Duda

La melodía que me persigue  dede hace unos días, es una que no escuchaba  desde hace mucho. Regresé a  mis viejas costumbres depués de que te vi pasar. 

Empecé a recordar  cada detalle tuyo. Cada defecto que en poco tiempo se volvió perfecto. Como cada parte de ti se  volvia un recurrente en mi memoria, desde la comisura de tus labios, hasta el  cambiante bosque de tus ojos. Recuerdos de lo imposible llegan a mi mente, no son sólamente recuerdos  imposibles,  sino son crónicas de algo inesperado

 Solía conocer las razones que movían a tu corazón,  a tu vida. Ese momento en el que mi simple ilusión solía ser  eso que me movía y me permitía ir por más. Pero hoy ya no se. Me has hecho recordar lo que era mi felicidad,  felicidad que debe de estar con otra persona. Pero esa felicidad es una ilusión de un pasado que no pude cumplir.

Hoy volvimos a hablar y solo pienso aquella frase de Cortazar: 

"Creo que no te quiero, que solamente quiero la imposibilidad tan obvia de quererte como la mano izquierda enamorada de ese guante que vive en la derecha."

Supongo que esto es lo que  siempre he vivido contigo, esa cruel ilusión de lo que pudimos haber vivido. Todo eso que siempre  vive en mi memoria y que hoy tan solo es un viejo recuerdo de mi infancia. 

tradition! tradition! tradition!

  

"A fiddler on a roof, it seems crazy, is not it, but in this small village called Anatevka we can say that each of us is like a fiddler on a roof. That is starting his instrument a nice tune as you can without breaking the head. And this is not easy, not created and you probably wonder Why not hold here is that dangerous? The answer I can give at once, we stay here because Anatevka is our home.And how to maintain the balance, that I can answer it in one word: tradition"

Fiddler on the Roof.

Traditions  in culture is one of the most important ideas  for   the society which  has  endured until today. Nowadays,  we can notice that  some  of these ideas have changed thought the years and  it adapts to the  society which changes  thought time  and in this case, Achebe looks forward to show this  breakup between the traditions  of a society  just like  the conquest  is  presented in this country.  Chinua Achebe, shows in  his book things fall apart the  role of the oral traditions and  literature in  the  group where Okonkwo comes from. In this case, the plot starts when Okonkwo  leaves  his village  for 3 years. During those 3 years,  many changes occur to Umofia,  because the  Europeans conquered it.

The main part where they show the traditions that Umofia had   is the first part, where Achebe explains the  cause of  his exile, and the  things that  he used  to do  while  he was in Umofia. An important  part of it would be the Agbala, where the   author explains  that this oracle  was an important  part  of the community when  an old  man was sick or almost dying, because  it would  solve the problems that the old man used to  solve. Another important exaple would  be  the   importance of  music  when an old man died, because they represented an important part of teh community and their death must be known  in all the  villages around this  one.  

Another  example thata Achebe uses along   the first part is when  he  writes about  the stories that his mom  used to tell him, or about the  stories that he used to hear  in his community, because they were like  fables   to  the   kids,  because they taught them an important part of  their culture.  An example of this  would  be the  story about the big turtle that  is told to Okonkwo by his mother,  where she explains him the importante of the old men and  the importance of knowledge. Another important fact would be  the  songs that   the author  includes in some parts of the  story, because each of them  means something to  the  village. 

On the other hand, when Okonwko comes back,  he notices that eveything has changed in Umofia,  and  in this case,   he cannot  go back in time and  live where he wants to live. He needs to get used to the  new traditionst  that they have  un his village, because     everything that the umofians have lived, like   fights, deaths,  new buildings, the destroy of their  traditions,etc. An example of this transition would be the reaction of any of the villages around Umofia,  who also lived this change, with  submission or  fought against the system. 

In conclusion, I think that Conrad tried to explain  the  process in which  a   culture changes  through time, and in thsi case,   he showed the  break up between the umonian  traditions represented  by Okonwko, and the  kew tradtions represented  by  the English man which ends  in a metaphor when  Okonkwo died,  meaning the end  of his  culture. 

Conrad and Achebe...

"Our true nationality  is  mankind" H. G. Wells

 As  a society, we have got similar ideas, point of views,  traditions and customs; they vary from  country to country,  and they  show  how  people used to behave and think about. The importance of literature is  this simply  idea: to show how the society  has behaved  and  thought of other  societies  and  the way the saw themselves.

 In the case of  Heart of Darkness  by Joseph Conrad,  shows a perspective about  the Africans by   the Europeans; where the use  of the words like "negro", "white",  "irrational", "savages", and "beast"; also, Conrand did not give them  a voice. In  this case,  we can  notice how Conrad expresses this  idea of superiority   with this simple actions that develop the theme;  the racism  that  a society develops  to show  a perspective  about the Africans that was  accepted  by the society and nobody  said  anything against it. 

On the other hand, Achebe   writes about   the society, how  do the african tribes really are,  explaining  their actions rather than demonstrating  their superiority. In this case, his  way of showing it,  is  to  explicate the traditions and  behavior; he, first, examplifies the  tradition or  behavior,  and then he  explains it. An important fact of this,  is that even thought that some of these are considered archaic and show the  instincs,  Achebe shows  the human nature  that  they have.

If we compare both stories,  the  main  difference would be the way to see  the  Africans; but  this idea cannot  be really compared because  the  historical context that  Conrad and Achebe lived are  a centrury  apart  from eachother  and the  way  people saw  their country and  the other countries. Therefore, we can conclude that  this  is the  importance of  african literature: to show how a country developed by the influence of others, and that this country would  not be the same without it. 

In conclusion   the  influence of other countries, shows the globalization that  each country develops  through the years and  the relationships  between  them. The importance of literature  is shown  by how how did the society saw  these relationships and  how did their country or tribe changed  because of this.
 

Black or white

"But words are things, and a small drop of ink,  Falling like dew, upon a thought, produces  That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think."
- George Gordon Byron

As we read in "Heart of Darkness", the use of words like "neger", "others", "white", "slave" and  so on,  denotes the  racism  felt by Conrad and  showed in his character Marlow about the Africans and Europeans. The use of these  might  make  you think that  this author is  racist, or maybe   the  context which he lived taught him that. In my point of view, he uses them  to  make   a comparison  between both cultures, and   he uses, aldo, metaphores to express it  in different ways.

As  a first thought about  this book, is that the writer is  a racist  guy who hated the africans. In this case, this idea is correct, but it is clearly influenced  by the  social context  in which Conrad  lived, because  around  1800,  in Europe, the  need to conquer a place was kept as a main thought, and the  people they  meet in these places,  were "savages". In other words, they were considered  an inferior  race; this idea was  influenced by the other believes  that europeans had. In this case,  along the story, we can notice that   the  main  character, Marlow,  was rude to  them and also was egocentric; but as the story goes on,  he starts  to change a  bit his way of seeing the  africans. Conrad   used  these  words to  express a way of thinking  in the 1800, but also, he tried to  show, how this  thoughts start to change  in  people who  kept in touch with them.

On the other hand,   he uses  light  and  dark as a metaphore of neger and white, which  changes though out   Marlow's point of view. In this case,   we can  notice  it, because Conrad uses  "light" and "dark"  a lot  in his  sentences  and these are located  when Marlow, start to change  his  point of view about them. For example when  he  was  told to go to Congo,  they describe this place like a "dark place" that represents  the  unknown, just like the  Africans were to Marlow, but as the sotry goes on, this perspective changes. Also, it is important to take into consideration that  the use of these words, was made refering to a group, not   just someone,  so, this  ideas change  little by little  until the moment ( I think) he would accept them as  human  beings, just  like in the  part where   someone  dies in the boat and  Marlow prefers to throw him away, rather than  use him as food.

In conclusion,  the words that  Conrad uses,  have a reason of beeing there,  because, we must remember that  literature main purpose is  to  express a  way of thinking   and it can be considered  a primary source of information which shows the  point of view, organization and  ideas of a society.

Why does Poe choose these themes and motifs?

"Were I called  on to define very briefly , the term Art, I should call it 'the reproduction of  what the sences perceive  in Nature through the veil of the soul.'The mere imitation, however accurate, of what is in Nature, entitles no man  to the sacred name  of 'Artist'."  In this quote, Poe  express the reason of the themes and motifs he uses  in his writing,  and the reason why most 'Artists' express themselves; to  recereate nature, human nature. 

The themes that are  usually found in Poe's stories are:  madness, death and revenge, but the reason why he uses them is always hidden under  a "mask". We can clearly  notice them, and  reason  might be realated to what is not said; in this case, Poe uses  the change  from person to animal or  vice versa to show the  reason  the main character does. In  this case,  his thesis  is  that if  we are all animals  in the bottom, and if there is a reason  that could unloose   the reason, the instics would  be the lead of our actions. The clear example of this would be the  story called "The Cask of Amontillado"  where  the main character,  Montesor,  says   that he will have a revenge  because of something Fortunato did him ( this depends on the reader), and when he finds him drunk  he  takes advantage of it   and kills Fortunato and some others. The example shows  what  a man did  to someone of a reason we do not understand, but  there are other stories where Poe expose their reason. It is  the case of "Hop Frog" where   the king hits Trippetta,  Hop frog's crush,  creating the  need of revenge. In the story it is shown  at the climax where Hop frog decides to kill everyone. I think that Poe tried o explain that humans have limits  and  that  there is always something that would lead us to  revenge, to  justice.

On the other hand,  the motifs that are found in Poe's  stories  are mainly an expression of  the 7 sins; wine,  masks, murder, and they are  the cause of the actions the  main character does  in the story. In this case, we could relate them to   the themes and the  way  they show they changed the human  nature  up to the animal  perspective. An example of this is when Hop frog decides to   revenge  Trippetta,  while the  king's party while there were all drunk and  while he was  hiding under a mask. In this case, the mask represets also  a  metaphor  where the  human ends and  changes up to an animal,  but the change also means the return to the origins, of who we really are.  In the other story,  "The Cask of Amontillado",  the  murder is also made whileFortunato was drunk and  in  somewhere  where  Montesor  could hide easyly; a  carnival. The reason Montesor  did it while he was like this,  is because it was the moment  his victim was not prepared for it.  Poe, in this case tried to show  that humans are always wearing a mask, hiding who they really are  and  in the worst moment, show who  they really are.

In conclusion,  the reason why Poe  choose the themes and motifs is because they  show  his perspective about human nature, and as  some psychologists  say,   they show  what are we cappable to do  in any situation that  changes our  ideal world; in this case the result was tragic, but "fair".

This is not Cheese

As we  were  reading about  Margaret Altwood, I can really  notice that   someone  thinks  almost the  same  as me, and  I  can conclude that  I'm  post-Modernism just because

Ok, not...  but  -the truth is that I thik that Margaret Alwood  work  is  kind  of  impressive and I love the fact that  she writes  about things that  matter to her,  so that at the end,  her work  becomes  something  important to somebody.
When I first  read "Gertude ralks back"  I really thought that  if  al the stories that we   read   from her  were going to be like that, I was going to get bored, because  I've read other stories, from other authors; but when I read "Unpopular Gals" that  is about  the  perspective from the antagonist  in  every  faerytale,  and  the truth is that at some point I thought the same  about  all the antagonist  and  as a kid, I  used to  ask me why they were like that.

After that,  we read "On Medea"  that is about the  Greek myth  about a woman who  is a witch and  that  participates in diferent stories,  but  her importance  changes throught all the variations  of the stories created,  because  anyone, at the end,  knows the real story. In this case, Margaret Atwood   argues that  there are diferent stories, and   at the  end,  as a conclusion, she ask  which  story, as a reader,  would you choose, and  moreover  which of the actions that Medea did  is the most important for you.
Then  we read "A letter to America" that  more than a letter   to  show that the US has changed,  is to show you that  everything changes,   that you change, and  until  someone shows it, ypou would ot  notice it,  and  at the   end,  it would  be your  decision whether  return  or not.
Finally, we've read " Aliens  have taken  the place of angels" where  she expose the terms 'sci-fy' and 'expeculative fiction'  and  as  a reader it  makes you  think  about  how  tecnology has changes, how  your life has changed and  when  do everything that we see on tv or movies will become  true.

I think that  Margaret Atwood is  someone that  makes you   think about   everyhing that  is around  you and  about what she   thinks is important, because , in my case,   at the end  I tought  questions, not  something  concrete  like "It was cool  because of this and that"; I thought  "what would  happen?", Why  she thinks it?"  and  so on. I think that  this  is  the purpose from Margaret, to make you think about  what she writes, and   to make you think.
I think that one of the purpose of  post-modernism is to make you think and to make  you self aware  about the  world,  also to  show you another perspective from the   things by the use of pastiche  and intertextuality; I think that   by using this characteristics,   Post-modernism tries to    show that   other  texts and  movies, that seem far way form your life,  when you change the  words  that you use,  they  become something moe  normal  and  something that can be relate   to your life.
Knowing this characteristics,  I think that Margarte Atwood  wants  that  you relate to her work, and  to  make  you  self aware about  everything and to question everything.
As  far as I've read   about Post-modernism, about Margaret Altwood and  about  her work, I kind of  like it a lot because  it  seems  something that I would  read  and   write,  and  at some point I think that   what I normally write  is  Post-modernism,  but I didn't knet it really was  postmodernism. Now I'm really looking forward  to eat a pizza.

Literary devices, change everything!

 Just  after  I read  John Donne's poems "The sunrising" and "canonization" I noticed that Jonh Donne  is not just religion and sex, and in this  case,   the poems  could  be  set in any  real life  situation, and that if you read them carefully,  you can   set  them in  your life, and  notice that  the way  he   writes it,  makes  everythig beautyful, no matter what the situation is.

In the  first   poem,  "the sunrising" talks  about  a man that just get up  and  he  is with his  wife, or  lover , and  he is   happy because  he  just woke up  with her, but the sun ,  is  making  him move and  start a new day,  thing that he doesn't  want, because  he wants to stay with  her. After that he starts  to  caompare her with the sun,  so that  he makes it feel "smaller" located  in the  verses 15-16;  also he  is trying to  make  her  feel   something bigger   someone  that   is something more, in   ypour life, located in the  verses 21-22.

O the  other hand,  in "the canonization" it   is a poem  where  he   is   kind of angry or upset  because  he  might  have  met a woman that  is worth  to love,  but  she  doesn't  let him   love  her, and  he  wrote   this,  so  he shows her that  is  worth  to love her. In this case,  he compares  her  to everything that  is  amazing, that   make her  feel  beautiful and   important; one  example of it  is  the verse 1-2 and the  verses 44-45. 

Some of the themes  that he uses, is the  religion   and  he uses it  to make  feel  someone bigger and important, because  his   context was   that   religion was the best thing ever, and that God  can  be compared  with you   makes   you   something important.  Another  thing that  he uses is power, refeing to   the goverment, so   that    the  reader feels the power, the kind of love that  he  has  to her.

In the literary devises   he  mainly uses   the retoric questions,  so that  the reader, or the  person that the  poem  is   for,  understand, and  asks   him or herself   the   real reason why he  or she feels that way, and    if  it is  worth to.  In  "sunrising" he  uses a zeugma  to  make that   the sentence, has to meanings, or  he uses a chiasmus  to  make   her feel that the realitionship  is    the   biigest thing. 

In conclusion,  he uses   the themes and litery devises  to  make   the ideas  change   from something  simple, to  the   best thing that  could  have happened  to the   person that the poem  is  for, and  also to change the ideas  of the  person that the poem is  for, because  this  could   make  the  chane of  saying with her  or not.