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Date: Thu, 26 Mar 1998 22:27:25 -0500 (EST) From: lizette bianca suxo <lsuxo@brynmawr.edu> The following is what we discussed in my group today: -We found Ana Lydia Vega's use of language very interesting. She used different, unconventional ways in her descriptions of women. We especially liked her use of "ovaries" instead of balls. (40) -We also liked that the reader is never quite sure who to believe. This is true for Vilma's story and because Carola herself is a writer. Writers choose to give readers a constructed view of reality and thus, may leave important details out. This goes along with the original quote at the beginning of the story. In the interest of keeping the reader's attention, "the dull bits" of life are often cut out. Also, there is a question as to who can tell the more truthful side of a story, being involved in the story itself? -As a writer, Carola is stuck observing other lives, not her own. It seems that her interest in the "Malén affair" may have to do with the fact that her own life is lacking something. By retelling other peoples stories, she can become a part of other lives (at least for a while). -It is interesting to note that although the action takes place in two very different countries, there are many of the same attitudes towards women. -Reading the story, especially while imagining the photos and coverage of the malen affair, the image of 'photo-novelas' came up. These usually deal with some kind of scandalous affair similair to the Malén affair and others that may have captured Carola's attention. Again, in these novelas, the emphasis is on drama and sensationalism which would look attractive (at least as a kind of fantasy life) to anyone living a very static, routine life. Life becomes a drama. -A.L.Vega manages to touch upon many details of popular culture and thinking...for ex: "I've been in bed so long my ass has gone flat, which is no big deal here, but would lose me my whole street corner fan club in Rio Piedras. I'm pale too, which my mother, the Porcelana Cream queen, would love." (29) Both these sentences draw from popular notions of beauty especially relevant to latino culture: women should have full bodies and lighter is better. (at least in terms of class and social structure) -Food is also of importance as seen when rice and beans are served instead of the usual french cuisine. Carola and Vilma's mood change so much so that Paul must insist that they keep quiet and, in a sense, act civilized. Perhaps, the food of Puerto Rico has led to the shift in behavior, it has allowed them the freedom to break out of the strict life they are living (if only for a moment). -And finally, when discussing the end of the story, we decided that Carola's desire to break out of the routine was met, though only in her death. Her story, published in TEXTIMONIES,and the way her own life ended, was part of the drama she could only write about. We noted the use of the "Women's Destiny Press" as her publishers, because in the end, she did end up living through the kind of life she may have always been searching for and had at least some amount of control. The rest, of course, is always left up to destiny. |
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Date: Fri, 27 Mar 1998 12:56:20 -0500 (EST) From: jessica braider <jbraider@haverford.edu> We talked mostly about the position of women in the story. That it was very striking how the three main women in the story (the protagonist, Vilma, and Malen) were all trapped in relationships with men and could not escape and that no one would help any of them. That it was hard for us to understand how the protagonist could listen to her friends stories and not support her, that there was an element of distrust because Vilma was promiscuous. It ties in in an interesting way with the music we were listening to yesterday, the contradiction between the lyrics and the photo on the CD cover and that there is an element of uncertainty in the music about the independence of women. The stories by Vega were striking mostly for their sense of lonliness and hopelessness. |
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Date: Sun, 29 Mar 1998 12:41:09 -0500 (EST) Lisa Nutting, Nick Vaccaro, Katy Wagner: We discussed the men of the "True Romances" and how they were transculturally similar, that there was little difference between the machismo of Carola's ex-boyfriend, malen's killer and that of Paul, who Carola thought would be different and respect women more. We also discussed the difference between the Puerto Rican women and the French women, with the Goya beans as a physical representation. Carola and Vilma were louder, less meek, and more colorful that the doctor's wife. The idea of cross-culture aslo appeared repeatedly throughout the story, with references to movies and literatureof different cultures on each page. Another idea we discussed was Carola's use of literary style, and her fascination with the novel form which permeated and colored her narration of the events. |
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From: Harris Lesley Beth <lharris@haverford.edu> Date: Sun, 29 Mar 1998 17:46:40 -0500 (EST) -women's lives are difficult: Vilma dissapears, Malén dies, the author dies -story is depressing -big on victimization -exaggeration -women have an unrealistic lack of resiliency -can only hope Vilma is not dead but has started a new life -characters not multi-dimensionsal -each one is defined by one attitude/activity -paul hunts, vilma is whimsical/moody, the father is laid back -do we believe paul or vilma? -the author seems to believe paul, but should we? -Vilma is not too concerned with leaving or being afraid for herself -we want to dig deeper and find out Vilma's motives -the crime she is writing about coincides with events in the author's life -critisizes Malén's neighbor's for not helping her in her dying hour but she doesn't help Vilma escape Paul -there are a number of allusions to other films -this reads like a movie -what is up with Vilma's head in the photo album? -three women act/react differently but they have the same fate -3 levels of secrecy/mystery to their deaths -what else do they have in common? |
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Date: Sun, 29 Mar 1998 23:14:07 -0500 (EST) To: rcastill@haverford.edu (Roberto Castillo) From: Alec Vilar, Maria Lemos, Maritza Martinez Escribo en inglés, pues dijiste que vas a poner esto en el web page. The center issue of our discussion was the language used by Ana in her stories. I mentioned how as I read both stories I was amazed by how she wrote in metaphors. From the first line of True Romance, "When Vilma arrived, it was like mouth-to-mouth resuscitation." Such use metaphors adds a sense of poetry to her writings. It allows a wide range of interpratations as it tells a well defined story. Another issue that we all liked in her stories was her use of reality in fiction. Ana makes simple references to real life issues,facts, and objects as she writes a fidtional story, and in doing so she makes her stories seem more like reality. She makes references to "El Vocero" a Puerto Rican newspaper, among other things. A final aspect of her language or writing style that we all liked was her exchange between languages. This aspect of the stories made them hard to understand at times but it added a new dimension. It is hard for me to explain the sence the reader gets from the going back and forth between languages but it is not a sence of confusion liek most people might think, it's a sence like there is more to the story than what the average reader picks up, and it makes you question who the stories are written for. On each particular story we did not have too many things to discuss. Maria and Maritza looked at the issue of Femenism in True Romances, while I brought up the gender role of Aerobics for Love. The stories work well individually -- in looking at issues of sexuallity, gender roles, masculinity, femenism, etc.... -- but they also complement eachother. Even though the same author wrote both it almost seems like they are coming from different points of view. The ideology behind them is the same,but the way in which they are presented is completely different. This is a general overview of our discussion... Stay cool, Alec. |
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Date: Mon, 30 Mar 1998 23:25:23 -0500 From: moogie <mmathias@haverford.edu> At first we were discussing some specific themes in the story, and we came up with 1) the hazy line between reality and imagination, using the story the woman is writing as an example. Sometimes it seems that she is so caught up in her own story, that her drama carries over into her reality, and she can't tell the difference. Something else we came up with was the old maxim " looks are deceiving," especially in the area of love and romance, and we used as an example the French man who, on the outside, looked like a great guy, but really he kept his wife locked up. Then we started to come up with some over all motifs, and we all agreed that the story reminded us of those old mystery or detective movies from the 1930's, which were always so dark and used a lot of shadow shots. it also kind of reminded us of Alfred Hitchcock in that it seemed to play mind games, not only on the reader, but also on the characters in the story. Over all, it was very dark and brooding. Some other themes we thought of were truth, which goes with the fuzzy reality/imagination theme already mentioned, and also the portrayal of fast women and the consequences of being such. |
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Date: Tue, 31 Mar 1998 16:57:03 -0500 From: Alexandra Forter aforter@haverford.edu Subject: The Anxiety of Authenticity in Autobiography, Authorship and Gender Roles As I was not in class on Thursday and did not participate in a discussion group, I am writing my own response to the short stories of Ana Lydia Vega. These themes, which interested me in the short stories, came out in our class discussion today. Although they may seem irresolvable (and I will not claim to answer them) I believe they are at the root of all major thinking in our world today. The crisis exists in the form of the conflict between representation and construction and how these relate to history and reality. Ana Lydia Vega's short story True and False Romances emphasizes the existence of these opposed entities while at the same time refuses to locate the narrative on either side. Thus, she uses such relevant and real references as the Vocero and Claridad, while she also uses the bizarre encounters with Paul and the surreal separation from the world that the French Pyrenees seems to provide. But it seems to me that while Ana Lydia Vega may acknowledge these dichotomies between real and imagined, she is also creating a narrative whose very structure and plot is irrelevant in any such debate. Just as in the imagined situation one would find themself a feminist while in the real one there tendencies might change, also the plot opens up the possibilities for imagined outcomes or causes. Why does Paul have that picture in his hunting book? Why is her letter sent back saying that the receiver is unknown? The reader must create responses, as Carola creates responses in order to act. The statement she seems to be making is that within every reality there still exists the imagined and the separation can never truly be polarized and complete. This problematizing of the fluctuations between the real and the imagined seems to also play itself out in the idea of authorship. Upon my first reading, I found myself automatically identifying the author with the narrator (although strict instructions are generally given otherwise). With this autobiographical nature assumed, there was a certain idea in my mind of authenticity. This woman is speaking from experiences and therefore is true in her representations. This sort of thinking is difficult in that there is a capacity for the reader to expand this specific narrative into generalized terms of cultural experiences. This is where I believe the problem lies, for although most of the stories are told as a sort of omen "macho Latin meets his match", I think it dangerously borders on gross generalization of the puerto Rican culture and puerto Rican men. (this may be a result of the political nature of the themes and the radical pendulum swing necessary to undo institutions) In my mind, Ana Lydia Vega resolves this by overturning the whole concept of gender roles and authorship. In Solutions INC., I found myself baffled by the inarticulate treating of the gender of the Patroness and the husband (the irony of the greatest husband being a woman undercuts this argument but not so strongly) Ana Lydia Vega, in my mind, seems to be playing out all of the dichotomies, male and female, real and imagined, concealed and revealed, and in so doing renders them useful in degrees and not as polarized entities. Her next step is to write from the point of view of a man. To me she seems successful as is Wally Lamb in SHes come undone. The challenge still doesn't sit well with me (perhaps ingrained cultural frameworks) can a woman write with true authority about a man or from a mans point of view and vice versa? I believe it is possible. The reason, I believe, why it is not is because of our ideas of authenticity that entail the real the revealed and the capacity to only represent ones own gender (or other such category). I think that Ana Lydia Vega shows the possibilities of a new endowment of authenticity through her very provocative and political short stories.
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