In a reading on Wednesday, Carmen Boullosa described growing up surrounded by violence in Mexico City as well as the magical stories of her grandmother. She read from her novel, “Leaving Tabasco,” which depicts the differences between her grandmother’s childhood and her own.
“[Boullosa has] already brought [herself] into the company of Latin America’s most important authors,” said Robert Conn, Associate Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures and Latin American Studies, who introduced the writer.
Boullosa’s literary style echoes the magical realism of other prominent Latin American writers like Gabriel García Marquez and Isabella Allende.
Boullosa said she grew up indoors in Mexico City because of the pervasive violence, while her grandmother told her many stories of her own childhood during the Mexican civil war, stories that became the rural, outdoor, childhood that the writer never experienced. She cited the stories of her grandmother as a primary influence on her writing, and said that she had incorporated many of the stories directly into this particular novel.
Boullosa’s writing career began in the late 1970s. To date her body of work includes twelve novels, seven books of poetry and seven plays. Two of her novels have been translated into English. Her work has been critically as well as popularly acclaimed in Latin America and especially in Mexico.
“We’re really lucky to get a writer like this on campus,” said Javier Gaston ’05. “Although she may not be well known here, she is well known in other places.”
She read the excerpts, translated to English from Spanish, with an energetic, expressive voice. Her musical timbre contrasted greatly with the often times dark contents of the passages. Despite the serious issues of class, race, and sex within the passages, Boullosa managed to convey moments of humor without taking the gravity from the main themes.
One passage described a wealthy father haggling freely with a rebel leader over the price of keeping the rebels from attacking and “dishonoring” his wife and daughters. The bargaining session ends with the rebel leader laughingly burning a part of one of the daughters’ skirt, and setting his own price.
In this example, Boullosa’s narrative kept things light by highlighting the looseness of the exchange and its absurdity, while still managing to capture the heart of the serious issue.
Another scene took place in a market place. Boullosa did not simply read the linesof a woman selling smoked fish but delivered them. It seemed as if she herself were trying to sell the audience fish right then and there. After reading for 45 minutes, Boullosa took several questions from the audience, including one on her opinion on the English translation of her novels, and one on her own literary influences.
“[Translation] is always painful,” she said. “In English I can’t even read [my work] aloud. I hate them. The core of the novel is the self of the writer, and the self of the writer is their surrounding.”
Her main influence was Mexico City, Boullosa said.
The crowd responded warmly to her comments and gave her a strong round of applause at the end of the lecture. Afterwards the audience headed to a small reception and readily offered praise for Boullosa.
Anne Greene, Director of the Wesleyan Writing Program, who helped bring Boullosa to campus, said she did so because a number of people said that they’d like to see her at Wesleyan.
“[I am proud that] the distinguished writers program gives a great opportunity to bring writers to campus,” Greene said. The reading was part of Alegria Mexicana, a contemporary festival of arts and culture at the University.
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