Miradas/Gazes by Miriam González-Hernández (review)

The Latin Americanist, Spring 2007 Aunque en la introduccion Gonzalez anticipa que la ultima seccion de esta obra tendra a Padura Fuentes como eje central, nos encontramos con que unicamente existe una alusion a Mario Conde, el conocido detective cubano de varias novelas de Padura, a1 final del primer capitulo de 10s dos que la integran, el cual esta centrado en Nietzsche y Marti como seiiala su mismo subtitulo. Es asi como nos quedamos unicamente con una rapida vision del grupo de novelas de Padura Fuentes concebidas como Las cuatro estaciones, aunque mas detallada que la que respecta a 10s escritores anteriores, donde establece nexos entre el detective Conde con Marti y el poeta Jose Maria Heredia, colocandolo a las puertas de una nueva apertura literaria cubana hacia el mundo. Como dato final a1futuro lector, es importante seiialar que la exploracion de Gonzalez esta hecha mayormente en torno a la obra de Cabrera Infante, quedandonos unicamente con un marco conceptual conectado con La isla que se repite de Benitez-Rojoy una rapida aproximacion a la nueva literatura detectivesca de Padura Fuentes que promueve nuevas vertientes de una literatura cubana a1rescatar y poner en voga un genero literario detectivesco en desuso. Esta obra sin lugar a dudas ofrece una nueva perspectiva menos regionalista y mas internacional de la literatura cubana post-revolucionaria, abriendo nuevas perspectivas de exploracion en el campo de la literatura comparativa, asi como en aquellos interesados en la literatura del exilio. Adriana Tapanes-lnojosa Department of. Humanities 6 Music Harold WaslzingtonCollege MZRADAS/GAZES. BY MIRIAM GONZALEZ-HERNANDEZ. HATOREY,PUERTO RICO: PUBLICACIONES PUERTORRIQUENAS, 2006, P. 65. Minzdas/Gazes is a slim volume of vignettes that examines difference and the rebellion that is often predicated by its alienation in graphic, even gory images that often take the reader by surprise. Its author, Miriam GonzalezHernandez , is an adventuress fighting the confines of society, community, gender, personal fears, and perceived destiny through fiction. She is willing to wade through "excrement and human waste" to flee those confines. (11) While Gonzalez uses the short, short story form pioneered by earlier writers such as Pedro JuanSoto (whose Spiks captures the plight of puertorriqueiios who emigrate to New York City and suffer the harshness of urban poverty), her characters often boast the trappings of the middle-class and still live on the island. Each of the ten stories appears first in Spanish and is followed by an English translation written by the author. Although the Spanish is often more eloquent than the English, having the writer translate her own work adds a sense of accuracy which is evident throughout. The earlier English versions of the stories are often translated verbatim and are sometimes wordy, but Book Reviews the language becomes more fluid as the stories progress eventually attaining poetic moments. The collection is preceded by a critical essay ”El poder didactico y moralizador del mini discurso narrativo en Miradas de Miriam M. Gonzalez Hernandez,” also followed by its English translation, and written by Alma Alarcon Negy, a professor at the University of Central Florida. The essay introduces a scholarly discussion of Gonzalez-Hernandez’s work, embracing it in an effort to help secure its place in the lofty world of literary analysis. Negy accurately captures theessence of Gonzalez-Hernandez’sstyle, suggesting that it is “allusive and metaphoric” and that it could ”provoke an interpretation through a feminist lens.” (xxii)Further, she probes the Greek mythological and Biblical influences that permeate the various stories and hones in on the darkness that imbues them. Inherent to that darkness are the recurring themes of the seduction of the forbidden, the lure of evil, and the passions of the flesh by which the characters are drawn and thereby thrust towards rebellion. These stories are inevitably about that insurgence which is brought on by the recognition of one’s difference, exploring the desires inherent to that difference, and allowing one to relish, even bask in its unacceptability. Therefore, Negy’s assertion that the ”otras realidades” of Miradas are “didactico y moralizador” is somewhat frightening because it suggests that a teaching/learning process is taking place when one reads these stories. While it is generally agreed that fiction is open to...