Traduttore - tradittore say the Italians and "I plead guilty as
charged." While I guarantee you will enjoy these stories in
translation, I admit they can not live up to the originals. Every
work of literature is an expression of the culture that produced it
and presupposes a bit of insider knowledge. These stories are no
exception. They all share references to shuco, which is consumed by
millions of Salvadorans everyday and which is reputed to have
miraculous qualities to raise the dead, or at least to abate
hangovers. Shuco, or atol shuco, is a completely alien concept to
the middle-class American palate. It is something between a hot
beverage and a soup, similar perhaps to watery grits, oatmeal or
mush with a punchy Central American flavor. Traditionally served in
gourds made from morro fruit, it's more commonly dispensed in
styrofoam cups on street corners for about a quarter ($0.25 US) by
little old ladies who make just enough to survive on. Its
ingredients include ground black corn, water, alguashte
(al-WASH-teh) or ground pumpkin seed, cooked red beans and salt, to
which chile or a shot of hot sauce is added. Served with pan
frances (literally "French bread, but really dinner rolls), it
makes a breakfast or lunch. The color of its ingredients gives it
its name, for in Nawat Pipil, the ancestral language of much of El
Salvador, tsukit means "mud," hence atol shuco is "muddy mush." You
won't find shuco in any fancy restaurants or in the homes of the
well-heeled, only on street corners or the most humble eateries,
but it's an important part of life to the majority of people who
work hard for a meager living and for whom it's an everyday treat,
a hangover cure, an occasional luxury, a pick-me-up while waiting
for the bus in the rain or the only thing one can afford that day.
I promise not to spoil the stories with details because I trust
that you the reader are intelligent enough to form your own
conclusions but a few concepts are in order. A few of the stories
rely on the concept of magical realism -the idea that eve- ryday
life in Latin America transcends anything conceivable to those live
in developed countries. Others are existentialist -the struggle for
survival in a country with few opportunities for the many can lead
to madness. The long hours, strenuous work, low pay, abusive
supervisors and unbelievably high crime rate drives people to
desperation. Yet people dream, hope and pray for escape from
conditions those in wealthy countries can scarcely imagine. One
means of escape is science fiction, which has become very popular
only recently in the region. Any sci-fi movie from anywhere in the
world can be found for a dollar at the pirate DVD sidewalk emporium
on Calle Arce in downtown San Sal- vador. The impact of this genre
is quite apparent in "Ciudad Nopticon / Nopticon City," whose title
is inspired by Jeremy Bentham's famous 1785 prison design which
included a built in all-seeing eye in the form of an inner tower to
watch over the prisoners without being seen. That the French
philosopher Michel Foucault helped build his career on this concept
is germane, because his belief that knowledge/power was a
formidable weapon in the hands of the ruling elite also informs
this story. If your Spanish is limited or rusty, make an effort at
reading the stories in the original language, you'll be glad you
did. Salvadoran Spanish is basically the same Spanish you learned
at school or heard your grandparents speak, but with a few local
peculiarities such as vos, instead of tu for the familiar second
person singular. The localisms are covered in a glossary, since
they won't necessarily be understood by Spanish-speakers from other
countries either. Most of them, and any other word you don't
understand is explained (in Spanish) at the Real Academia Espanola
website www.rae.es and in English at various on-line dictionary
sites.
General
Imprint: |
Casasola Editores
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
August 2013 |
First published: |
August 2013 |
Translators: |
Rick MC Callister
|
Authors: |
Abigail Guerrero
|
Dimensions: |
203 x 133 x 12mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback - Trade
|
Pages: |
208 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-9887812-6-9 |
Categories: |
Books >
Fiction >
Special features >
Short stories
|
LSN: |
0-9887812-6-3 |
Barcode: |
9780988781269 |
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!