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English for a year and intra-history
BY MARILYN BOBES —Special
for Granma International—
Whoever believes
that historial themes contained within the world of
fictional literature are the exclusive territory of
men, will find a categorical denial of that notion
in the work of Marta Rojas (Santiago de Cuba, 1931).
As in the time of
La Avellaneda, the author of Inglesa por un año
(English For A Year, Editorial Letras Cubanas, 2006)
provides a particular look in her great historical
fresco that is quite difficult to find in fiction of
the same genre written by men. This is what writer
Miguel Barnet has called “intra-history”.
The period during
which Havana was taken by the English (from 1762 to
1763) has rarely been tackled in Cuban literature.
Now Marta Rojas has done it and has done so in an
sui generis fashion: conferring to her writing the
marvellous delight of the aforementioned intra-history.
That is to say,
like the translucent robe of one of her characters (Marquess
Beatriz de Jústiz), the author reveals to us the
intimate details of real individuals transformed
into characters by her imagination. And it must be
said that the characters in Inglesa por un año
are treated with the freedom that the author’s
incredible capacity to create fiction awards them,
without leaving to one side the absolutly rigourous
research for which she has always been known.
A novel
containing a very contemporary style of romanticism
unites its attractive qualities with the inclusion
of the forgotten genre of adventure which, at the
same time, boldly includes a delicate eroticsim and
an elegant sense of humor, thus possessing all the
ingredients to remain lodged in the memory of
readers.
The efficacious
design of the characters, together with a plot that
is rich in conflicts and adventures which transform
filibuster Martín de Andares or Sable Desnudo (a
kind of longstanding fugitive), the Marquess Beatriz
de Jústiz, writer Torrecillas and Jesuit priest
Butler into flesh and blood, real and living
characters within a story in which fiction and
reality intermix with a harmony that is incapable of
separating them, making them believable in the truth
of lies of which Peruvian Mario Vargas Llosa always
spoke.
Divided into two
parts: La bata traslúcida (“The Translucent Robe”)
and Algunas sorpresas (“Some Surprises”), the novel
glides entertainingly and surprisingly until the
last page.
With respect to
its particular use of language and intrepidity, I
would love to highlight two exemplary chapters. They
are Sable’s Assault on Marquess Beatriz and Satanic
Confession, and other important moments which show
us Marta Roja’s skill of negotiating the risks
involved in an unprejudiced vision of sexuality when
unaccompanied by the poetic and playful breath of
air via which the author has been able to take on
such an important challenge.
Special mention
goes to the meticulous research, not just historical
or of the epoch but every detail on which the solid
architecture of this book is constructed. Neither
superficial or pedantic, the novelist has found the
right equilibrium so as not to betray historical
facts; at the same time she recreates the era with a
versimilitude that demonstrates, above all, a
dynamic experience far beyond the scenes and their
protagonists.
On the other hand,
the author’s capacity to relate situations which
history brings together as isolated incidents,
constitutes a form of jigsaw puzzle which, finally,
results in synthesis.
Contradictions
and thoughts of an era blossom throughout the
narration.
In Inglesa por
un año, poetic quotes also frquently appear.
With these, the author has utitlized with astute
maestry another literary genre which confers to her
writing a lyrical quality, incorporated with
elegance, to the twists and turns of her language.
Original, worthy
of a tradition inaugurated between us Cubans by
Alejo Carpentier, Inglesa¼has
been written, first and foremost, for the reader.
For its characteristics, it deserves a first-rate
cinematographic adaptation.
To entertain and
educate are the basic objectives of this text that,
besides its light-hearted aspect, are exceedingly
instructive while simultaneously helping us to
understand and imagine a period in Cuban history
that is captivating but seldom visited.
We welcome the appearance of this work that, as its
editors claim, constitutes an important contribution
to the historical fiction of contemporary Cuban
narrative.
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