Jack E. Tomlins (review)

Abstract

862 Reviews related notonlyto ethnic diversity in contemporary Spainbut also to any multicultural society. He particularly acknowledges theunresolved paradox that characterizes multicultural coexistence: 'respect forother cultures involves the recognition thatthosecultures mayrejecttheprogressive valueson which multiculturalism isbased'(p.84).Rabalska, while considering recent tendencies in Spanishcinema, particularly thefilms ofAmenabar, Alexde La Iglesia,and Santiago Segura among others, points tothework ofBerlanga, Ferreri andBunuel as their predecessors. Sheconcentrates, though, on Spanish blockbusters which exploit locutre (thesleazy), andtries toexplain their popularity interms ofpostmodernambiguity -cum-nostalgia. Once Rabalskahas examinednumerous instances ofgratuituous violence andbadtaste, sheposesa question that would havebeenmore productively placedatthe beginning ofheressay: 'Isindulgence in badtaste tobeinterpreted as animplicit support ofmysoginistic representations?' (P. II0).Maybe not, butitstill isboth indulgence andbadtaste. Intheremaining essays, Rixexamines theinterest displayed bytheSpanish film industry inmarkets, production andartistic collaboration inseveral Latin American countries that, inhisopinion, isonly hindered bythe pervasive control exercised by Hollywood onaudiences onboth sides ofthe Atlantic. Hopewell reviews the careers ofnewdirectors ofshorts, viewing their experimental work as theproduct ofan international education anda setofinterests different from thehistorical andsocial commitment ofprevious film-makers. Finally, Brown explains thedistance that a cottage industry hastogoinorder tobecome a fully developed feature film industry. POMONA COLLEGE (CLAREMONT, CA) MAR1A DONAPETRY Mario deAndrade: 7heCreative Works. ByJOSE I. SUAREZ andJACK E. TOMLINS. Lewisberg: Bucknell University Press; London: Associated University Presses. 2000. I95pp- £3° Thetitle ofthis first English-language monograph devoted tothecreative work of Mario deAndrade begs the inevitable question. By'creative works' Jose Suarez and the lateJackTomlins refer, ofcourse, tohisverse andprose fiction. Butthevery experimental nature of Mario's writing meant that hiscronicas, his literary theorizing, hismusicological studies, hisdisquisitions on Modernist art,evenhispublished correspondence, all shimmer, latosensu, witha glowofcreativity notnormally associated with suchgenres. Asthe'PopeofBrazilian Modernism' Mariocameto prominence when hespearheaded the mutiny against effiete Neo-Parnassianism and 'bourgeois' taste intherumbustious Modern Art Week celebrated inSao Pauloin February I922.In I945hediedprematurely attheageoffifty-one, leaving behind the vastoutput which fills thetwenty volumes ofhisObras completas (Sao Paulo: Livraria Martins Editora, I944-67). Despite theacknowledged self-contradictions inMario'srichly evolving literary theory (a theory entwined withaesthetics, psychology, musicology, folklore and vigorous literary innovation), theauthors claim tofind 'unity indiversity' (p. I2)in his work. Nevertheless, hisPortuguese contemporary, Fernando Pessoa,readily accepted that suchcontradictions areinherent totheexperimental, investigative andquesting approach that they bothshared andhecouldnever haveaccepted such a facileverdict: Pessoa'sonlyunity was biological. Mariowouldalmost certainly haveagreed with him. Traditionally, Mario'sreadership has concentrated itsinterest on hisverse (notably onthestrident Pauliceia dessairada ofI922andonCladoaboti ofI927)and on hissuperlative folkloric novel (or'rapsodia'j Macunazma (I928).Indeed, the point MLR,96.3,200 I 863 is wellmadebytheauthors thatwithout thetrail-blazing, dictionary-defeating linguistic experimentation ofMacunazma, Guimaraes Rosa'sfiction would later have struggled tofind acceptance. However, SuarezandTomlins alsoguide thereader enthusiastically intotheworld ofMario'sshort stories, most notably those ofthe fine collection Belazarte (I934).Thepessimism that Marioevinces concerning the human predicament, as exemplified inthis work through thelivesofthelowermiddle classinI920SSao Paulo,istriumphantly demonstrated tobethehallmark of'oneofthegreat tellers oftalesofBrazil's twentieth century' (p.20).Mariois rightly presented as thefirst Brazilian contista abletochallenge theprimacy inthat genre ofMachadodeAssis and,indeed, abletofashion a literary taste that would laterwelcome ClariceLispector (and,I might add,LygiaFagundes Tellesand Dalton Trevisan). Theauthors seek toestablish the existence ofa 'vanguardist' phase anda 'mature' phase intheir subject's work butnever fully succeed indisentangling the overlapping features that characterize the two aspects. Forexample, both the vanguardist poems ofCladojaboti andthe mature stories ofBelazarte were written inthe period I923-26. Moreover, thecomposition of Belazarte largely predates thatof theglorious vanguardist linguistic fireworks ofMacunaima. Itistrue thatthere isa clearshift away from a narrowly Modernist approach inthe engaging andadroitly interpreted poetry ofself-analysis tobefound inRemate demales (I930).However, thereader is left with a sense that after I930there wasa decline inMario'sinventiveness, that themature writer had becometoo respectable, though thisfeeling is at least overridden bytheexquisite rhythms andimagery of'AmeditaSao sobre o Tiete'of theposthumous Lirapaulistana (I946). Strangely, fora scholarly monograph, quotations from Mario'swork appearin(elegant) English translation only. The bibliography takes theform ofa highly judicious catalogue raisonne. ButhasMario's aeuvre quite the universality claimed for it?Perhaps sometimes. UNIVERSITY OFMANCHESTER - CLIVE WILLIS Images ofLanguage. SixEssays onGerman Attitudes toEuropean Languages from I500 to I800. ByWILLIAM JERVIS JONES. (Studies intheHistory oftheLanguage Sciences, 89)Amsterdam: Benjamins. I999.X+ 297PP. HflI 50;$75. In Images ofLanguage, William Jervis Jonesexplores thestatus ofneighbouring languages in theperception ofGermans fromI500 to I800,withoccasional reference toattitudes...