30.11.09

ΒΙΡΓΙΛΙΟ ΠΙΝΙΕΡΑ

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Virgilio Piñera: “As soon as I was old enough, I demanded thought be translated into something more than spit spraying or arm waving; I found three fairly dirty qualities of which I would never be able to clean myself: I learned that I was poor, that I was homosexual, and that I liked art.
The first because one fine day they told us that ‘nothing could be found for lunch.’ The second because, also one fine day, I felt a wave of blushing cross my face when discovering, throbbing under his pants, the swollen organ of one of my numerous uncles. The third because, on an equally fine day, I heard my very fat cousin convulsively griping a glass in her hand singing the toast of ‘La Traviata.’”
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At the One-Eyed Cat (1967)

At the One-Eyed Cat there are no cats.
At the One-Eyed Cat there are people,
with their eyes like binoculars,
mouths like vents,
hands like tentacles,
feet like detectors.
At the One-Eyed Cat
there’s a night within night,
with a moon that emerges for some,
a sun that shines for others
and a cock that crows for all.
At the One-Eyed Cat
there’s the seat of happiness,
the seat of misfortune
and also the terrible seat of hope.
At the One-Eyed Cat,
will I dare to say it?
there’s a cloth to wipe away tears,
and there’s also
—I scarcely dare it—
a mirror to look at yourself face to face.
At the One-Eyed Cat
on a certain night two lovers say yes to each other,
and at the One-Eyed Cat
another night they killed the one they’d loved.
At the One-Eyed Cat
there’s an expectant moment
when the imagined lover
makes his appearance.
He casts an amorous glance and says:
“I belong to the one who waits for me!”
And then the feeling reaches the heart,
at the One-Eyed Cat plus Revolution.
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by Virgilio Piñera, tr. by Mark Weiss
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Virgilio Piñera Llera (August 4, 1912 – October 18, 1979) was a Cuban author, playwright, poet, short-story writer, and essayist.
Among his most famous poems are "La isla en peso" (1943), and "La gran puta" (1960). He was a member of the "Origenes" literary group, although he often differed with the conservative views of the group. In the late 1950s he co-founded the literary journal Ciclón. Following a long exile in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Piñera returned to Cuba in 1958, months before Fidel Castro took power.
His work includes essays on literature and literary criticism, several collections of short stories compiled under the title of Cold Tales, a great number of dramatic works, and three novels: La carne de René (Rene's Flesh), Presiones y Diamantes (Pressures and Diamonds), and Las pequeñas maniobras (Small manoeuvres). His work is seen today as a model by new generations of Cuban and Latin American writers. Some believe that his work influenced that of Reinaldo Arenas, who wrote in his memoir Before Night Falls of Piñera's time in Argentina and friendship there with Witold Gombrowicz.
The magazine Unión posthumously published autobiographical writing by Piñera in which he discussed how he concluded he was gay. However, his work can not be reduced to his open discussions on homosexuality in a time when such a topic was taboo, especially in the Spanish Caribbean. Piñera's literary and cultural perspective went beyond sexuality, to express concerns on national and continental identity, philosophical approaches to theater, writing and politics. This focus drew fire from the Spanish American literary establishment of his time, including Cuban poets Cintio Vitier and Roberto Fernandez Retamar, and leaders like Fidel Castro and Che Guevara.
Due to Piñera's social points of view and especially to his homosexuality, he was censured by the revolution, and died without any official recognition. As more of his work has been translated into English, Piñera's work has been rediscovered by American academia as a testimony of 20th century resistance against totalitarian systems.
(en.wikipedia.org)
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1 σχόλιο:

erva_cidreira είπε...

La carne de René (1952) de Virgilio Piñera

En el listado de las 100 mejores novelas de temática gay de Publishing Triangle aparece esta novela alegórica sobre una curiosa secta adoradora de la carne y el sufrimiento humano. El escritor cubano Virgilio Piñera es el autor de esta obra que en cierto sentido trata de ofrecer una visión actual y moderna (no creo que paródica a pesar de parecer muy exagerada) de lo que puede ser una pasión (sacrificio) al estilo de Jesucristo en la época romana. La posible homosexualidad no la he encontrado por ninguna parte aunque en esa lista hay otros títulos como Mujercitas que tampoco entrarían en ningún otro listado. En estas y otras novelas más se habrá tenido en cuenta un cierto aire de libertad sexual o una atmósfera homoerótica pero no creo que sea acertado que entren de esa forma en un listado de esas características. Esa clasificación se hizo tras la consulta a escritores y críticos pero otra lista con los votos del público de la página dio como resultado una clasificación muy diferente. Quizás tendremos que ponerla en este blog para tener la idea completa. En el caso de Virgilio Piñera también puede haberse tenido en cuenta su homosexualidad nunca escondida, lo cual le dio muchos problemas como bien relata otro escritor cubano y muy amigo suyo Reinaldo Arenas en su libro Antes que Anochezca, muy conocido por su versión en pantalla grande protagonizada por Javier Bardem. De todas maneras, y olvidándonos ya de la lista, se trata de una gran obra y un gran festín literario. Virgilio Piñera (1912-1979) es por méritos propios uno de los grandes escritores cubanos y cultivó con éxito todos los géneros. Estrenó bastantes obras de teatro antes de tener problemas con el gobierno aunque destacó especialmente en la poesía y en la narrativa cuentística.

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