week12. papi –
I liked reading Rita Indiana’s Papi. I think in terms of playfulness, creativity, and breaking normal bounds, Papi ranks pretty high among the other books we’ve read. It felt nostalgic, intimate, and warm in ways that many other books could not have and did not achieve. I think it was unusual for me to feel nostalgic for this book and its character because I don’t exactly have ties to the Dominican Republic or much else mentioned.
I think it was very intuitive to have the book written out in the way that it was. It felt like reading a child’s personal journal but in a very eccentric, dreamscape-like yet semi-realistic world. I found it interesting that the parts that made the world more grounded in (brutal) reality was the sad stuff, the stuff that sucks – i.e., consumerism, poverty, (excess) machismo. On the other hand, it’s the wealth and riches that Papi has that makes the world seem quite unworldly. The two opposites kind of counter each other in a very rhythmic way. Every stream of consciousness that amplifies the outrageousness of Papi and his wealth is eventually brought down or evened out by the reality of the situation. This is brought out even more by the way the text is written – it feels and reads like a smooth flow, with ups and downs of course, but there’s an inherent musicality to it. In my head, I kind of equated the ups and downs of the story and plot to fortes and pianissimos in a song, you need both to keep the flow going and keep it interesting throughout. It makes it all the more interesting to find out that I’ve been listening to Rita Indiana and Los Misterios for a long time.
I am not sure if I can exactly qualify this book as ‘magical realism’ however. At least, not in my own head. I think for some reason, because there is a child narrator, the story told from her child perspective, things are already magical simply because she is a child. Perhaps it is also because I’m equating magical realism to One Hundred Years of Solitude, and Papi is arguably a completely different kind of book. The more I think about it however, the more I think it does technically fit the magical realism category, but still something doesn’t feel quite right about that.
So, my question for you is this: do you think Papi is magical realism? What parts of the book make you think so (or don’t)?
6 replies on “week12. papi”
Hi! I almost think you may have answered your own question by mentioning how the world of the narrator is like a “dreamscape” or “semi-realitic.” I think her imagination and fantasies and the fact that we the reader experience the world through that lens make this book a form of magical realism. this question also somewhat relates back to our heated discussion on truth in class. The reader experiences her truth and her belief is what makes it a reality because she responds and reacts according to her reality (see Thomas theorem). This means that the fantastical within that reality is in some ways true.
Hey Jasmine! Great blog; I’m right with you in the feeling that this book gives. For your question, I actually thought about this a little as I was finishing the book, and I feel as if it can be and not be at the same time. In some ways, I think magical realism does mimic the fantastical perspectives that we have in our childhood, but I think the more correct way to phrase it is they both hold a similar attitude towards life: life cruises and crazy shit just happens and who cares why. Maybe thats not exactly what magical realism is but that is the effect it generates for me. I think as a kid the boundary between fantasy and reality is very easily crossable and magical realism seeks to recreate that effect. So maybe the question is…is magical fantasy an attempt to view life again as a child?
also these profile pictures are so scary
Hi Jasmine,
“Papi” features elements that I feel are aligned with magical realism. The interesting and magical characteristics of the novel distort the difference between reality and one’s own imagination. The novel regularly employs magical elements to investigate and remark on issues such as loss, poverty and gender.
Hi Jasmine,
Thank you for your insightful post this week! You really gave me a lot to think about. To answer your question, I don’t think I would really consider it to be magical realism, especially compared to some of the stories we have read earlier in the term. While I see where this could technically be an example of magical realism in the sense that it is grounding magical elements within a realistic context, I don’t think I would classify it as such because of the child narrator. Personally, it feels more as though we are going into the mind of the narrator and seeing what she was thinking, hence distancing itself from reality at times. This is somewhat more evident at times when we as the reader realize that many of the events that are being described (e.g. her distaste for her papi’s girlfriends to the point where she fantasizes about her and papi shooting them) are in the imaginary realm rather than based in reality.
Thanks again for your post this week!
Hi Jasmine, I really loved your characterization of the narrative as musical, with fortes and pianissimos driving the plot. I had a similar interpretation of Indiana’s language and it’s so interesting that you were already familiar with her as an artist. To answer your question, I think you raise a good point that Papi feels less like magical realism because it comes from the perspective of a child, whose thinking already feels magical in itself. However, I would still classify it within this genre because it relies on a lot of magical elements to describe the more intangible, social aspects of the narrator’s life.