ALLEGORY and a Magical Realist Story - How does it work? Does it work?

First of all, in order to think in allegorical terms, you as a reader need to be interested in the text of the narrative as something more than just another story. This means that you are willing and wanting to create links ('intertextual') between the narrative itself and the place/person that gave the narrative its name. Could the narrative stand as a representation of something else? (think: Lord of the Files or Brave New World). This might even bring you to the study of a genre called 'roman a clef' - a novel with a key: a narrative describing real-life events behind a fascade of fiction!

In this case, you (if interested), need to look more closely at Columbia (place), and Gabriel Garcia 'Gabo' Marquez (person/writer) - who is he? what motivates his writing? when did he write the story? what's his realtionship with his people, his culture? what's his relationship with the world at large? In other words, a combination of HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL criticism.

Now, how do you find 'satisfactory' answers to your questions.

If you like investigating on your own, I suggest you take a look (and read carefully) the information contained in this link:


http://www.themodernword.com/gabo/gabo_biography.html


Otherwise, to get you started: think of Erendira, body and soul, as the country of Columbia (before and after conquest), think of the Grandmother as the rich mestizo landowners who have continuouslly sided with the military junta against the communist rebels, think of Ulises as the European intervention (The United Fruit Company), think of the oranges with diamonds in them as the heroine exports that have divided Columbia; or perhaps think larger, think of Erendira as all of Latin America before conquest, or?

Step Three- Innocent Erendira

Read the comments posted on the first two steps.

A little reminder for those who are new to critical study and for the rest of you who might not remember all that clearly.

Narrative refresh to the finished product - when a story (boy meets girl) is taken through a plot (they meet first, fall in love later and fish together in their old age)

Narration refresh to the process - how a story, through a plot, becomes a narrative (who/what draws the strings)


Having said that -

In so far, how would you 'dissect' the narrative part of the novelle, as well as the narration delivery? Meaning: As a narrative, this story is... Whereas, the narration of this story...

Step Two - Innocent Erendira

Look at what you have considered to belong to 'our reality' in this narrative, from your class notes - the accepted version - and use the findings to answer the following questions:

1. What constitutes 'accepted' (some might say - normal) events (actions) in this narrative?

2. Is there an event that you are still uncertain about, the so-called liminal event, somewhere between reality as we know it and the possible reality we tend to shy away from? How so?

3. To go back to the 'normal' happenings in this story - are they more an extension of the characters (their doings, their choices) or of the narrator (his depiction of time and place)?

Step One - Innocent Erendira


Look at the notes from class - then proceed to answer the following questions -

1. According to your findings, what are the KEY supernatural events (actions) in the first half of the novel? How so?

2. Then, of you have to single out (choose) ONE of these supernatural events, which one would it be?

3. The one that you singled out, describe how it influences the way you view the characters and the setting? What does it take out? What does it add?

Links regarding the work of Ansel Adams and Lewis Hine:


http://www.anseladams.com/

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/ansel/

http://www.sierraclub.org/ansel_adams/about.asp

http://www.nypl.org/research/chss/spe/art/photo/hinex/empire/biography.html

http://www.kentlaw.edu/ilhs/hine.htm