work of short story writers English became the most developed literary genre and virtually all Spanish literature ceased.
Starting as a proofreader at the Philippines Free Press, Joaquin rose to contributing editor and essayist under the pen name 'Quijano de Manila' (Manila Old Timer). After World War II Joaquin worked as a journalist, gaining fame as a reporter for the Free Press. In 1970 he left the Philippines Free Press and went on to edit Asia-Philippine Leader.
Literature of the Americas has many stories and they all have comparisons, but they also have many differences. “Day of the Butterfly” by Alice Monro and “Crossroads: A Sad Vaudeville” by Carlos Solórzano have characters that share some traits and ways, but like all characters they have things that are different. The old woman from “A Sad Vaudeville” is a dynamic protagonist who finds herself meeting the perfect man for her, but has a dilemma when he is in denial because she is not the ideal girl of his dreams; she’s old. Myra from “Day of the Butterfly” is a static antagonist who does not have the same care free attitude as most of the children her own age. She is rather shy and does not fit in or socialize much with people her own age.
Even from an early age, Rodriguez is a successful student. Everyone is extremely proud of Rodriguez for earning awards and graduating to each subsequent level of his education. But all his success was not necessarily positive. In fact, we see that his education experience is a fairly negative one. One negative that Rodriguez endures is his solitude. Education compels him to distance himself from his family and heritage. According to Richard Hoggart, a British education theorist, this is a very natural process for a scholarship boy. Hoggart explains that the ?home and classroom are at cultural extremes,? (46). There is especially an opposition in Rodriguez?s home because his parents are poorly educated Mexicans. His home is filled with Spanish vernacular and English filled with many grammatical errors. Also, the home is filled with emotions and impetuosity, whereas the classroom lacks emotion and the teachers accentuate rational thinking and reflectiveness.
Richard Rodriguez offers an alternate yet equally profound truth: While our heritage and culture may remain forever tied to and expressed in our native or "home" language, only through the dominant language of our country (English in most cases) can we achieve a place in society that gives us a feeling that we belong amongst everyone else. The only way we can truly become a part of our community and fit in is to dominate the current spoken language. In the United States, the dominant language is Standard English. In this excerpt from "Aria," a chapter in his autobiography entitled "Hunger of Memory": The Education of Richard Rodriguez, Rodriguez discusses public and private languages, and agrees that his achievements in English separated him from his Spanish family and culture but also brought him "the belief, the calming assurance that [he] belonged in public." We as human beings want to feel we belong. We search for that place in society where we are most comfortable all our lives. One should consider the benefits of mastering the dominant language of the society they live in, but should also take into account the harm of taking your native language for granted. I will attempt to explore both of these considerations and examine Rodriguez place in life now, by stating the facts of who is now by the childhood decisions that were made.
Darkness is one of the main themes in this scene. She said, and brought in cloudy night. immediately. I will be able to do so. Spread thy curtains, love performing night', this.
In 1935, his novel Tortilla Flat established him as a popular and critical success but unfortunately his parents died before he achieved his first success.
The themes explored in the novel illustrate a life of a peasant in Mexico during the post-revolution, important themes in the story are: lack of a father’s role model, death and revenge. Additionally, the author Juan Rulfo became an orphan after he lost
As Clarice Lispector was writing what would become her last literary creation, The Hour of the Star, little did she know that while her body was plagued with the devastations of cancer, her mental struggle for peace and grace in death would inspire her most renowned novel. Perhaps it is because of those circumstances, she created a novel with intuitive reflections on both life and death, as seen through the life of the main character, Macabea. The story is narrated by Rodrigo S.M., and although Rodrigo attempts to maintain a neutral stance, he is often conflicted by his own perceptions and feelings. At the book’s commencement Rodrigo spends quite some time explaining that while the story is mainly about a woman, having the book narrated by a female would weaken the richness of content. He explains that a woman is incapable of clearly emphasizing the harshness of reality; that she is too emotional and attempting to explain the life of a wretched girl would be hard because her emotions would not allow an unbiased depiction of the cruelties of life. Macabea is introduced in the novel as a poor girl who does what she must to survive in the slums of Rio de Janeiro. She is, Rodrigo remarks, nothing out of the ordinary. Physically there is nothing about Macabea which sets her apart from the other countless street rascals who live hand to mouth. He then provides readers with some of her early life history, including how she almost died at birth because of rickets, and how both her parents succumbed to typhoid fever when she was a toddler. Finally after their death Macabea was forced to move in with her aunt, who too eventually passed away, but not before procuring the child a job to support herself. In the course of the novel the popular culture, though vague and metaphorical at times, affects Macabea and the secondary characters personalities and actions.
My parents decided to immigrate to the United States when I was six years of age. As we established ourselves in the United States, my first language was only Spanish. Spanish was the language that I was taught at home, and it was the only language to be spoken at home. Rodriguez describes when he first entered his classroom where he was introduced to a formal English-speaking context, writing that, ?I remember to start with that day in Sacramento-a California now nearly thirty years past-when I first entered a classroom, able to understa...
Flores, Angel. "Magical Realism in Spanish American Fiction." Magical Realsim. Theory, History, Community. Ed. Lois Parkinson Zamora and Wendy B. Faris. Durham, N.C.: Duke UP, 1995. 109-116.
"The room soaked her up and the summer heat worked on her body until its surface was as hard and dry as the crust of a pavlova."
“It was a large, beautiful room, rich and picturesque in the soft, dim light which the maid had turned low. She went and stood at an open window and looked out upon the deep tangle of the garden below. All the mystery and witchery of the night seemed to have gathered there amid the perfumes and the dusky and tortuous outlines of flowers and foliage. She was seeking herself and finding herself in just such sweet half-darkness which met her moods. But the voices were not soothing that came to her from the darkness and the sky above and the stars. They jeered and sounded mourning notes without promise, devoid even of hope. She turned back into the room and began to walk to and fro, down its whole length, without stopping, without resting. She carried in her hands a thin handkerchief, which she tore into ribbons, rolled into a ball, and flung from her. Once she stopped, and taking off her wedding ring, flung it upon the carpet. When she saw it lying there she stamped her heel upon it, striving to crush it. But her small boot heel did not make an indenture, not a mark upon the glittering circlet.
Author’s Techniques: Rudolfo Anaya uses many Spanish terms in this book. The reason for this is to show the culture of the characters in the novel. Also he uses imagery to explain the beauty of the llano the Spanish America. By using both these techniques in his writing, Anaya bring s the true culture of
Guenther, Irene. "Magical Realism in SpanishAmerican Literature" Magical Realism: Theory, History, Community. Wendy Faris and Zamora. Duke University Press, Durham and London,1995.33-73.
Sandra Cisneros’s short story “Never Marry a Mexican” deals heavily with the concept of myth in literature, more specifically the myth La Malinche, which focuses on women, and how their lives are spun in the shadows on men (Fitts). Myths help power some of the beliefs of entire cultures or civilizations. She gives the reader the mind of a Mexican-American woman who seems traitorous to her friends, family and people she is close to. This causes destruction in her path in the form of love, power, heartbreak, hatred, and an intent to do harm to another, which are themes of myth in literature. The unreliable narrator of this story was created in this story with the purpose to show her confusion and what coming from two completely different cultures can do to a person, and what kind of confusion it can bring.
Lope de Vega’s play touches upon several key components and ideas that were brought up in many of the other stories read throughout the semester. This included the role of gender and how men and women are viewed differently in the Spaniard town of Fuenteovejuna. Another topic included the importance of family, love, and relationships and their connection on loyalty, trust, and personal beliefs. The last major influence found in other literature and in Fuenteovejuna, were the political and religious references made throughout the play. Even though Lope de Vega didn’t make these views obvious, the reader could still pick up on their connotation and the references made towards these specific ideas. With all of this in mind, each of these components played an important role in each civilization read, and even over 1,000 years later it continues to be a social topic as well as a large part of the culture. The only difference a reader or scholar could make for this particular piece of literature is its authenticity and how it was based on a true event. Regardless, new views on power and how one obtain it become apparent through the dialogue between characters like Laurencia and the Commander.