On Art and Literature: Critical Writings, and: The Mayakovsky Case, and: Autopsy on Surrealism (review)

152 the minnesota review José Martí. On Art and Literature: Critical Writings. Ed. Philip S. Foner; trans. Elinor Randall et al. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1982. 347 pp. $18 (cloth); $10 (paper). César VaUejo. The Mayakovsky Case. Ed. James Scully; trans. Richard Schaaf. Willimantic , Connecticut: Curbstone Press, 1982. 48 pp. $3 (paper). César VaUejo. Autopsy on Surrealism. Ed. James Scully; trans. Richard Schaaf. Willimantic , Connecticut: Cubstone Press, 1982. 40 pp. $3 (paper). Cuba's greatest writer was also her greatest patriot. José Martidied in 1895 at the age of forty-two, a martyr to the cause of Cuban independence. A brilliant leader, orator, and poUtical organizer, Martfs turbulent Ufe in exile left him scant time for the elaboration ofa formal aesthetic theory. Nevertheless, on the subject of art, few Latin American writers are quoted as frequently as Marti*. This is only partly due to the legendary pithiness ofhis style. The brilliant aphorisms he coined continue to arcuiate mainly because they were struck from an aesthetics correlative to his ethical and poUtical convictions. "What is art," he asks, "but the shortest way of arriving at the triumph of the truth?" That his ivory tower was necessarily an ivory turret did not seem to pose a confUct for him, as indeed it would have for his modernist contemporaries, who chose the swan as thdr symbol because its whiteness was never suUied by contact with the ignoble earth. The reason why can begleaned from his critical writings, which allow us to percdve a coherent set ofcriteria informed by a compelling vision. For Marti, because freedom is the ground of beauty, the very condition ofits existence , the artist's mission indudes fighting for the space in which beauty may exist. On Art andLiterature: Critical Writings is the fourth and final book in a series, edited by Philip S. Foner, that is intended to provide access in English to Martfs thought—a formidable task, considering that his complete works in Spanish fill seventy volumes. The first three books in the series deal respectively with the United States and American imperialism, Latin America and the Cuban revolt against Spain, and education and pedagogy. But it is in this final volume of critical writings —many of which were written on the move for newspapers in North and South America and used as vehicles for expressing his fundamental views on philosophy, politics, and the future of this hemisphere—that we come closest to seeing Marti*whole. AU of his remarkable gifts are in evidence here— the power ofhis intdlect , the breadth of his culture, and the moral sensitivity for which he is revered throughout Latin America. We also have better access here to Martfs literary style, which is romantic writing at its best: rich, cadenced, and redolent with allusion. Foner has provided a good cross section of Marti's work as a critic and has included a good mixture of well-known essays, such as the studies of Emerson and Whitman, and shorter, impressionistic pieces that were not previously available in English. The range of Martfs interests and expertise is impressive; he moves easily from primitive art to French impressionism, from Mark Twain to Pushkin. Marti* wrote a few of these articles in English. Most, however, have been translated from the Spanish and the translations, while generally accurate, need some additional polishing. The book includes a very useful chronology of the Ufe of Martiand an introduction by Foner. One wonders, however, what assumptions were made about the book's intended readers, for while innumerable footnotes illumine such arcane references as Luther, Homer, Keats, Shelley, Faust, Prometheus , and the Trojan War, we are left to cope unassisted with Tetzcontzingo, Quirigua, Uxmal, and Bashi Bazouk. IfMartfs views on art and revolution are the product of an abiding hopefulness, those of the Peruvian poet Cesar VaUejo were born ofa deep pessimism. No poet in Latin American has expressed with greater poignancy that VaUejo the pain of human existence. His most powerful poetic resource was his Umitless empathy; so dosdy did he identify himsdf with the people of his country that he thought of taking the pseudonym "César Perú." Raised a CathoUc, Vallejo was expected to become a...