Pablo Neruda is one of the great poets of the 20th century. Born in Chile in 1904, he was one of the few Latino writers to win the Novel Prize of Literature, which he did in 1971. Gabriel Garcia Marquez calls him "the greatest poet of the 20th century in any language."
He could also be considered one of the universal poets of the modern era, not only because of his career as a diplomat, but also because his poems have been translated into many languages.
Born Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto, he used the pseudonym Pablo Neruda , taken from the Czech writer Jan Neruda (1934-1891,) to hide his poems from his father. He was born in Parral and grew in Temuco where he met Gabriela Mistral, another Chilean poet who also won the Novel Prize. His first poem
"Entusiasmo y perseverancia"
is published in 1917 in
"La ma–ana,"
a local newspaper. Many poems appeared in different publications and magazines from then on, and he won different literary prizes and awards. In 1920 he moved to Santiago to study. Some of the poems he wrote those years were published in his first book,
Crepusculario
(1923.) Pablo Neruda's first mayor publication would be published one year later.
Veinte poemas de amor y una canción desesperada
is one of his best known and more translated works.
Neruda then moved to represent Chile as a consul. He lived abroad from 1927 to 1943. He served in Burma, Ceylon, Java, Singapore, Buenos Aires, Barcelona, Madrid, Paris and Mexico City. His poetic production during this period included
Residencia en la tierra
(1933,) a collection of esoteric surrealistic poems that marked his literary career.
In Madrid, in what could be called the pre-Civil War years, Pablo came into contact with many politics and met some of the most important poets and intellectuals of the Spanish
"Generación del 27":
Federico García Lorca, Rafael Alberti or Miguel Hernandez among others. The Spanish Civil War and the murder of Garcia Lorca affected Neruda deeply and he joined the Republican Movement in Spain and then in France, where he started working in
Espa–a en el corazón
(1937.) This collection of poems is full of political and social content and had a great impact since it was printed in Spain, during the Civil War. This same year he went back to Chile.
In 1939 Neruda was appointed consul for the Spanish emigration in Paris and shortly after he moved as the consul general to Mexico, where he rewrote
Canto general de Chile
, transforming it into an epic poem about South America, its peoples, its nature and its historical destiny. The final title of these 250 poems grouped in fifteen literary cycles is
Canto General
, and it was published in Mexico in 1950.
In 1943 Pablo returned to Chile, where he was appointed senator of the Republic in 1945. He joined the Communist Party. In 1947 he had to live underground in his own country as a result of his protests against the president's repressive policy towards striking miners. He was prosecuted as subversive; he could leave in 1949, when he could fled over the Andes to Argentina. He spent three years in exhile: Argentina, Europe, India, China and the Soviet Union. Most of the works written during this period were very political. A good example of this would be
Las uvas y el viento
(1954.)
In 1952 he was able to go back to Chile since the political situation had become favorable. From 1954 to 1964, he embarked on a prolific period of writing. In 1954 he published one of his major works,
Odas elementales.
This collection of poems contained descriptions of every day objects and situations. The poems were written in a new style: simple, humorous and direct.
In 1958 he published
Estravagario
, a collection that makes a noteworthy change in his poetry. He reverts to the sense of humor he showed in his first works and reencounters the avant-garde and surrealism. Neruda's poetic production during these years was marked and stimulated by his personal happiness and international recognition and fame: he published 20 more books between 1958 and his death in 1973, and 8 more appeared posthumously.
Some of his last works are
Cien sonetos de amor
(1959), with poems dedicated to Matilde Urrutia, his wife;
Memorial de Isla Negra
, a poetic work of an autobiographic character in five volumes, published on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday;
Arte de pajáros
(1966);
La Barcarola
(1967);
Las manos del día
(1968);
Fin del mundo
(1969);
Las piedras del cielo
(1970.)
In 1970 Neruda traveled to Paris. While there, serving as the Chilean ambassador to France, he became ill and returned to his country, where he died two weeks after the CIA-backed coup in 1973 that brought down the democracy.
Music
I am introducing the musical component on the present unit in order to make connections between music and poetry. My students are not too perceptive when I talk about poetry in general. But, I am sure they will take pleasure on poems when they experience the correlation between music and poetry. Music is the perfect vehicle to explore culture and identity. The importance of music in any society is obvious, but it is especially so in the Latino world where almost every country has a traditional rhythm. By introducing music in the unit, I am focusing on voices, oral experience and listening skills in a way my students cannot resist.
The
"trova"
is a typical kind of music that has root in many regions of the world. Every region expresses popular feelings through music. The most important component in la "trova" is the lyrics, and therefore rhythms are very simple. The
"trova"
has its origins in the middle Ages (11th century) in France, when epic poems were the entertainment of the privileged classes. The troubadours memorized these epic poems in order to recite them and spread them throughout the land. These poems/songs dealt mainly with themes of chivalry and courtly love.
The
"juglares"
(minstrels in English,) played a similar role at the time. They were also entertainers, but in a more popular sense of the word: they sometimes performed compositions written by troubadours, but more often, they recited other genres such as
chansons de geste
(epic narratives) etc.
Similar to the Tobadours or minstrels are the "Griots." They are West African poets, praise singers, and wandering musicians, considered a repository of oral tradition.
These griots live in many parts of West Africa, including Mali, Gambia, Guinea, and Senegal. This concepts of oral culture and "voice" are crucial for my students to understand, since they are the basis of the present unit.
La
Nueva Trova Cubana
"La Nueva Trova," called New Ballad in English, is a traditional genre that condemned social and cultural differences, promoted the revolution, and therefore, it had the government's support. The songs are nothing but poems (often political) that protest
specific situations:
"un trovador es un poeta con su guitarra,"
(
"a trovadour is a poet with his guitar"
), Silvio Rodriguez observed.
This Cuban music movement has its roots in the second half of the 19th century, but it re-emerged in the mid 1960´s. It combined traditional folk elements with heavily controversial political lyrics. The "Nueva Trova Cubana" became known as such after a concert in
"La Casa de las Américas"
(The House of the Americas) in which Silvio Rodriguez, Pablo Milanés and Noel Nicola interpreted their lyrics.
Most of these artists are still very famous in Cuba and the rest of the Spanish speaking countries. Pablo Milanés, Silvio Rodriguez, Carlos Varela y Habana Abierta, among others, still write songs criticizing the United States and the country´s international policy, as well as the United States' embargo trade with the island.
There are connections between the "Nueva Trova Cubana" and the "Trova Puertorrique–a." The elements of protest are common to both (this is a common pattern for all the rest of Latin American countries and Spain.) The themes are slightly different when dealing with political protest: the "trova Cubana" condemns the situation they live under the United States embargo, and the "Trova Puertorrique–a" is (and was in the past) more into local matters such as Vieques, etc. The "Nueva Trova"
impacts many Hispanic and Latino American countries influencing the Chilean, Brazilian, Uruguayan or Argentinian "Nueva Canción."
It is of great importance that the trovadours work with the lyrics (or poems) much more than the music, which is of course important, but has a secondary interest. Habana was where "La Nueva Trova"
had its first important realization and where the key artists met. Among them we could recognize Silvio Rodriguez, Pablo Milanés, Noel Nicola, Sara González, Pedro Luis Ferrer, Vicente Feliú, Mike Purcell, Amaury Pérez and vocal groups such as
Tema4
,
Manguaré
,
Moncada
,
Mayohuacan
,
Los Ca–as
,
Síntesis
,
Mezcla
,
Nuestra América
,
Dúo de Adolfo Costales
and
Margarita Mateos
.
Trova Puertorrique–a
As mentioned before, the
Trova
has a strong association with Cuba. It was also big in Puerto Rico. Prose and poetry are added to popular and traditional rythms in order to create a new way of expression accessible to everyone. The "Nueva Canción" emerges in the late 1960´s as an evolution of the protests led by university students. (8)
Roy Brown
Many people think that in order to talk about the
Trova Puertorrique–a
, it is necessary to talk about Roy Brown. He was born in Orlando of an American naval officer and a Puerto Rican woman. He grew up in those days when racism, the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam War were the main issues of society. These events formed part of his way of thinking and they were to shape his ideology.
My students, specially those of Puerto Rican or Hispanic descent, will recognize Roy Brown in part because of how famous he is, and in part because he comes to New Haven for concerts quite often.
Other key artists and groups in the "Trova Puertorrique–a" are: Zoraida Santiago,
Fiel a la Vega
and
Taller de cantautores
.
Reggaeton
Reggaeton blends diverse music styles. It is a fusion of hip-hop with other music influences such as Jamaican reggae and dancehall with various Latin American rhythms such as
bomba
,
bachata
,
merengue
or
plena
. The music usually accompanies rapping in Spanish, English or both, "Spanglish."
This form of urban music became popular in the early 1990s especially to the Latino population. It is important to know that reggaeton has its own and specific rhythm and could never be considered Latino hip-hop.
When working with reggaeton in the classroom, I am sure I will the one to learn the most. This is the reason I am not expanding the background information in this section too much. The final project I refer to in the following section (the strategies section,) will provide more details about my expectations on the topic.