/
Extract from Rufianes1(...) En esas concepciones bas Extract from Rufianes1(...) En esas concepciones bas

Extract from Rufianes1(...) En esas concepciones bas - PDF document

myesha-ticknor
myesha-ticknor . @myesha-ticknor
Follow
377 views
Uploaded On 2015-10-15

Extract from Rufianes1(...) En esas concepciones bas - PPT Presentation

1 Extract from the article published in Pagina 12 Buenos Aires August 2001 Full articletranslated from the Spanish and published with the kind permission of Juan Gelman Published in la lettre powy ID: 161261

Extract from the article

Share:

Link:

Embed:

Download Presentation from below link

Download Pdf The PPT/PDF document "Extract from Rufianes1(...) En esas conc..." is the property of its rightful owner. Permission is granted to download and print the materials on this web site for personal, non-commercial use only, and to display it on your personal computer provided you do not modify the materials and that you retain all copyright notices contained in the materials. By downloading content from our website, you accept the terms of this agreement.


Presentation Transcript

Extract from Rufianes1(...) En esas concepciones bas— Cowper Powys su visi—n de las realidadesÊÊÊÊÊÊcontempor‡neas. Afirm— en el ensayo ÔEl arte de olvidar lo insoportableÕ:ÊÊÊÊÊÊÒExisten en el mundo las posibilidades del horror m‡s atrozÓ, hay ÒunaÊÊÊÊÊÊreserva de pura abominaci—n que literalmente es ilimitadaÓ, Òlas diversasÊÊÊÊÊÊsituaciones de espanto y de dolor (son) tan pavorosas...Ó. Tampoco seÊÊÊÊÊÊenga–aba sobre su origen: ÒLa repugnancia de nuestro sistemaÊÊÊÊÊÊindustrialÑanot— en su ensayo sobreÊ Oscar WildeÑes con mucho m‡sÊÊÊÊÊÊofensiva a la pasi—n natural por la luz y el aire y el recreo y la libertad en elÊÊÊÊÊÊcoraz—n del hombre que cualquier arcaico despotismo o tiran’a esclavizanteÓ.ÊÊÊÊÊÊSe refer’a a Òlo que se llama Ôtrabajar para vivirÕ... lo que la grosera inteligenciaÊÊÊÊÊÊde nuestra turba comercial llama Ôla honorabilidad del trabajoÕ... El trabajadorÊÊÊÊÊÊmuestra muy claramente que considera degradante su labor, una carga, unaÊÊÊÊÊÊinterrupci—n de la vida, un mal necesarioÓ. Agreg—: ÒVivimos en una eraÊÊÊÊÊÊdonde el mundo, por primera vez en su historia, est‡ literalmente bajo elÊÊÊÊÊÊdominio de la m‡s estœpida, la m‡s embotada, la menos inteligente y la menosÊÊÊÊÊÊadmirable de todas las clases de la comunidadÓ. Se refer’a a Òlos rufianesÊÊÊÊÊÊcomercialesÓ. En la Argentina, y no s—lo, se aplicar’a a Òlos rufianesÊÊÊÊÊÊfinancierosÓ. Y no s—lo.RuffiansTIME HAS passed and almost nobody is still quite sure that John CowperPowys (1872-1963) was, is, a great writer. His name is not listed in the esteemedMerriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature. His works are not among the lists ofthe Ôhundred best novels of literary historyÕ, neither do they achieve the lesserglory of pocket editions. They have not been translated into Spanish, with theexception of six short essays recently published in Mexico by thePsychoanalytical Review Me cayo el veinte. Their absence defines so to speak theman whom George Steiner considers a model writer, having accumulated awhole opus in distinct genresÑpoetry, theatre, novels, essaysÑwhich Òoncecompleted, manifests itself as a sum, the totality being greater and more coherentthan each of the parts that compose itÓ. It is composed of more than 70 titles.It is indeed a curious situation. Whereas JoyceÕs writing moves slowly intothe Monuments category, that of Powys gains in vigour: critics either shred it topieces or praise it to the skies, they believe in it or, on the contrary, loseconfidence but return to it later, and even his compatriot D.H. LawrenceÑsomuch alive tooÑdid not suffer from a similar constantly shifting itinerary in thereaderÕs taste. It was only when he was 57 with the publication of his splendidnovel Wolf Solent (1929) that Powys consolidated his reputation in the UnitedStates and in Great Britain. Before that, he was known above all as an eruditelecturer, with a sharp clear mind. He had come to live in America where heÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ 1 Extract from the article published in Pagina 12, Buenos Aires, August 2001. Full articletranslated from the Spanish and published with the kind permission of Juan Gelman. Published in la lettre powysienne numŽro 11, printemps 2006,see : http://www.powys-lannion.net/Powys/LettrePowysienne/number11.htm toured the country, giving lectures to earn his living. The last lecture tour tookplace in 1930, it was lengthy and he very often suffered from dyspepsia. ÒOnce onthis accursed tour my stomach was so upset that I dreamt of nothing else butgoing to look for places where I could ÔshitÕ in peaceÓ2. He feels that he hasbecome an Òold lonely deep animal, (...) or some savage constipated panther likemy father when my mother was dying; & he cried out ÔCanÕt I even have mybreakfast in Peace?ÕÓ3His Diaries, which Powys wrote from 1929 to 1939 offer a perfect portrait ofthis difficult author, whom Steiner considered the master of a certain worldwhich Òhas to be reconquered, reunderstood almost from the start4Ó. He wrotethem with the same effortlessness as when he set up his characters in his tales,and these jottings are marked by that very peculiar feeling of intangible nearnessto the reader which characterises his novels. In these he describes a centralobsession which he used to call Òlife illusionÓ and sometimes Òa philosophy oflife Ó or Òthe will of the worldÓ or Òanswer to the worldÓ. The word ÒillusionÓ inthat case seems to express at the same time the absurd and the necessity to beoneself, and also the conscience that Òthe true essence of life is not a fact at all,far less a fixed reality. It is a point of view, an attitude, a mood, an atmosphere, amental and emotional processÓ5. In these pages Powys does not hide his sexualfantasies and his egoism, his illnesses and his chamanistic rites, which heexplores as though they belonged to someone else.PowysÕ so-called pantheism and his ability to abolish all frontiers betweenexterior and interior worlds are manifest for instance in the eight extraordinarypages which he entitled ÔThe wind that waves the grassesÕ. ÒIt is a strange thing,he writes, how hard it is to interpret that sigh (...) of the wind that waves thegrasses! The senses of something that has traveled over long roads to reach usand then with nothing but that obscure momentary signal must needs away againover roads still longerÑÓ6. ÒThe wind that waves the grasses comes and goes at itsown will. Some are born to receive its intimation, some to refuse it. For such asare born to receive it there is a strange detachment from mortal consolations; yetare they not, these worshippers of the wind, altogether unhappy; but the wordthan can describe their recompense has not yet been uttered by the lips of man.Ó7Wolf Solent, the protagonist of the eponymous novel, watches how the roots of atree hide in silence in the dark waters of a river, and this fact does not arouse inhim a p¾an to Nature, but the intense and sudden sensation of Òlife illusionÓ.Powys has based on these concepts his vision of contemporary realities. Inthe essay ÔThe Art of Forgetting the UnpleasantÕ, he states : Òthe possibilities ofatrocious horror exist in the worldÓ8, there is Òa supply of pure abomination in 2 The Diary of JCP, 1930, reproduced in Petrushka and the Dancer, Carcanet Press, p.33 3 Ibid. 4 George Steiner, ÔThe Difficulties of Reading John Cowper PowysÕ, The Powys Review 1,Belinda Humfrey Ed., Spring 1977, p.8 5 The Art of Forgetting the Unpleasant (Little Blue Books, 1923), The Powys Society, 2006,p.22 6 Ibid., p.58 7 Ibid., p.60 8 Ibid., p.22 ÊÊÑÊ2ÊÑÊÊ the world that literally has no limitÓ9, Òvarious situations of terror and pain [are] soghastly...Ó10. He was not mistaken either in their origin: ÒThe hideousness of ourindustrial systemÓ he wrote in his essay on Oscar Wilde, Òis far more offensivethan any ancient despotism or slave-owning tyranny to the natural passion forlight and air and leisure and freedom in the heart of manÓ11. He alluded to ÒÕwhatis called working for a livingÕ (...) what the gross intelligence of our commercialmob calls Ôthe honourableness of workÕ (...) The labourer shows quite clearly thathe regards his labour as a degradation, a burden, an interruption to life, anecessary evil.Ó12 And he added: ÒWe are living in an age where the world for thefirst time in its history is literally under the rule of the stupidest, the dullest, leastintelligent and least admirable of all the classes in the communityÓ13. He wasalluding to Òcommercial ruffiansÓ. In Argentina, but not only there, it would applyto Òfinancial ruffiansÓ. But not only there.Juan GelmanThe renowned poet Juan Gelman, was born in Buenos Aires in 1930, of Russianparents. In 1976, during the military dictatorship in Argentina, his family wasmurdered, he was forced into exile and now lives in Mexico. He has published severalbooks of poetry and his work has been translated into fourteen languages. In 2000Juan Gelman was given the Juan Rulfo prize, one of the most prestigious in LatinAmerica. Works published in English: Unthinkable Tenderness: Selected Poems, ed. &tr. Joan Lindgren, University of California Press, 1997. ÒA gem even in translation.ÓÊÊÊÊÀtratos de amor hay en la sombra?/Àya volverŽ aÊÊÊÊpeinarte el dulce pelo/espesura donde mi manoÊÊÊÊqueda?/Àpensativa en tu aroma?/ÀgraciaÊÊÊÊcuajada en lenta parecida?/Àme quisisteÊÊÊÊimposiblemente?/Carta a mi madre (Lettre ˆ ma mre), J.Gelman, Myriam Solal Editeur, p.30 9 The Art of Forgetting the Unpleasant, p.22 10 Ibid., p.23 11 Suspended Judgments, ÔOscar WildeÕ, American Library Service, New York, 1923, p.411 12 Ibid., p.411-2 13 Ibid., p.413 ÊÊÑÊ3ÊÑÊÊ