 |
|||
|
BEFORE READING Background Mexican author Octavio Paz is considered one of the most prominent poets in Spanish American literature. He was born to an impoverished family of passionate intellectuals and social activists. His grandfather, Ireneo Paz, was a prominent liberal intellectual and writer who, in the course of his lifetime, participated in many of Mexico's key historical events. From a young age, Paz read books from his grandfather's generous library-mainly the works of Hispanic and French writers. Paz grew up to become a social activist and writer, publishing his first poetic work at the age of 19. Marxism, surrealism, existentialism, Buddhism, and Hinduism influenced him greatly, and he went on to write more than 20 books of poetry and a variety of other works and essays. In his poetry, Paz wrote about many subjects, but, regardless of his subject, his poems often reflected back upon themselves. In his unique style of writing, he would often "intertwine" with the subject chosen. In his later work, he used surrealistic imagery. One of his prominent themes was that humans can overcome their solitude with love and artistic creativity. He won the Nobel Prize for his work in 1990. Paz also was a diplomat, art critic, editor, publisher, and translator. In the following selection, from his Labyrinth of Solitude, Paz attempts to detail the Mexican persona to help his readers understand the traditional norms that influence the characters of Mexican men and women. About the Author Octavio Paz (1914--1998), Nobel-Prize-winning poet, was born in Mexico City. His family was impoverished by the Mexican Civil War. A train killed his father while Paz was still a young boy. Both Paz's late father and grandfather were writers and social activists, and Paz read often from his grandfather's large library. Paz attended a Roman Catholic school and the University of Mexico (1932-37), publishing his first poetic work in 1933 at the age of 19. He married Elena Garro in 1937 and was divorced in 1959. He visited Spain in 1937 and wrote Beneath Your Clear Shadow and Other Poems in support of the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War. This work established him internationally as a promising author. On the way home, he visited Paris and left with a strong appreciation for surrealism. In Mexico, he edited a variety of literary and political reviews, including Taller in 1939, El hijo pródigo (1943), the poetic review No pasaran! (1937), and various others. In 1943 he moved to the United States and lived in San Francisco and New York City for two years. He joined the Mexican diplomatic corps in 1946 and served in a variety of locales, ultimately serving as the Mexican ambassador to India from 1962 to 1968. He married Marie José Tramini in 1964 and had one daughter. Paz began teaching at various universities in the United States and England, including Harvard and Cambridge. Later he became the editor of Plural (1971-76) and after that, Vuelta. Some of Paz's post-1962 poetry includes Blanco (1967), Ladera este (1971), Hijos del aire (1981), and The Collected Poems of Octavio Paz, 1957-1987. He received various awards, including the Guggenheim Fellowship (1944), the International Grand Prize for Poetry (1963), the Grande Aigle d'Or (1979), and the Nobel Prize for Literature (1990). Vocabulary
DURING READING Use the STUDY GUIDE below as a way to work through the selection and improve your comprehension of the essay. AFTER READING Answer the Questions to Consider in the book as a way to deepen your interpretation of the selection. 1. Why does Paz believe the Mexican shuts himself away to protect himself? 2. Why does he believe that confiding in someone is an abdication? 3. Paz writes "the Mexican views life as combat." How does he feel about that? How do you feel? Bibliography Octavio Paz (selected works)
Latin American Writers Isabel Allende. House of the Spirits (1982; tr. 1985). Best-selling first novel by a famed Chilean writer of magic realism, describing three generations of a Chilean family. Germán Arciniegas. Latin America: A Cultural History (1967). Analysis of Latin American peoples, culture, and history. Miguel Ángel Asturias. The President (1964; tr. 1972). The Nobel-Prize-winning Guatemalan novelist's forceful portrait of a brutal dictator and his effects on human life. Jorge Luis Borges. Fictions (1944; tr. 1962). A highly influential short story collection by the world-famous Argentinean prose master. Julio Cortázar. Hopscotch (1963; tr. 1966). A challenging and structurally innovative Argentine novel, depicting urban life in twentieth-century Buenos Aires. Gabriel García Márquez. One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967). A best-selling, internationally acclaimed work by the Colombian Nobel Prize winner, which portrays a century in the lives of a family and a town. Rita Guibert. Seven Voices (1973). Conversations with major Latin American authors such as Pablo Neruda, Jorge Luis Borges, Miguel Ángel Asturias, Octavio Paz, Gabriel García Márquez, and more. João Guimarães Rosa. The Devil to Pay in the Backlands (1956; tr. 1963). A brilliant prose epic of the Brazilian backlands. Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz. A Woman of Genius: The Intellectual Autobiography of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1691; tr. 1982). A brilliant seventeenth-century Mexican nun's defense of her rights to education and an intellectual life. John King, ed. On Modern Latin American Fiction (1987). Interviews, essays, and more relating to important Latin American writers, such as Borges, Fuentes, García Márquez, and others. Pablo Neruda. Five Decades: Poems 1925-1970 (1974; ed. Ben Belitt). A representative collection of poetry by the beloved Chilean poet and Nobel Prize winner. Octavio Paz. The Collected Poems, 1957-1987 (1987). A rich collection from Mexico's greatest modern poet, winner of 1990's Nobel Prize for Literature. |
|
Home |
Language Arts |
Social Studies |
World Languages |
Contact Us
Copyright © 1995-2008 Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |