Notes from Latin America

kachchi miTTi,

i like isabel allende`s writing. i liked house of the spirits and eva luna. it seems like gazillion years since i`ve read those though, but i had to read la casa de los espiritus for a latin american history class towards the end of my undergrad days. hated what did they did to it in the movie version. i have not had a chance to read the book she wrote about, was it her daughter?

mirmir:

not that i`ve lost patience. :) let me know what you think of fantasia. it is not the easiest of reads! i taught a class where i had my students read it, and they were not very pleased with me. nor were all of them impressed by her writing. i think it may have been too ``deep`` for them.

and i can understand your puzzlement. there are ``arabs`` who are just as puzzled about being a part of the ``arab world.`` many of us refer to all lebanese as arabs. some lebanese refer to themselves as phoenecians. and it is sometimes difficult for me to place egypt and algeria in the ``arab world``, when they are in africa. . . .

Re: # 24
Raw Dust...
Sorry, I have to plead ignorance here and check with my wife, who`s smarter than I am!
mirmir

mirmir:
isabel allende? good ? bad? half-decent? what do you say.. one of my friend been talking about it....

cheers.

Re: # 21
Ana
I`ve ordered ``Fantasia`` by Assia Djebar and also ``Naphtalene`` by Alia Mamdouh. I`m looking forward to reading both. Thanks for the note on Assia Djebar. Yes, after looking in my handy dictionary I see that Arab, in its broad sense, refers to all people who live in Arab-speaking nations. I`m learning, be patient, please!
mirmir

Re: # 21
Yes, partly the expatriate status, but mostly my ignorance. Are Iraqis considered Arab? mirmir

mirmir:

i went to the website you posted re: the ``women of the arab world`` bios. what puzzles you about them being billed as such. is it the expatriate status of some of them? is it where some of them are from? i`m not always comfortable with these umbrellas either, and having read suheir`s poetry, i know she writes about more than just the arab world.

and while we`re still straying and recommending. . . if you haven`t read assia djebar`s ``fantasia: an algerian cavalcade``, or ``women from algiers in their apartment.`` i recommend them. she`s billed as an arab writer as well, but i know that in ``fantasia. . .`` there`s this dialogue about being arab, or being french, this struggle for identity.

saludos!

mirmir:
to stray a little further and furthermore, i think latin girls that carry strong mayan features look mystical and out of this world... like the ones in mayan hieroglyphs...

thanks for mentioning that writer, i will definitely check him out...

you probably have read more from south asian literature than me.. all i can think of is Imtiaz Ali Taj`s play AnaarKali which i like alot... it is about a legend of a Mughal Prince falling in love with a courtesan.. i am not sure if anyone has undertaken the near-impossible task of translating this masterpiece but you can put it on your radar....

cheers.

Rezwan...

``The Amerindian population of South America is marching and I glorify it in the tradition that was the glory of the Inca, the Maya and the Aztec many centuries ago.``

I meant to comment on this but somehow didn`t get around to it in my earlier posts. I do hope that today`s Amerindians reject totally the tradition (that was the glory???) of their cannibal ancestors who participated in ritual human sacrifice. The Aztec theocratic culture was particularly bloody. Cortez may have been a butcher himself, but he did put an end to the Aztec practices of human sacrifice, cannibalism (human flesh was even sold in the market) and flagrant sodomy. Accounts of these practices are easy enough to find on Internet, but here`s an especially graphic description of Mayan rituals:

http://www.ambergriscaye.com/museum/digit14.html

mirmir

Re: # 16
OK, Ana, so I`ll risk straying a little further. These women writers have been billed as Women of the Arab World (but that puzzles me a little): Raja Alem (Saudi Arabia), Fadia Faquir (Jordan/U.K.), Suheir Hammad (Palestine/U.S.), Choman Hardi (Iraqi Kurdistan/UK), Alia Mamdouh (Iraq/France), Somaya Ramadan (Egypt), and Ibtihal Salem (Egypt). You can find a short bio of each here:

http://www.hedgebrook.org/womenwriters.htm

mirmir

:)

mirmir:

you really aren`t straying too far off the subject, we have been talking about literature (well, some of us have). and we tend to always stray from topic anyway on chowk. i will check out alia mamdouh. i haven`t had the chance to read many iraqi women writers - one is daisy al-amir and the other one i forget. thanks for bringing this to our attention.

Re: # 14

Si Srta Ana, I did see it, a few times actually. Esta in mi coleccion. es excelente.

kulharee,

you had better not be saying that about my mother because i will turn you, kulharee, into a molten mess if you are!!! did you see that movie by the way? what didja think of it?

and chimichangas are good. do not knock them!

Queridos Amigos...

I`m straying far off the subject, I know, but I thought some of you might be interested. This book, ``Naphtalene,`` isn`t by a south Asian author but by one from Iraq, Alia Mamdouh. I haven`t been able to find the book here in Mexico so I can`t give you a first hand opinion. Here, though, is a short excerpt from a review by Megan Marz - a review that has set me looking for the novel. Any of you who are interested can read the entire review here:

http://www.alternet.org/story/26501/

``Naphtalene,`` the first novel by an Iraqi woman to be
published in the United States, has taken a long time
to arrive here.

A small Cairo press first published Alia Mamdouh`s
second novel in 1986, just a few years after her
controversial first novel, ``Leila and the Wolf,``
provoked the Iraqi government to prohibit her from
publishing her work there. For the next decade,
``Naphtalene`` was largely ignored. Then, in 1996,
Jordanian scholar Fadia Faqir rescued it from
obscurity by choosing it as part of Garnet
Publishing`s Arab Women Writers, a series of five
novels translated into English and published in the
United Kingdom. But not until this summer did a
publisher -- the Feminist Press at CUNY -- bring
``Naphtalene`` to the United States.
from a review by Megan Marz

Re: # 12

Ana, Gracias, Chimi Changas

Y Tu Mama Tambien

#10. i don`t either. which is why i had problems with this article. and i agree with both you and mirmir on borges and marquez. thanks for the continuing recommendations, mirmir.
kachchi dhool (raw dust), perhaps you could reciprocate by recommending some south asian writers to mirmir?

and kulharee. . . at least you know what chinge de madre is (even though it doesn`t quite look correct). perhaps there is hope for you yet!!! *rolls eyes*

Raw Dust...
No question - Márquez and Borges enjoy a well deserved reputation for excellence. Their outstanding contributions to the world`s literature have influenced, and will continue to influence, a good many younger authors. José Donoso, another author you might like (a Chilean by birth who spent 14 years of productive life in Spain) is considered by some to be another central figure in the ``boom`` generation of Latin American writers.

Rezwan...
You caught me there - you`re surely correct that few European countries want to be friends with Leftist Latin American governments. Probably I let my hope outrun whatever good sense I have. Still, though, not all of these governments are Left - certainly not Mexico - and governments do change their stripes. And all governments tend to overlook the internal politics of another when it suits their interest. Maybe my ``hope`` will even become reality, who knows.

mirmir

i dont think Intizar Hussein is in the same league as Marquez and Borges... (given the few stories i have come across of IH).

mirmir:
great posts!.. thanks for the background on fuentes.... for me Marquez and Borges do wonders.... there is a Marquez`s story ``Eyes of a Blue Dog`` which is nothing like i have ever read anywhere...
(there are absolutely mindblowing portraits of Marquez and Borges in the current edition of poets-&-writers)

kulharee:
isnt it ironic that jihadis and progressive-islmaists, on their rebound, have (after being unceremoniously dumped by amreekis post afghan-jihad) fallen in love with Che Guevara and the company....
pakistani uncles now can be seen finding ``nuances`` in chomsky`s opinions... i mean :-)

Guitar, Castro, Granado, Amado, Chinge de Madre?

The reason I said that you were talking thru your ass is because you mentioned that 40,000 Bolivian marched in Lapaz (out of 10 million) to demand for what??? Did it ever occur to you that it happens in democratic republics, and once there are marches against Castro in Habana, then you should idealize your heroes. Otherwise, it is just a plane hot air, and you don’t appear to have a clue. The reason these places are a mess is not because of corporations, but because of their own dictators. 60s and Che Guevara are dead. Honest to god. If you don’t believe me, ask your global studies teacher.

Re: # 6

well ...i guess pretentiousness will have to be forgiven.....while you remain confounded on how `shytfaces` like castro and chavez could get laid while you stil have to strum the guitar at night.

but this doesn,t mean that you give up ;)

cheers and take care!!!

Re: # 3

Thank you for your reponse. it provides me with another insight which i will allow to affect me.

I think that latin america is a very interesting case to look at...in all its variations. unfortunately i look at it from afar and have not yet crossed the atlantic. maybe someday. however i do not agree with your idea of latin american unity forging some sort of a counterbalance with friends in europe. i do not see any friends in europe to the latin american left.

i live in berlin and interact a lot with eastern europeans and most of them are averse to anything red.....the EU is the next best thing....well anything liberal-western is a big turn on for them. not for all but for thos holding the reigns on powers.

thanks for the reading list though. will definitely browse through that sometime soon.

Do you guys have any shame for such pretentiousness? I mean do you even have a clue?

Re: # 4
Ana...
Carlos Fuentes targets an audience distinctly different from that of Octavio Paz or even Vargas Llosa. Fuentes aims at readers of “pop” literature, maybe the same sort of people who watch the TV series “Desperate Housewives.” Don’t expect from him profound intellectual insights, whether social or political. Above all he entertains. But to his credit he does openly criticize corruption and injustice all neatly wrapped in entertaining stories. Because of his popularity his social commentary has the potential to reach a lot more people than that of the deeper, more intellectual writers like Vargas Llosa or Paz. mirmir

mirmir:

what about carlos fuentes? i`ve bought his very first novel, ``where the air is clear`` in translation, because it would take perhaps triple the amount of time to read it in spanish. but i`m curious as to what you think of his writings, both novelistic and political.

saludos, ana

Rezwan...

The jury is still out on Chavez, at least among my friends here in Mexico. I have applauded many of his actions but I`ve remained skeptical. He may, in the end, prove to be one of those familiar ``populist`` demagogues who, having gotten hold of power, anoints himself ``el maximo`` - the people`s leader (dictator) who alone can save the country from ruin. I hope not. We`ll all know better after the next elections.

If Chavez truly wants to help the people of Venezuela, and other Latino countries as well, he will take the lead in forming a viable community of Latin American nations, allied with European friends, that would be a formidable counterbalance to the U.S.A. and its failed policies. Such an alliance would have the potential to not only benefit its member nations but the entire world. The hoped for counterbalance of a strong European alliance flounders - Latin America could fill the gap.

Castro has, in some ways, helped his people but he`s denied them basic freedoms and he has turned to tourism (priviliged islands of luxury and prostitution) in his quest for foreign currency. Lula looks good but Brasil`s problems are immense. Lula may become the scapegoat (if he can`t meet the people`s high expectations) and the victim of yet another South American military coup.

Mexico could be doing much more toward Latin American unity but its many close ties to the U.S.A., and its shared border, make it difficult for that nation to make any hard-nosed, sincere effort. even if it had the will (and under Fox it doesn`t). You might read some of Mexico`s brilliant Octavio Paz` political writings for further insight.

While no writer south of the border has had such clear vision in the political and social spheres Paz, of course, is better known for his poetry. He`s also written extraordinay essays on India and its rich culture. Juan Rulfo is another Mexican writer that no one interested in Latin American literature should ignore. He authored only two books, ``Pedro Páramo`` and ``El llano en llamas,`` but his influence on recent Latin American literature far exceeds that of Borges, and justifiably so.

mirmir

Re: # 1 Kulharee, is that what you could think of after reading this article? Maybe those girls who slept with him were shytface too, just like him. BTW, I thought you preferred Thai chics.

Is it true that Castro used to sleep around a lot in his youth and he fathered a number of kids outside of marriage? I am not saying there’s anything wrong with it, but my question is that with a shytface like him (and Hugo boy) a girl has to be an idiot to sleep with men like them. Latin girls are very voluptuous and hot, but they can also be pretty dumb. What do you think?