American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese

Review
Author(s): Bradley A. Shaw
Review by: Bradley A. Shaw
Source: Hispania, Vol. 64, No. 4 (Dec., 1981), pp. 645-646
Published by: American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese
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 Reviews
unreadable, exhausting, humorless, magical, unique,
greatly perceptive, compelling, audacious, breath-
taking, inventive, . . . a magnificent failure." On
Fuentes himself we have a confusing statement: "(He
was) excluded from Mexico because of his own coun-
try's brutal repression of students .. ."
As a brief survey of the life and works of ten out-
standing Latin American novelists, this work may be
helpful to the uninitiated. However, should a reprint-
ing be considered by the publisher, attention must
be given to correcting careless mistakes. The text is
plagued with numerous typographical and spelling
errors, both in English and Spanish; faulty word
division; and improper documentation.
JOEL HANCOCK
University of Utah
MENTON, SEYMOUR, editor. The Spanish American
Short Story: A Critical Anthology. Berkeley: Uni-
versity of California Press, 1980. ix + 496 pp.
$19.95.
Hispanists will rejoice at the availability of this
book in English. The unique feature of this rich and
artful anthology, originally published in Mexico in
1964 in two paperback volumes as El cuento hispano-
americano, is the analytical commentary which fol-
lows each selection. The reader, rather than being left
alone with the impact and in some cases the enigma
of the work of art, is offered an "explication de
texte" which provides background, makes historical
connections and transmits great sensitivity to narra-
tive structure and style. Avoiding the foible of the
"explication," namely indiscriminate praise of the
story being analyzed, Professor Menton, on the con-
trary, criticizes forthrightly such things as "Romantic
defects," "artificiality," and technical imperfection,
so that we may better comprehend the burgeoning
artistry of the genre. When identifying elements
which may not be to the contemporary reader's liking,
he also makes allowances for the idiosyncratic literary
tastes of the period.
The excellence of the accompanying commentaries,
which follow no orthodoxy of current criticism,
reminds one of T. S. Eliot's dictum "For there is no
method except to be extremely intelligent." This is
not to say, of course, that there is no underlying
focus, for indeed the critical eye is constantly trained
on the evolution of the genre, the literary canon, the
gestation of national characteristics and the artistic
merit of a given story. The question of national
character in the artistic terrain is bound to be con-
troversial and for some countries the question is
thorny, but one could argue that the value of such
determinations is at least heuristic.
The anthology, encompassing almost a century and
a half of Spanish American short stories, affords
readers of English the opportunity of reading the
best of the genre. It begins just after the Wars of
Independence with "The Slaughterhouse," ("El
matadero") and ends with the experimental "What's
Cool" ("Cudl es la onda"), written by Jose Agustin
in 1968. We are shown both the rapid literary evolu-
tion of Spanish America and how we would deprive
ourselves by adhering to twentieth-century literature
alone. The refinement and delicacy of such stories as
"Unclaimed Watch" ("Reloj sin dueho") by Jose
L6pez Portillo or the gentle wit of Manuel GonzAlez
Zeled6n in "The 'Clipse'" ("El clis de sol") are
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645
balanced by the heavy dialectical realism of other
tales. Maria Luisa Bombal, though the only woman
writer included, richly represents a certain female sen-
sibility whose existence some critics acknowledge.
Though there are no stories by Carpentier, Fuentes,
Onetti or Garcia MArquez,the masters of the genre-
Borges, Rulfo and Cortazar-are there. The transla-
tions, done by a large number of individuals including
Professor Menton, are unvaryingly smooth and ele-
gant, as flawless as a faithful translation can be,
making this text ideal for courses given in English.
Of the forty stories included, there is at least one
from each Spanish-speaking country with the largest
number, for some reason, belonging to Mexico. All
the selections are distinguished to start with and gain
immeasurably in being framed by Menton's incisive
introductions and commentaries.
LORRAINE ELENA BEN-UR
Wellesley College
WOODs, RICHARDD. Reference Materials on Latin
America in English: The Humanities. Metuchen,
N.J. and London: The Scarecrow Press, 1980.
xii + 639 pp. $32.50.
One of the by-products of increased scholarly
research on Latin America is the need for compre-
hensive and accurate reference works, arranged so
that their information may be easily accessible to
the reading public they serve. A lack of uniformity
of style and coherent organization plagues too many
of the bibliographies which, for want of better re-
search tools, librarians, and scholars must use as
best they can. This is true for reference works in
English as well as Spanish, Portuguese, or other
languages. Of course there are some notable excep-
tions, among them Reference Materials on Latin
America in English: The Humanities, by Professor
Richard B. Woods. The "state of the art" in Eng-
lish language works on Latin America is clearly evi-
dent through an examination of this carefully organ-
izd and painstakingly annotated bibliography.
Woods defines the scope and limitations of his
work to make the volume useful to virtually anyone
interested in Latin American studies. Basically, he
selects all types of reference works (including bibliog-
raphies, dictionaries, guidebooks, handbooks, direc-
tories, catalogs, literary histories, etc.) of monograph-
ic length or as brief as a few pages which are pub-
lished as a self-contained unit. Works are totally or
partially in English (only one exception, Geoghegan's
Obras de referencia de America Latina) and deal,
for the most part, with Latin America, excluding
cultures derived from the British or Dutch. The only
"general" works listed offer significant sections re-
lated to Latin America. Subjects are restricted to
those in the humanities as defined in practice by the
editors of the Handbook of Latin American Studies.
Finally, all 1252 items are examined personally and
annotated according to purpose, scope, arrangement
and control apparatus, and evaluation. The entries
are indexed by author, title and subject. The sub-
ject index, formed with the aid of computer analysis,
is extensive, and includes a large number of sub-
headings, thus making it extremely easy to use.
An examination of the volume finds a number of
general reference works which may surprise, such as
Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, or
The German Language Press of the Americas, 1732-
646 Hispania
1968, among others. The range of subjects extends to
disease, military terms, Jewish history, and coins,
even backpacking in the Andes and childbirth. Ex-
cept in the case of personal copies or works from
private collections, the full bibliographical data in-
clude the name of a holding library (for purposes of
inter-library loan).
The outstanding feature of the work is the extensive
annotation of each entry. These are invaluable, espe-
cially because of the fact that often bibliographers
have published incorrect information about works be-
cause they failed to examine them to determine con-
tent and scope. Reference Materials on Latin America
in English: The Humanities, however, is the result of
thorough, professional scholarship, and serves as a
model for works of its kind.
BRADLEY A. SHAW
Kansas State University
SALES,HERBERTO. Armado Cavaleiro o Audaz Moto-
queiro. Rio de Janeiro: Editora Civilizagao, 1980.
156 pp.
The author, born in northeastern Brazil in 1917, has
so far published four novels and as many short story
collections, all written with uncommon meticulous-
ness. Cascalho (1944) and Alim dos Marimbus (1961),
his earlier novels, are embued with the stark realism
of the Bahian interior, be it prospecting in the former
or timber extraction in the latter. Such telluric bonds
give way to an urban and increasingly cosmopolitan
atmosphere in Sales' later pair of novels. Dados
Biogrdficos do Finado Marcelino (1965) and O Fruto
do Vosso Ventre (1976) offer, respettively a nostalgic
vision of bourgeois complacency and the drastic
excesses of Orwellian futurism. With the obvious ex-
ception of O Lobisomem e Outros Contos Folcl6ricos
(1970), the fictionist's short story collections echo
tendencies laid bare in his more recent novels. Histd-
rias Ordindrias (1966) and Uma Telha de Menos
(1970), as well as his newest work, humorously focus
on diverse aspects of contemporary life and the re-
sulting alienation in habits and customs to be found
in any consumer socity. Indeed, the very title of Ar-
mado Cavaleiro o A udaz Motoqueiro epitomizes the
disparity between traditional and modern attitudes.
Externally, Sales' latest collection is divided into
three progressive sections, of which the initial two
differ somewhat in thematic direction (i.e., the youth
cult vs. ostensibly adult machinations). Both are com-
posed of short narratives, one in the first section
(the title story) and twelve in the second or middle
section-clearly the body of Armado Cavaleiro. The
last section, like the first, contains a single narrative,
but one whose length, if not theme, sets it apart from
the rest. The overall design provides a cyclical sym-
metry into which the author weaves a symbiotic mix-
ture of satirical elements.
The prevalence of a jocose viewpoint, be it an ob-
trusive omniscient narrator or an equally uninhibited,
ironic narrator-character, ensures at times an almost
picaresque levity in even the most morbid of situa-
tions. Often, Sales resorts to the framed tale, its
intrinsic spontaneity in harmony with the dependence
on colloquial dialogue evident throughout every
story. These verbal interchanges, in turn, display
the folksy polemics and anecdotal humor of the
Brazilian cr6nica. The resulting parodic tone, but-
tressed by familiar bourgeois mouthpieces with
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64 (December 1981)
pompous sounding names and contrasting nicknames,
gives the collection its principal internal cohesion.
The author's macrocosm are Brazil's favored mec-
cas of Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Brasilia, where
mostly white collar males struggle more to maintain
their sanity than their sliding living standard. Tech-
nological advances trigger a series of paradoxical
and symbolic confrontations between man and ma-
chine, some with grisly results. The title story, for
example, ends with the cyclist-protagonist's first
and last ride.
All these selective views of urban tragicomedy,
while universal in nature, exude a particularly Bra-
zilian flavor in their caricaturized exaggeration. Plots
and characters seem to rush ahead almost obsessively,
irrespective of consequences, much like the nation's
rapid industrialization-or like the audaz motoqueiro.
Herberto Sales captures both the charm and the flak
of modern, pulsating Brazil, and produces one of
the stylistic highpoints amid the plethora of post-
1964 satirical prose.
MALCOLM SILVERMAN
San Diego State University
CABALLERO CALDERON, EDUARDO. Manuel Pacho.
Edici6n de Myron Lichtblau. Bogota: Editorial
Kelly, 1980. 244 pp.
Should anyone doubt the value of reading authors
outside the publishing "Boom" or the technically
innovative "new narrators," let him or her attempt
this novel, first published in 1969. The Colombian
(Boyaca) Eduardo Caballero Calder6n is described by
Professor Lichtblau in his preliminary study as one
whose personal strength comes from "su inalterable
fe cristiana y de la creencia en el valor . . . del indi-
viduo" and who excels artistically in "sinceridad
literaria, preocupaci6n por la suerte del hombre
desventurado, fluidez lingtiistica y, quizis lo mis
importante, la captaci6n de la tenue linea que separa
la realidad objetiva y la visi6n est6tica de ella." But
to read and to respond to Caballero's novel is a more
complex process than these words seem to predict.
It is to the realm of tough and sinewy naturalism,
with its emphasis on excretion, masturbation and
other natural functions, that the author lowers his
focus to create Manuel Pacho. But he descends armed
with a well-honed experimental technique quite differ-
ent from the straight third-person narration of El
Cristo de espaldas, for example. There is no counter-
vailing "magical realism" in Caballero's naturalistic
tales. Nor is there any romantic idealization of the
countryside setting (despite the fact that images of
plants, animals and insects abound). If there were to
be a contest between the more chilling episodes in
Cien a#hosde soledad (take, for example the arrival
in Macondo of the rotting corpse of Fernanda del
Carpio's father, or the almost culinary preparation of
Jose Arcadio's body for burial) and those of Manuel
Pacho, there is no question that Caballero's descrip-
tions fulfill the conditions of the aesthetic of the
grotesque far more completely than those of his com-
patriot: the casual dismemberments, the prevalence
of abnormality and ambivalence, and in general, the
expression of estrangement and alienation.
Manuel Pacho tells the story of a slow-witted son's
response to witnessing the violent killing of his moth-
er, father and household servants, carried out in
front of his own eyes and how he singlemindedly