Conversaciones literarias con novelistas contemporáneos by Katarzyna Olga Beilin

Abstract

MLR, 101.4, 2oo6 I153 Bizet and his followers is hardly an isolated phenomenon, but rather part of an older current, developed and projected on the European-and later, world-imaginary. Gypsiness fuses into flamenco as early as the texts of Cadalso, and later, among many others, in Iza Zam;acola, Falla, and, naturally, Lorca. Torrecilla asks himself: < C6mo explicar la extraordinaria aceptacion que ha tenido la obra de Falla y Lorca en todo elmundo? Obviamente, por su calidad, pero tambien por haber sabido, sin renun ciar a esa calidad, responder a las expectativas creadas sobre la esencia de lo espainol, ofreciendo al puiblico un mundo estereotipico de gitanos, pasiones, flamenco, puinales y guitarras. (p. 66) With more specificity, or perhaps more irritation, Torrecilla notes: 'LaEspafia Exotica se vende, y se vende bien. [. . .] [Esa Espafia] pasada por el filtro de una Andalucia agitanada y folcl6rica con la que gran parte de los espanioles no se identifican y no quieren identificarse' (pp. 68, 70-7I). A related element of this Spanish exoticism is its identification with Africa, some thing which has been studied since the moment when Masson de Morviellers asked his famously annoying question, 'What do we owe Spain?', in 1782. The connec tion between Spain and Africa (historically and symbolically) provoked a defensive reaction that lasted well into the twentieth century, but for reasons that Torrecilla explains, it never had the profound impact on national identify that other associative concepts such as themarginal, the impassioned, the haughty, the gross, the lazy, the happy, themystical, or the popular managed to have. If that cliched Spain ('de pandereta') is not the 'authentic' Spain, then what is? Torrecilla, naturally, has no answer because his purpose here is simply (well, not so simply) to criticize the stereotypes and document their history. If the book feels slightly repetitive at times, it none the less keeps its promise to stimulate serious thought about images and associations that have marked, and prejudiced, our view of Spain formore than two centuries. Spain might be (ormight have been) different, but the dismissive 'fiesta y siesta' image betrays themodernity of a country which has undergone profound changes since the days of Feijoo. Torrecilla has the last word: La realidad espaniola, sin embargo, ha cambiado con la historia, por lo que no parece congruente que se recurra a las antiguas imagenes para representarla. El espafiol actual no es el hidalgo del Siglo de Oro, arrogante y presuntuoso, imbuido de una conciencia de superioridad ahora a todas luces injustificada, pero tampoco tiene por que ser el espafiol ex6tico de los siglos XVIII y XIX. Las nuevas realidades exigen nuevas respuestas y eso, sin duda, acarrea ciertas responsabilidades. (p. I83) UNIVERSITYOFVIRGINIA DAVIDT. GIES Conversaciones literarias con novelistas contemporaneos. By KATARZYNAOLGA BEILIN. (Coleccion T'amesis. Serie A: Monografias, 203) Woodbridge and Rochester: Tamesis. 2004. 2I9 Pp. ?25. ISBN I-85566-099-7. Katarzyna Olga Beilin's book consists of a series of nine interviews with contem porary, post-I975 Spanish writers in all cases but one. It opens with a twelve-page introductory essay, which provides a general framework for the book and foregrounds a series of concepts, such as 'realism', 'the other', and 'violence', that are then intro duced in each of the discussions with the writers interviewed. This is followed by the nine interviews, each of which is also preceded by a very brief and general essay presenting thewriter in question and some features of his or her work. The writers in terviewed and the corresponding chapter titles are: 'Ricardo Piglia: siempre en laotra II54 Reviews orilla'; 'Pedro Zarraluki: sobre la retorcida belleza de lavida'; 'Juan JoseMillas: vivir de lahuida'; 'JoseMaria Merino: elmar interior -sobre el poder de la imaginaci6n'; 'Antonio Munioz Molina: inventar las cosas tal como son'; 'Cristina Fernandez-Cubas: me gusta que me inquieten'; 'Enrique Vila-Matas: soy del tamafio de lo que veo -sobre el sentido de lasmiradas'; 'Quim Monz6: lo veo todo bastante negro'; 'Ray Loriga: dudas y sombras'. At the end of the book there is a bibliography of primary texts, i.e. the prose narratives of the writers interviewed, and of other works cited. The discussions are interesting and often shed some light on thewriter's work and his or her ideas on literature more generally, as well as touching on the Franco years and the years of the Transition, when these writers were growing up and making their way into the world of letters. All of the Spanish writers interviewed were born after the Civil War, between 194i and I956 to be precise; they arewriters who came to the fore in the 1970S and I98os, and therefore belong to the pOst-1975 'generation', per taining towhat in the I98os became known as 'lanueva narrativa', with the exception of Ray Loriga, who, born in I967, is very much the odd one out in a number of ways, not least in that he appears in the discussion as being not nearly aswell read, spoken, and educated (in literary terms, that is) as the rest and one whose models seem to be primarily cinematic rather than literary. The fact that his main project at the time of the interview is a script for a horror film, as he confesses at the end of the discussion, is indicative of the chasm between him and the others. But the one writer in this collection whose inclusion is truly puzzling is Ricardo Piglia, an Argentinian novelist and academic resident in the USA. Beilin rightly ar gues in the introductory essay that the Spanish writers interviewed 'sienten el placer de contar historias y construyen tramas precisas que proporcionan el placer ludico de la lectura' while posing 'preguntas existenciales, ontol6gicas y eticas que establecen un sorprendente dialogo con el pensamiento filosofico de la segunda mitad del siglo veinte' (p. I).However, by way of a justification of the inclusion of Piglia, she wrongly maintains that 'en este contexto es evidente la importancia de Ricardo Piglia, cuya novelamas importante,Respiraci6noficial, constituye un punto de referenciay una fuente de citas para varios de los autores hispanos, incluyendo los entrevistados' (p. i). This is simply not true as regards the Spanish authors and is not really borne out in the interviews either, nor can Piglia really be seen, as we are told later, 'como una especie de eslab6n que une desde el otro lado del Atlantico la rebeli6n total de la es critura experimental con lanarrativa de los ochenta y noventa, que retorna al lenguaje y a la estructura del argumento mas realista', as a precursor of the 'renovaci6n del realismo' in Spain (p. I5)-there is no substantial link between Piglia and the other Spanish writers interviewed. The following explanation Beilin puts forward for the writers chosen, on the other hand, ismuch less forced, albeit much more subjective, and rings true: 'En cierto sentido, estas entrevistas fueron motivadas por el factor subjetivo de una recepci6n desde lejos; por la ilusi6n que me hizo leerlos bajo el cielo gris de Polonia y el ancho cielo de lasAmericas' (p. I). The inclusion of Piglia and, to some extent, Loriga makes for a less coherent vo lume. Nevertheless, Katarzyna Olga Beilin's book may appeal to readers interested in the writers interviewed and is not significantly marred by the less than rigorous proof-reading. UNIVERSITYOFEDINBURGH ALEXISGROHMANN The Cambridge Companion toModern Latin American Culture. Ed. by JOHNKING. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2004. xxiv+356 pp. /45 (pbk kCI6.99). ISBNo-52I-63I5I-3(pbko-53I-6365I-5) Considering the diversity of Latin America and its peoples, it is an immensely chal lenging task to produce a useful guide tomodern Latin American culture that avoids ...