tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post3074797955633852324..comments2024-01-02T15:37:04.858-05:00Comments on Caravana de recuerdos: ¿Existe la novela argentina?Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-12726136182338250172014-12-27T10:53:28.777-05:002014-12-27T10:53:28.777-05:00I second your "bullshit" on that, Miguel...I second your "bullshit" on that, Miguel, and for the reasons you mention. Also, Borges got the same kind of crap at one time (for being too "European") and nobody really wants to proselytize for all that "great" social realism literature pumped out by the true believers from the USSR and Franco's Spain these days, do they?Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-69047457113840061412014-12-26T19:35:46.013-05:002014-12-26T19:35:46.013-05:00some Moroccan literary types didn't feel that ...<i>some Moroccan literary types didn't feel that he "represented" Morocco as a writer but that his fiction was aimed at the foreign market instead.</i><br /><br />This sounds like how Saramago and Lobo Antunes sometimes are seen in Portugal: writers who wrote in an international style to appeal to foreigners, copying other literatures, while <i>real</i> Portuguese novelists can't get their works translated because they're not international enough. <br /><br />I say bullshit to most of that, save that many of our novelists deserve more translations and fame.LMRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08538873868140070018noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-14006813807181078672014-12-23T00:58:56.426-05:002014-12-23T00:58:56.426-05:00I remember reading about your experience with that...I remember reading about your experience with that novel and the fact that Borges appears in it as well. Semi-functioning memory aside, maybe that helps explains the reason you and Rise made me think of Tahar Ben Jelloun out of the blue tonight. Case solved!Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-19684355657750138872014-12-23T00:45:40.942-05:002014-12-23T00:45:40.942-05:00I've read one Tahar Ben Jelloun novel and who ...I've read one Tahar Ben Jelloun novel and who shows up in the middle of it but Borges - I mean literally, as a character, a blind Argentinian librarian.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-22586450751672146432014-12-23T00:43:00.297-05:002014-12-23T00:43:00.297-05:00Ha, I love the idea of don César Aira as Argentina...Ha, I love the idea of don César Aira as Argentina's "public face to the world"! Truly classic. For whatever reason, though, your exchange with Rise reminded me of something I read a couple of months ago about Tahar Ben Jelloun--namely, that some Moroccan literary types didn't feel that he "represented" Morocco as a writer but that his fiction was aimed at the foreign market instead. Such a touchy topic for "literary nationalists" everywhere, I guess..Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-44146413215978251572014-12-23T00:32:06.409-05:002014-12-23T00:32:06.409-05:00I wish I could take credit for the framing of the ...I wish I could take credit for the framing of the two essays as a conversation, Rise, but the truth is it was a happy accident that was virtually impossible to ignore once I reread the Arlt/Piglia stuff in "The Vagaries of the Literature of Doom." Bolaño and Piglia did all the dirty work, though! I hope to reread that essay in the link you sent me in the next day or two so thanks for sending that, but of course the irony of the matter as it relates to 20th century Spanish language literature is that the traditional way of teaching the canon by country totally breaks down conceptually when you stop to think how many canonical works were actually written in exile. Bolaño and Gombrowicz are certainly great examples of this for whatever traditions want to fight over them, but as you know the examples are endless and not limited to voluntary exiles alas.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-47702046391954942192014-12-22T22:50:21.996-05:002014-12-22T22:50:21.996-05:00Yes, yes, much of the appeal of this vision of Arg...Yes, yes, much of the appeal of this vision of Argentinean literature is that it is not nationalistic. I mean, what patriots would choose <i>this</i> stuff? Literary nationalists, if there are any, must be horrified - our public face to the world right now is <i>César Aira</i>?!?Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-86985872477577446522014-12-22T21:54:41.663-05:002014-12-22T21:54:41.663-05:00Richard, I like how you frame these essays on Arge...Richard, I like how you frame these essays on Argentinean canon as a conversation, each essay responding to each other. I've been fascinated (and equally repelled) by the idea of national/nationalist literature. Fascinated by the way it relates to identity and language. Repelled by the narrow confines a country's literature is boxed in. The Polish-Argentinean novel is a perfect answer to give to purists and nativists. Reminds me also of B's essay on <a href="http://www.thenation.com/article/157695/literature-and-exile#" rel="nofollow">Chile's four great poets</a>, also in Between Parentheses. Risehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17446964640160585194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-82139112283194545942014-12-22T11:21:21.296-05:002014-12-22T11:21:21.296-05:00I would, naturally, approve of such cheating!I would, naturally, approve of such cheating!Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-61722303333407789562014-12-22T10:28:49.257-05:002014-12-22T10:28:49.257-05:00Maybe in the next round of Doom I will cheat and r...Maybe in the next round of Doom I will cheat and read Gombrowicz.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.com