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Introduction: Thoughts on the Fictional Process
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20285 |
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Section : |
MODERN THOUGHT
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| Issue
Date : |
7 / 1992 |
1,023 Words |
| Author
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Marie-Lise Gazarian-Gautier
Marie-Lise Gazarian-Gautier is professor of Spanish and Latin
American literature at St. John's University in Jamaica, New
York. She is the author of Interviews With Spanish Writers
(Dalkey Archieve Presss, 1991), Interviews With Latin
American
Writers (Kalkey Archive press, 1989), and Gabriela Mistral,
the Teacher From the Valley of Elqui (Franciscan Herald
press,
1974, originally published in 1973 by Editorial Crespillo in
Buenos Aires as Gabriela Mistral, la maestra de Elqui). She
is coauthor with Zenaida Gutierrez-Vega of the book Carmen
Conde de viva voz (Senda Nueva de Ediciones, 1992). |
As the moderator of the symposium "Beyond 1992: Writers' Forecasts from the Old and New Worlds," I invited three masters of the art of writing to lead us through their predictions of the future in a voyage into the twenty-first century: Jose Luis Sampedro, from Spin; Jose Donoso, from Chile; and John Edgar Wideman, from the United States. It was a unique opportunity for writers from the Spanish- and English-speaking worlds to participate in such an encounter.
Since it had not been possible at the time to have a woman participant on the panel, I took the opportunity of asking some of the same questions to Ana Maria Matute, one of Spain's foremost novelists, when she was visiting New York recently. That is the reason why her comments are part of the symposium even though she was not a panelist.
The text that follows is a transcription of the predictions of the four writers, as well as a discussion of such vital issues as ecology, technology, the concept of time, writing, and the future of literature.
Nothing could have been more refreshing than to witness at first hand the literary mind at work. The symposium was co-hosted by St. John's University and the Americas Society. The two institutions have played important roles in promoting Hispanic culture in this country. The event was held on November 8, 1991, in the Salon Bolivar at the home of the Americas Society, the historic townhouse on Park Avenue that once belonged to the Pyne family. It attracted a full house of writers, scholars, diplomats, students, and people from all walks of life. For over two hours the guests remained in their seats, hanging on every word, as if spellbound, oblivious of time.
Yet, in spite of this obvious interest in literature and writers, and of many other literary gatherings of the kind, we are constantly being reminded that in today's society what prevails is visual experience rather than inner reflection. We are told that science, with its technological progress, is about to replace the artists and overtake the human dimension. Appealing to out common sense, Sampedro, the economist turned novelist, says: "I must stress that the leaders of the technological trend are blinded by progress, and we are following blind people who don't know where they are taking us. We don't have, so to speak, a star to be guided by." Modern society is no doubt threatened by mass media. Culture, often defined as mass culture, leaves little room for reading, and young people are not channeled into using their imagination. Critics speak about the deconstruction of
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