Creation and (Re)presentation of Historical Discourse in Isle of Passion by Laura Restrepo

Abstract

Published in Colombia in 1989, but neglected until the author’s later distinction, Laura Restrepo’s first novel, Isle of Passion, focuses on historical facts, as well as on the issues that arise when the impact of events is articulated in official discourse. This study—drawing from Walter Mignolo’s idea of decolonial theory—explores how Restrepo’s attempt to rewrite history following “an-other logic, an-other language, another thinking” contributes to the decolonization of knowledge, being, community interests, and cultural heritage. The novel’s plot centers on a minor event in international history: the territorial dispute over the island of Clipperton, which was encountered by an English pirate escaping the Spaniards in the 1700’s, claimed by the Mexicans for its geographical proximity, owned (since 1930) by the French, and occasionally disputed by the English and US governments. Writing while personally experiencing the trauma of exile, Restrepo narrates the forgotten story of the Mexican soldiers—deployed with their families to defend the island—as a metaphor of marginalization. Clipperton, therefore, represents not only a geographical, but also a historical entity. This reading of Isle of Passion describes how its creative dis-order recovers a chapter of national history, finally retold by its silenced protagonists. This article is available in Studies in 20th & 21st Century Literature: http://newprairiepress.org/sttcl/vol35/iss2/6 Creation and (Re)presentation of Historical Discourse in Isle of Passion by Laura Restrepo Daniela Melis Independent Scholar Translated by Emily Fiore and Daniela Melis Preoccupied with memory and the definition of truth in History, the Colombian ex-journalist Laura Restrepo has created her own literary space between and among genres with a novel based on rigorous historical research. This essay presents a reading of La isla de la pasion (1989) Isle of Passion (2005)—her first novel, hardly read until the writer attained international recognition in later years. The critical corpus that has formed around Restrepo’s work over the last five years records her deep commitment towards the (re)writing of national and continental History, demonstrating the postcolonial character of a discourse that subverts phallocentrism as it reorganizes the patriarcal literary canon.1 Among the most recent criticism, El universo literario de Laura Restrepo (2007) ‘The Literary Universe of Laura Restrepo,’ brings together twenty-two essays and three interviews presenting a variety of readings generated internationally by Restrepo’s writing. The discussion starts with Paolo Vignolo’s introductory essay on Isle of Passion titled “Doubtful Existence: between History and Utopia.” After decanting the hybridity of the literary text—designed within the journalistic deontology of its author—Vignolo emphasizes the presence of a “clear political stance” reflecting upon “the emergency of History from the bottom up” (64, my trans.).2 The critic stresses the contraposition between the hegemonic vision of official history and the subordinate vision proceeding from the personal stories of the novel’s protagonists. Starting from Vignolo’s argument, I propose a non-localistic reading of Restrepo’s text that highlights the presence of a universal 1 Melis: Creation and (Re)presentation of Historical Discourse in Isle of Published by New Prairie Press