Cristina Peri Rossi
Encyclopedia
Cristina Peri Rossi is an Uruguay
an novel
ist, poet
, translator, and author of short stories
.
Considered a leading light of the post-1960s period of prominence of the Latin-American novel, she has written more than 37 works. She was born in Montevideo
, Uruguay
but was exiled in 1972, and moved to Spain
, where she became a citizen in 1975. she lives in Barcelona
, where she continues to write fiction and works as a journalist. She studied at the University of the Republic.
novel which takes the form of a pastiche
of travel writing
. The protagonist, Equis, is a misfit who travels to a number of deliberately vague locations. By inviting the reader to see modern society through the eyes of Equis, Peri Rossi is using the technique of defamiliarisation to produce a biting satire
of today's world. This includes a strong dose of feminism
: Equis eventually renounces his own sexuality, declaring that there is "harmony in impotence," which can be read as a denouncement of patriarchial and phallogocentric society. More generally, the work shows toleration and arguably even idealisation of sexualities that have been traditionally considered dissident, including gerontophilia
and controversially, in the character Morris' love for a ten-year-old boy, pedophilia
. The novel exposes the dangers of arbitrary dictatorial government in its inclusion an emotional depiction of a concentration camp in a country which remains unspecified, but which could be based on any of the various Latin America
n dictatorships of the latter half of the twentieth century. The title of the book is taken from the Ship of Fools
legend, which is reworked by Peri Rossi in the novel itself. The novel shows sympathy for those condemned to the ship of fools and there is a clear parallel between this medieval episode and the modern-day aforementioned concentration camp passage.
The themes established in La nave de los locos are ones which Rossi revisits in other works. Her latest novels include Solitario de amor (Solitaire of Love) (1989), La última noche de Dostoievski (Dostoyevsky's Last Night) (1992) and El amor es una droga dura (Love is a hard drug) (1999). All of these novels are formally less experimental than Nave. They deal with male protagonists who, like Equis, gradually explore their sexualities, discovering that they have to renounce traditional gender roles both in sexual behaviour and in the real world to find fulfilment. However, there is little political commentary in these novels.
Peri Rossi has also produced an impressive amount of poetry, again covering many of the ideas outlined above. The lesbian eroticism of Evohé (1971) caused a scandal when first released.
In 2004, Peri Rossi published Por fin solos, a collection of short stories where love is a result of eroticism and frustration. The lovers, whatever their condition or sex, seek a reason in the beloved so that they may feel saved, as is the case in "Náufragos". Peri Rossi also uses (determinedly) symbols that link with the deterioration of heterosexual relationships, such as the bottle of lye, the scarf, and flowers, among others.
. She was sacked from this position in October 2007 and accused the station of 'linguistic persecution', claiming she was sacked for speaking Spanish instead of Catalan. She was later re-instated to her post after an outcry.
She is well-known for her defense of civil liberties and freedom of expression. She has long supported gay marriage and welcomed Spain's decision to recognize it.
In an El Mundo article in March 2006, she spoke out against the rise of religious extremism in Europe, and specifically the violence that followed the 'Danish Cartoons Affair'
. In the article she expresses her support to the 'Together Facing the New Totalitarianism' Manifesto
, which was published in the left-leaning French weekly Charlie Hebdo
in March 2006.
Peri Rossi maintains a website at http://www.cristinaperirossi.es/
These are Not Sweet Girls: Poetry by Latin American Women," editor Majorie Agosin, White Pine Press, New York, 1998. (English translations of poetry by Cristina Peri Rossi, Gabriela Mistral, and Giannina Braschi).
The Best of Review: Celebrating the Americas Society's 40th Anniversary,editors Tess O'Dwyer and Doris Sommer, Routledge, Francis & Taylor, London, 2005. (English translation excerpts of Latin American literary classics by Cristina Peri Rossi and her contemporaries Luisa Valenzuela, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Derek Walcott, and Giannina Braschi).
"A Forbidden Passion," stories by Cristina Peri Rossi in English translation by Mary J. Treacy, Cleis Press, 1993.
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
an novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
ist, poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, translator, and author of short stories
Short Stories
Short Stories may refer to:*A plural for Short story*Short Stories , an American pulp magazine published from 1890-1959*Short Stories, a 1954 collection by O. E...
.
Considered a leading light of the post-1960s period of prominence of the Latin-American novel, she has written more than 37 works. She was born in Montevideo
Montevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
, Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
but was exiled in 1972, and moved to Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, where she became a citizen in 1975. she lives in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, where she continues to write fiction and works as a journalist. She studied at the University of the Republic.
Works
La nave de los locos (The Ship of Fools) (1984) is generally regarded by critics as Peri Rossi's most important work. It is an experimentalExperimental literature
Experimental literature refers to written works - often novels or magazines - that place great emphasis on innovations regarding technique and style.-Early history:...
novel which takes the form of a pastiche
Pastiche
A pastiche is a literary or other artistic genre or technique that is a "hodge-podge" or imitation. The word is also a linguistic term used to describe an early stage in the development of a pidgin language.-Hodge-podge:...
of travel writing
Travel literature
Travel literature is travel writing of literary value. Travel literature typically records the experiences of an author touring a place for the pleasure of travel. An individual work is sometimes called a travelogue or itinerary. Travel literature may be cross-cultural or transnational in focus, or...
. The protagonist, Equis, is a misfit who travels to a number of deliberately vague locations. By inviting the reader to see modern society through the eyes of Equis, Peri Rossi is using the technique of defamiliarisation to produce a biting satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
of today's world. This includes a strong dose of feminism
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
: Equis eventually renounces his own sexuality, declaring that there is "harmony in impotence," which can be read as a denouncement of patriarchial and phallogocentric society. More generally, the work shows toleration and arguably even idealisation of sexualities that have been traditionally considered dissident, including gerontophilia
Gerontophilia
The term gerontophilia refers to the sexual preference for the elderly. The word is originated from Greek: Geron, which means "old man" and philie, which means "love"...
and controversially, in the character Morris' love for a ten-year-old boy, pedophilia
Pedophilia
As a medical diagnosis, pedophilia is defined as a psychiatric disorder in adults or late adolescents typically characterized by a primary or exclusive sexual interest in prepubescent children...
. The novel exposes the dangers of arbitrary dictatorial government in its inclusion an emotional depiction of a concentration camp in a country which remains unspecified, but which could be based on any of the various Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
n dictatorships of the latter half of the twentieth century. The title of the book is taken from the Ship of Fools
Ship of Fools
The ship of fools is an allegory that has long been a fixture in Western literature and art. The allegory depicts a vessel populated by human inhabitants who are deranged, frivolous, or oblivious, passengers aboard a ship without a pilot, and seemingly ignorant of their own direction...
legend, which is reworked by Peri Rossi in the novel itself. The novel shows sympathy for those condemned to the ship of fools and there is a clear parallel between this medieval episode and the modern-day aforementioned concentration camp passage.
The themes established in La nave de los locos are ones which Rossi revisits in other works. Her latest novels include Solitario de amor (Solitaire of Love) (1989), La última noche de Dostoievski (Dostoyevsky's Last Night) (1992) and El amor es una droga dura (Love is a hard drug) (1999). All of these novels are formally less experimental than Nave. They deal with male protagonists who, like Equis, gradually explore their sexualities, discovering that they have to renounce traditional gender roles both in sexual behaviour and in the real world to find fulfilment. However, there is little political commentary in these novels.
Peri Rossi has also produced an impressive amount of poetry, again covering many of the ideas outlined above. The lesbian eroticism of Evohé (1971) caused a scandal when first released.
In 2004, Peri Rossi published Por fin solos, a collection of short stories where love is a result of eroticism and frustration. The lovers, whatever their condition or sex, seek a reason in the beloved so that they may feel saved, as is the case in "Náufragos". Peri Rossi also uses (determinedly) symbols that link with the deterioration of heterosexual relationships, such as the bottle of lye, the scarf, and flowers, among others.
Journalism
Cristina Peri Rossi is active as a journalist and political commentator in Barcelona. She is a radio journalist for the public Catalan station Catalunya RadioCatalunya Ràdio
Catalunya Ràdio is Catalonia's public radio network. It's part of Corporació Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals, owned by the Generalitat de Catalunya...
. She was sacked from this position in October 2007 and accused the station of 'linguistic persecution', claiming she was sacked for speaking Spanish instead of Catalan. She was later re-instated to her post after an outcry.
She is well-known for her defense of civil liberties and freedom of expression. She has long supported gay marriage and welcomed Spain's decision to recognize it.
In an El Mundo article in March 2006, she spoke out against the rise of religious extremism in Europe, and specifically the violence that followed the 'Danish Cartoons Affair'
Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy
The Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy began after 12 editorial cartoons, most of which depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad, were published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on 30 September 2005...
. In the article she expresses her support to the 'Together Facing the New Totalitarianism' Manifesto
MANIFESTO: Together facing the new totalitarianism
MANIFESTO: Together facing the new totalitarianism is a political statement made in response to the violence surrounding the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy. The signatories said they issued the letter to demonstrate that there is a need to fight for secular values and personal freedom...
, which was published in the left-leaning French weekly Charlie Hebdo
Charlie Hebdo
Charlie Hebdo is a French satirical weekly newspaper, featuring cartoons, reports, polemics and jokes. It appeared from 1969 to 1981, when it folded, and was resurrected in 1992. The current editor is cartoonist Charb. His predecessors are François Cavanna and Philippe Val...
in March 2006.
Peri Rossi maintains a website at http://www.cristinaperirossi.es/
Complete list of published works
- Viviendo (1963)
- Los museos abandonados (1968)
- El libro de mis primos (1969)
- Indicios pánicos (1970)
- Evohé (1971)
- Descripción de un naufragio
- Diáspora (1976)
- La tarde del dinosaurio (1976)
- Lingüística general (1979)
- La rebelión de los niños (1980)
- El museo de los esfuerzos inútiles (1983)
- La nave de los locos (1984)
- Una pasión prohibida (1986)
- Europa después de la lluvia (1987)
- Solitario de amor (1988)
- Cosmoagonías (1988)
- Fantasías eróticas (1990
- Acerca de la escritura (1991).
- Babel bárbara (1991),
- La última noche de Dostoievski (1992)
- La ciudad de Luzbel y otros relatos (1992)
- Otra vez Eros (1994)
- Aquella noche (1996)
- Inmovilidad de los barcos (1997)
- Desastres íntimos (1997)
- Poemas de amor y desamor (1998)
- Las musas inquietantes (1999)
- El amor es una droga dura (1999)
- Estado de exilio (2003)
- Por fin solos (2004)
- Estrategías del deseo (2004)
- State of Exile (2008)
English Translations
"Panic Signs," a collection of short stories by Cristina Peri Rossi in English translation by Mercedes Rowinsky-Geurts and Angelo Augusto Borrás, Wilfrid Laurier University Press, Toronto, 2002.These are Not Sweet Girls: Poetry by Latin American Women," editor Majorie Agosin, White Pine Press, New York, 1998. (English translations of poetry by Cristina Peri Rossi, Gabriela Mistral, and Giannina Braschi).
The Best of Review: Celebrating the Americas Society's 40th Anniversary,editors Tess O'Dwyer and Doris Sommer, Routledge, Francis & Taylor, London, 2005. (English translation excerpts of Latin American literary classics by Cristina Peri Rossi and her contemporaries Luisa Valenzuela, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Derek Walcott, and Giannina Braschi).
"A Forbidden Passion," stories by Cristina Peri Rossi in English translation by Mary J. Treacy, Cleis Press, 1993.