Jan
10
Leyendas de Guatemala
Posted by: | January 10, 2010 | Comments Off on Leyendas de Guatemala
Where to begin…
The first reading for Span 365 had me feeling slightly overwhelmed. Upon reading the first few pages, I realized that I was NOT going to be able to understand Asturias’ leyendas word for word. Looking up each and every unknown word would take me years to finish the text. So I settled for simply gathering an overall impression of “Leyendas de Guatemala” and the writing style of Asturias.
A few things I noticed throughout each of the leyendas:
1) Nature as an overall theme. Each leyenda is deeply rooted in nature and includes detailed descriptions of all the types of trees, flowers, animals etc. that one can find in the Guatemalan environment. This sets each leyenda specifically in Guatemala. There is no ambiguity here. While reading the leyendas, one is not imagining a story unfolding in some European city. The theme of nature also ties the leyendas to the indigenous people of Guatemala, as they have the longest history and ties to the environment.
2) Dream-like, poetic, descriptions. As Paul Valery writes in his letter to Francis de Miomandre, this piece of literature is a collection of “historias-suenos-poemas.” A perfect way to describe each leyenda. The stories resemble dreams as they aren’t explicitly described as taking place at a certain time in history. These stories appear to take place in a sort of limbo. The poetic use of words also creates strong, dream-like images. Asturias describes in “Leyenda del Cadejo” how Madre Elvira de San Francisco “habla tan candorosa que la palabra parecia en sus labios flor de suavidad y de carino.” You can imagine the voice of Madre Elvira, how it would sound, the rhythm of her words, etc.
3) Use of repetition. In many of the stories, I noticed the use of repeated words or phrases. For example in “Leyendas del Sombreron” the phrase “tan liviana, tan agil, tan blanca” is repeated several times. I feel like the use of repetition gives the leyendas a poetic feel, as repetition is often used in poetry. Also, (this is just an idea I had, could be totally wrong!) I feel like the inclusion of repetition in the leyendas also gives them an element of the indigenous, as possibly when the indigenous people of Guatemala told their stories, they included lots of repetition to make their stories easier to remember as a story-teller, and easier to follow as a listener.
Although I may not have understood every leyenda, I could still appreciate the writing style of Asturias. I enjoyed the dream-like, poetic feel of the leyendas, and how they seem to take place in some other world, as we cannot attach each leyenda to a certain time and place in Guatemala.
Jan
10
span 365 Blog 1
Posted by: | January 10, 2010 | Comments Off on span 365 Blog 1
Lo que me parece importante notar en este texto es que tiene una mezcla de muchos géneros y propósitos. Al principio cuando el autor escribe en el presente es como si escribe sobre sus viajes y podemos sentir que está viviendo los momentos y hablando de experiencias suyas. Sin embargo, en la página 13, párrafo 4 siento que cuando cambia el tiempo de los verbos y menciona también que “se cuanta”, pone cierta distancia entre él mismo y lo que cuenta y tenemos informaciones que no nos dan la impresión de ser personal y directas del narrador. En este caso tienen una función didáctica sobre el país y la cultura, mientras antes parecía que una persona estaba compartiendo sus creencias y su cultura.
Lo que también me parece interesante es el hecho que el autor repite muchas veces la palabra “sueño” lo que podemos interpretar que da importancia a los sueños o a cualquier cosa o creencia aunque sea basada en algo que no es físicamente real, mientras sean cosas bonitas que tengan importancia para la persona que las vea o en que tiene creencia. Un ejemplo es en la pagina 17 dice “cuando la noble dama ve o sueña” y continua su historia como si el hecho de que no sabemos si eso era realidad o sueno no tiene ninguna importancia o ningún efecto en la historia. La obsesión de las culturas europeas o norte americana con la realidad física, en mi opinión, es muy diferente de lo que encontramos en estas leyendas porque la autenticidad no le importa al autor sino la belleza de la historia y de los detalles.
Una de las características más importantes de estas leyendas es el hecho que hay mucha descripción y muchas detalles como si el autor quería dibujar imágenes en la mente de los lectores para que sean capaces de ver y entender lo que trata de transmitir a ellos. A veces muchas detalles pueden ser la causa del aburrimiento para el lector, sin embargo esto no es verdad en estos leyendas porque el autor presenta sus descripciones de manera muy poetica lo que captura al lector y lo lleva a un viaje complicada, por la complejidad de la descripción, pero en el mismo tiempo es tan bonita que el lector se pierde en ella y se siento como si estaba realmente soñando.
Jan
10
Leyendas de Guatemala (1/2)
Posted by: | January 10, 2010 | Comments Off on Leyendas de Guatemala (1/2)
My goodness, so much to read!
These legends are quite incredible in the sense that I felt as though I was sitting in circle, listening to them being told and passed on amongst people, but also gave me a sense of culture and language. The vocabulary being used is just so rich that reading it from a native-English perspective felt so insufficient – I feel as though I have lost so much meaning that has been hidden between the words.
For me, the Leyenda del Cadejo was the most interesting of them all. Some of the metaphors were straightforward (which I find much easier to understand) yet still incredibly descriptive, like “Reptó bajo sus pies como la sangre negra de un animal muerto..” (40). I quite enjoyed the ability to visualize the beginning of the story, with the sounds of the voices mixing with all of the smells, images and surroundings that were described – it was as though you could take part in and experience the legend, not just listen.
The things I noticed the most had to be the biblical references and repetitions of words. As in the Leyenda del Volcán, the repetition of “Nido” made me think that it was not just a name, but rather a cultural significance behind it was not being directly stated. I also noticed a bit of comparison between heaven and hell – in the Leyenda del Cadejo, the use of ‘infierno’ in conjunction with ‘los diablos’ seemed quite contradictory to be used after a minor description of a flower-covered cadaver and all the anguish associated with the loss of a life (however I could be insinuating more to this than there actually is). Another was the difference between dream and reality, and how they both mixed with each other in a situation. It was hard to differentiate between them, and I often wonder if (in legends) ‘sueño’ solely referred to the dream-state, as in daydreaming (that didn’t actually occur in reality), or to fictional/supernatural occurrences (that they believed occurred in reality). My favorite thing in all of these legends had to be the extraordinary use of peculiar adjectives. I don’t think I’ve ever had to look up so many words in my Spanish dictionary, but wow – well worth it!
After reading through these, I’m definitely interested in what we’re reading next!
Jan
10
leyendas de guatemala: la primera mitad
Posted by: | January 10, 2010 | Comments Off on leyendas de guatemala: la primera mitad
para mí, las leyendas de Guatemala son como cuentos cortos y por eso son perfectas para leer porque son muy interesantes pero al mismo tiempo no son demasiado largos. la repetición también es un recurso retórico que captura mi atención y da importancia a lo que Asturias está contando. por ejemplo, en la “Leyenda del volcán,” las palabras “Los tres que venían en el viento” y “Los tres que venían en el agua” son repetidas muchas veces, mostrando la importancia de estos seis hombres.
aun el lenguaje que el autor usa es un poco difícil a entender a veces, su elección de palabras es muy hermosa y compleja. pienso que para realmente entender todo, un lector necesite leer las leyendas varias veces y “se bebe mas que se lee” cada palabra. traté de hacer exactamente esto cuando leí las leyendas por la primera vez.
cuando leí la carta de Valery estaba interesada en leer el libro. al comenzar leer las leyendas yo las encontré muy similar a algo que ya he leído. son muy similares a algunas partes del Popol Vuh. un componente que aparece en los dos libros es la naturaleza. a mi me gusta mucho la importancia que los indígenas dan a la tierra y como es una parte gigante de sus orígenes y su historia. la naturaleza es algo mas poderosa del hombre y yo encuentro este muy interesante porque en nuestra cultura el hombre es el rey de todo y mas poderosa que la naturaleza. pero en realidad no podemos controlar la naturaleza y por eso, la naturaleza tiene una esfuerza grande y incontrolable. los indígenas reconocen que la naturaleza es una entidad arriba de ellos y las leyendas muestran la importancia de cada elemento de la naturaleza, el agua, el fuego, etc. hay mucho detalle en cada mito.
mi cuento favorito es la leyenda del volcán. se lee mas como un poema con tanta repetición pero al mismo tiempo cuenta una historia. cuando leo cada palabra de esta leyenda me siento un poco abrumada porque las palabras son tan complejas y tan ricas pero también las palabras crean muchas imágenes claras en mi miente, casi como estoy en este mundo extraño.
leyendo los cuentos, es posible ver la relación intrincada entre los indígenas y su cultura. hay mucha pasión en cada palabra y cada mito y los elementos de realismo mágico son muy creativos
Jan
10
So up to this point, Leyendas de Guatemala has proven itself to be quite dense, but still engaging as long as you have a (lots of) cup(s) of coffee and some time to split up the reading. The language Asturias uses in “Guatemala” introduces a style that creates a strong mystical sense of people and places that are seemingly captured in a timeless sequence of events lacking obvious order. Rather than providing a clear framework for the novel, the reader is provided with little traces of a storyline and is challenged to make sense of endless imagery in order to fashion the text into one form.
In this way, Leyendas de Guatemala is unlike any novel or collection of stories that I have read before; I felt that I walked away with a strong impression created through many unlikely sensorial comparisons in the text that are almost impossible to explain completely without some sort of reiteration. Unlike the majority of novels that I’ve encountered, thus far Leyendas de Guatemala did not provide me with something as simple as a storyline as I was expecting to gather. Instead, Asturias seems to carefully present these legends on a completely different plane. I was surprised and confused with endless descriptions that so perfectly capture a wide range of sensations told by way of surely tangible images of nature that are strung together on the skeleton of legends. For this reason, I think to take on half of the novel at once is definitely a sensory overload, leaving little time to really appreciate and understand these images that make up the backbone of Leyendas de Guatemala.
One of the elements of the legends so far that really interests me is the relationship between the pre-colonial and post-colonial within the text. At first, I felt as if there was not a distinct sense of time in the early parts of “Guatemala” as Asturias describes the different cities and practices (note: if one has a deeper understanding and knowledge of Mayan culture it may be a different story, but I’m speaking from a perspective with a pretty basic understanding of the Mayas). Once Asturias begins to describe the arrival of the Spaniards (17) and the text begins describing colonial scenes (18-20), everything seems more familiar, until the beginning of the second paragraph on page twenty where the text fades back into the unfamiliar once again with the line, “El Cuco de los Sueños va hilando los cuentos.”
Jan
10
Span 365 1 Asturias
Posted by: | January 10, 2010 | Comments Off on Span 365 1 Asturias
The first half of the book legends of Guatemala seems to be a compilation of various magical legends which depict Guatemala’s past.
The book can be viewed as a work of history or anthropology talking about the various cities and the sacrifices as mentioned in the first tale Guatemala as well as the way the natives were and their types of beliefs in the past. The various legends in this story talk about different beliefs they have in gods, sacrifices and nature and help us visualize what life must have been like in their time.
The book uses a lot of visualization in its depiction of nature and the way the natives lived in Guatemala. Nature seems to be a key component in almost all the tales; the use of so many descriptions and metaphors creates a vision of what the world Asturias is describing in these legends. A world where nature appears to be of the greatest importance and influences both the natives lives and mystical beliefs.
The legend I liked the most would have to be “Leyenda del Volcan” the co-existence with nature and the presence of only 6 people. 3 that could see in water and 3 that could see in the air, half sharing the land above and the other half sharing the land under the water. The depiction of a state of harmony with nature is what I like about this story. Near the end where the volcano ravages the land and water destroying everything is tragic and the flow of magma destroying everything in its path could also be viewed as a symbol of the destruction caused by the conquistadors when they came to Latin America.
Jan
10
Fieldtrip, anyone?
Posted by: | January 10, 2010 | Comments Off on Fieldtrip, anyone?
**The link to Leyendas de Guatemala wouldn’t open after I’d written the blog to look up correct page numbers, so my apologies if they are off by a page or two. I’ll fix it up once I can get into the link 🙂 **
Even before “los árboles hechizan la cuidad entera” (p. 12) in Leyenda de Guatemala, the reader has no doubt that these tales will incorporate the sense of magical realism which best describes nature when seen from the heart of a poetic author. Such descriptions as when the serpent “reptó bajo sus pies como la sangre negra de un animal muerto” (p. 40); or a forest of human trees, where “veían las piedras, hablaban las hojas [y] reían las aguas” (p. 24). This is the kind of ‘real magic’ that I love. How about the arresting image of the 6 men which comprise the wind and the water? And of course the men in the water “se alimentaban de estrellas como los peces” (p. 28)….I mean, why wouldn’t they?
My point is that these intriguing portrayals lend much more to the history of Guatemala than just fantasy; they give it mystery and appeal. Would a Guatemalan relate more to these tales than I did? Absolutely (I can say with little to no doubt)! However, there are common threads which run throughout these stories that connect a human race, and not just a country. Such as “el agua [que] está en todo” (p. 30), or the men of the wind and water who know that “todo es buena fruta” (p. 30) in the forest. Cheesy? Maybe. Verifiable truths? To a glass-half-full perspective: Yes. And as an ultimate test, the average reader, Guatemalan or not, needs to expand their well of experience upon reading about the central character ‘El Cuco de los Sueños’; the intrepid personality which “va hilando los cuentos” (p. 12). And this is where I would like to stay: in the massive wings of this ‘Cuco de Sueños’ as it weaves together lullabies of stories which reak of la naturaleza and realismo mágico.
To my disappointment, however, the legends ventured to the wrong side of the tracks when they began to include aspects of societal greed and religion. Okay, so I have to admit that my mood takes a downward spiral whenever Latin American authors pursue the messy subject of religion (to those who may be agitated by this comment, my disclaimer is that religion doesn’t sit well with me, but I think it’s fine if it sits well with you); but I must admit that religion has been a key-player in the development of Latin America, and, as these legends revolve somewhat chronologically around the maturing of Guatemala as a nation, it seems only right that Asturias should include a varied mix of catholicism and a kind of ‘mayan paganism’ within the legends.
But even in these ‘magical cities’, the Catholic church muscles its way into a position of authority as a line is drawn between “el sacerdote y la multitud” (p. 14). It seems that even as the conquistadors arrive, “el espíritu religioso entristece el paisaje” (p. 16); and the similarities are not unfounded when “se han podrido más de tres obispos y las ratas arrastran malos pensamientos” (p. 16). But then, Asturias speaks of the ‘trinidad’ being santa, flor (azucena) y niño. (p. 32) Metaphors of the traditional Father, Son, and holy ghost? Perhaps these Mayan legends have taken a biblical turn. Then there is Nido, who “en un día que duró muchos siglos” (p. 32) created a town with a temple. Okay, so it wasn’t the world and it wasn’t in seven days, but I’m sensing some more similarities here between the dominant Catholic church and the drowning Mayan legends. Although, with these ideas of magical realism, it feels more comfortable to relate these stories to Santa Clause, than to God. Or would God be in a state of magical realism as well? This creates a perfectly sound environment for the Church to be introduced into such pagan fables, just as it seems to have ‘introduced’ itself into many cultures of the world. Besides, every story needs a corrupt villain.
All in all, my feeling so far is that instead of reading these legends on my laptop in my room while listening to the rain dripping outside; I would rather be told these tales from una vieja, gray and weathered, as we sit under the stars and next to the ‘3 men of the water’ as they meander their way through the lush expanse of Guatemala. …..Does the Spanish department pay for field trips?
On another note, does anyone have any insight on the colours which are repeatedly mentioned in the legends (verde, rojo, blanco y negro)? Asturias mentions several references that these colors have (ie: organs, hair, spring storms, torpical ecstasy, promises of new lands, cruelty, etc…), but does anyone know of a central idea/image from which these color stem? Thanks!
Pura vida.
Jan
10
Span365
Posted by: | January 10, 2010 | Comments Off on Span365
Esto es un cuento bastante representativo de la cultura Guatamalena.Se da ejemplos de la cultura mas viejo; una cultura que es representado en una forma mas surelisto, y es claro que partes del cuento son leyendas cuales han dicho entre generaciones del gente guatamalena. Asturias nos dice en la introducción que la cuenta es basada mas en un sueno de la realidad, y bastante obvio en pasajes como esto: “Existe la creencia de que los arboles respiran el aliento de las personas que habitan las ciudades enterradas, y por eso, costumbre legendaria y familiar, a su sombra se aconsejan los que tienen que resolver casos de conciencia . . . (pg 13-14). Esto es un ejemplo que mas claramente ejemplifica las ideas del suenos y leyendas como la base y fundacion de esta cuento. Asturias nos provide con un conceptualizacion de la identidad cultural de Guatemala mediante el uso de las creencias de los Guatemalenos, pero mas importantemente, el se abarca el estilo de los escritores del “Boom” para denunciar la dictadura en esta tiempo.El se usa el estilo de realismo magico para escribir una obra mas influencial cual pone mucho énfasis en los politicas del Guatemala, pero tambien se da al lector un sentido de la cultura y la vida en esta siglo.
Jan
10
Leyendas de Guatemala (parte1)
Posted by: | January 10, 2010 | Comments Off on Leyendas de Guatemala (parte1)
Empezé a leer las Leyendas de Guatemala con atención: quería entender todo de esos cuentos. Me perdí a la mitad de la segunda página.. !Hay tanta descripción que es dificil no perderse!
Jan
10
Asturias: las leyendas
Posted by: | January 10, 2010 | Comments Off on Asturias: las leyendas
Pasé un ratito en Guatemala este verano, no bastante para conocerlo bien, pero estaba más en Chiapas, México, donde conoce a muchos Guatemaltecos. Por que México toma una hora extra durante los veranos[1] y Guatemala no hace esto, el tiempo de Guate es una hora atrás de México. Entonces lo llaman el tiempo de México “tiempo nuevo”, y el tiempo de Guatemala, “tiempo viejo”.
El tiempo viejo, la antigüedad que Asturias mencione es integral en su visión de Guatemala hoy en día. “Como se cuenta en las historias que ahora nadie cree- ni las abuelas ni los niños- esta ciudad fue construida sobre ciudades enterradas en el centro de América” (Guatemala). Este tema aparece en mucha de la literatura latinoamericana[2], pero Asturias me parece más suelto con la distinción entre los tiempos, es más mezclada. Los otros cuentos que se he leído hay una distinción definitiva entre el pasado y el presente. Pero por sus cuentos aquí, Asturias vuela por esas distinciones.[3] Quizás por que en Guatemala no hay tanta distinción entre el cotidiano de hoy y las tradiciones y leyendas de ayer. Más que cuarenta por ciento de la población es indígena y me imagino que viven mucho como sus antepasados del “tiempo viejo”.
También refiere a los aspectos del día moderno. Por ejemplo en “Leyenda de Cadejo” la iglesia católica, representa por la monja, discrepa con un elemento fantástico antiguo, el cadejo. El conflicto es un conflicto relevante a los comunidades indígenas que los se convierte al catolicismo. Asturias tiene un perspectiva de América Latina se basa en los costumbres indígenas.
[1] Como daylight savings time.
[2] Me recuerdo el cuento de Fuentes, “Chac Mool” sobre un hombre que busca el dios de lluvia y luego se ahoga. Y también “La noche boca arriba” de Cortázar sobre un hombre que sueña que se sacrificado después un accidente en su moto.
[3] Or maybe it’s just my terrible Spanish. I feel like a fourth grader.
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