investigación sobre autoras costarricenses

8/18/2019 Investigación sobre autoras costarricenses

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© 1999, Jeana E. Paul-Ureiia


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ACKNOWTEDGMENTS

I wo uld like to express my sincere than ks an d ap pre cia tion to

the many people who have put their t ime and effort into this project:

Carmen Naranjo and Anacristina Rossi for taking time to discuss their

works and ideas with me, Professors Eduardo Estevanovich and Jorge

Blanco for introducing me to Costa Rican literature and to Horn

Professor Harley D. Ob erhelm an for having a major influence on m y

gra du ate as well as un derg rad uate work.

I would also like to thank my parents for their support and

encou ragem ent , my son Bryan for his pat ience an d un ders tand ing,

an d m y hu sb an d Jua n Carlos Urefia for his incredible su pp ort a nd for

his cons tant faith in m e.

I express profound thanks to my comm ittee m em bers .

Professors Norwood H. /Andrews Jr., Ted McVay and Wendell Aycock

for their guidance and encouragement, as well as for the t ime they

spent helping me with this project.

Finally, and mo st impo rtantly, I would like to than k m y

dissertation director, Horn Professor Janet Perez, without whose help

this project could not have been realized. Tha nk you for you r t ime ,

patie nce , faith an d wonderful fr iendship.

u


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii

ABSTRACT v

CHAPTER

L INTRODUCTION 1

n. CARIVIENLYRA 15

Early PubUcations (1907-1920) 17

Later Publications (1920-1949) 46

Conclusions 64

m. YOLANDA OREAMUNO 67

Laruta de su evasion 69

W .

CARMEN NARANJO 83

Los perros no ladraron

85

El

responso por el nino Juan M anuel 117

Diario de una multitud 135

Sobrepunto

147

E casonumero 117.720

161

Conclusion 186

V. /\NACRISTINA ROSSI 189

Maria la noche 190

La loca de Gandoca 210

m


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VI. CONCLUSIONS 2 1 6

BIBUOGRAPHY 227

V


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ABSTRACT

One of the most interesting features of Costa Rican literature is

a certa in deg ree of gen der equity: since its begiiming, a significant

number of major contributors have been women. Women have been

included in literary movements as well as in political leadership roles

thro ug ho ut the Twentieth Century in Costa Rica. This stud y exam ines

wom en's w riting in Costa Rica, specifically using four au thor s:

Carmen Lyra, Yolanda Oreamuno, Carmen Naranjo, and Anacristina

Rossi.

Each writer has made significant contributions to the

development of the novel during the time in which she was writing

by employing innovative techniques such as the polyphonic

na rra tive voice, non-linear time and unm arked dialogue . In add ition

to developing new writing techniques, these writers also integ rate d

new them es in to Costa Rican literature .

All four writers ad dres s social issues which ha ve h ad a

trem endo us infiuence on Costa Rican society. Carm en Lyra an d

Yolanda O ream uno wrote before the Costa Rican Civil War of 1948

and because of the controversial nature of their works, both were

exiled from Costa Rica. Carmen N aranjo, whose work spans four

decades, is Costa Rica's most prolific author, addressing problems


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caused by the creation of the Costa Rican bureaucracy after the war.

/Anacristina Rossi, known for her controversial themes, has also led a

strong fight against the d estruction of Costa Rica's natu ra l reso urce s

and national parks.

Very littie has been written about these wom en writers. W hat

has been published about them has, in large part, been limited to

Costa Rican period icals. The purpose of this study is to exam ine the

ways in which women have played a major, important role in the

literary p rodu ction in Costa Rica, as well as how they hav e influenced

Costa Rican political and social institutions during the 1900s through

this medium.

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Costa Rica stand s out in man y ways from oth er cou ntries of

Latin Am erica. In terms of its economic an d social histo ry, Costa Rica

did no t live up to its nam e, as early Spanish colonies found the land

to be any thing bu t rich. In fact, the territo ry was quite inh osp itable,

covere d with den se rain forests and mo untains . Colonists who

settied there were disappointed with their failure to find the gold

used in the indigenous artifacts earlier assumed to be from that area.

Those w ho chose to make Costa Rica their hom e becam e small

farmers, creating a tradition of isolated families which still exists in

mod ified form at the end of the Twentieth Century.

When Spain realized that this part of Central /America lacked

gold and other valuable resources, the area which would become

Costa Rica was practically abandoned by the conquistadores,

rem aining marginalized an d half-forgotten during its colonial perio d.

It was accorded littie importance during its participation in the

Capitania General de Guatemala (1574-1821), as well as its one-year

inco rpo ration in the M exican Empire of Agustin de Iturbide , a nd

declared its indepen dence in 1823.


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Unlike other countries in Latin America, Costa Rica remained

relatively free from internal conflict due to its population of small

farm ers. The m od e elsewhere of big land ho lders batti ing am on g

themselves for power over the poor masses did not develop.

Instead, Costa Rica sustained a slowly developing middle-class.

Europe's aba nd on m en t an d forgetting of Costa Rica pro du ced

reciproc al estran gem ent, with few Costa Ricans edu cate d in Europe

before the Twentieth Century. Thus few developing European

philosophies and trends reached Costa Rica, and those which did

come, arr ived late:

Son variados factores que contribuyen a la falta de una

cu ltu ra colonial. El pais vivia en aislam iento casi tota l

desatendido tanto por Espafia como por las otras colonias

am ericanas , pues po r la falta de m inas no atrajo n un ca a

m uch os espaiioles. Esto, unid o a la poca fecun dida d de la

tierra y a la deficiente pob lacion, hizo qu e Costa Rica

fuera una de las mas pobres provincias de ultramar,

segtin la denominacion espafiola. (Martinez 20)

Intellectual prod uctio n also bloom ed late, with works tha t

comprise Costa Rican literature not beginning to appear until the late

180 0s. Between 1860 an d 1 900, Costa Rican Ute rature de ve lop ed

primarily via newspapers and periodicals. Thanks largely to national

period icals, new writings in the l i terary ge nres of short stories,

poetry, essays, biographies, fables, legends and novellas were made

available to readers (Rojas, Ovares 16). The

foUetin,

which became


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common in Europe in the early 1800s, reached Costa Rica late in the

1800s, and retained popularity until the 1920s. According to Rojas

and Ovares, this genre grew out of the necessity for writers of fiction

to earn their living as journalists (17).

The foUetin

represented both

fields,

combining creative fiction with journalistic forms such as

travelogue s, auid sho rt narrative s. Them es usually involved highly

predictable acts of violence, crimes or love triangles. The characters

were traditional stereotypes who brought about foreseeable

anticipated endings. The foUetin pro vide d a forma t for these

l i terary works published in the national newspapers a nd mag azines.

The most notable work in this tradition is

Misterio

(1888), by

M anuel Argiiello Mora, one of the most frequentiy pu blis hed writers

in Costa Rican periodicals between 1860-1900.

Outside of the newspapers, the first literary publications in

Costa Rica emerged in the 1890s.

Lira costarricense

(1890) was the

first anthology of poetry to app ear in that country, an d Hojarasca

(1894) was the first collection of short stories by Costa Rican

na rra to rs . The first Costa Rican novel.

El Moto,

published in 1900, by

Joaquin Garcia Monge, exemplifies the adaptation of Nineteenth-

Century Regionalistic tendencies, influenced by Costumhrismo, that

early Costa Rican authors incorporated in their novels.


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Early Twentieth-Century novels which followed El

moto

d rew

heavily up on the school of Romanticism: Costa Ricans descr ibed the ir

homeland as truly a lugar ameno amidst the turmoil of oth er C entral

Am erican coun tries. While surrou nding countries struggled to grow

and change under constant political upheaval, putting their painful

history on pap er, Costa Rica rem ained relatively calm an d

pred ictable. Costa Rican literature did no t prod uce impressive

results until well into the Tw entieth Century.

The end of Costa Rican isolation stimulated social, political and

intellectual cha nge . In 1917, Costa Rica began to attr ac t the a tten tion

of capitalist investors interested in exploiting their coffee and banana

expo rts. In respon se to a sudden business boom for foreign

investo rs. President /Alfredo Gonzalez Flores imp lem ente d social

reform s w hich included imposing a tax on coffee. At the time, coffee

figured am ong the coun try's most impor tant expo rts. As a resu lt of

the coffee tax, and other con straints, interna tional investors from the

United States and Germany began to pressure the coffee oligarchy,

motivating the overthrow of the Gonzalez govern ment. For two

yea rs, the country was ruled by the Tinoco dictators hip. These

radical upheavals in a society which had previously been relatively

stable produced reflections of tremendous change in Costa Rican

literature.

A

national literature which had been based in


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Regionalism, developing as a form of traditional Realism, suddenly

became literature of social protest, encouraged by imstable political

cond itions in Costa Rica. Newly combative attitude s inte rru pte d the

tradition of publishing literary works in the national periodicals,

separating intellectual production from the government-controlled

pre ss for the first time in Costa Rican history. During th e early pa rt

of the Twentieth Century, Costa Ricans began to study in and travel

m ore frequentiy to Europe, bringing hom e new philosophies an d

ideas for chan ge. Literature prod uced d uring this time was largely

respon sible n ot only for docum enting social change, but as Beverly

an d Zunm erman p oint out, literature was often itself a n a gen t of

change:

. . . wh at we think of as "society" as such is not som e

essence that is prior to representation bu t rath er the

product of struggles over meaning and representation.

Such a perspective allows us to consider the ways in

which literature , rath er than being simply a reflection or

epiph enom enon of the social as in the traditional base

superstructure model, is constitutive~in historically and

socially specific ways~in some measure of it. (ix)

In the early 1900s, literature in Costa Rica was not simply a form of

ente rtain m ent, bu t an effective tool for change, largely respo nsible

for shapin g Costa Rican society. Critics are quick to poin t out tha t "La

litera tura costarricense, al igual que otras formas de lo im aginario


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colectivo, no refleja un a idea preexistente de lo natio nal sino qu e

contrib uye a constituir tal nocion" (Rojas et al. 3).

Costa Rican literature grew quickly in the Tw entieth Ce ntury,

and later critics would consider Costa Rica, in some respects, the hub

of cu ltur al an d intellectual life in Central Am erica. In spite of its late

start, it was accepted that "... cultural and intellectual life in Central

America (with the exception of Costa Rica) was impoverished,

unstable, 'underdeveloped' ~ that, after all, is part of what the

Banana Republic caricature is about" (Beverly 36). Although Beverly

and Zunmerman present an accurate description of the Central

Am erican situation, it is relevant tha t most critical analyses of

Central American works have focused on works from countries other

than Costa Rica. Beverly and Zimmerman's analysis concentrates on

the Cen tral Am erican Revolutions, obviously eliminating Costa Rica

for its relatively peaceful history. In a parallel ph eno m en on , w hen

literary movements are critiqued in Central America, in general,

Costa Rican literatu re is only briefly m entioned . Most studies which

look into the po etry, novels, songs and essays produ ced in C entral

America, typically depict the counterculture which provoked and

int erprete d th e intern al struggle faced by these cou ntries. Ironically,

althou gh Costa Rica has not experienced these revo lutionary

activities, with the brief exception of the 1948 conflict, Costa Rica has


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long been ho st to radica l s tudent groups and coun tercul ture

product ion:

In these terms perhaps the s ingle most important

institution in the development of this counterculture

am on g the intell igentsia was the Editorial Un iversitaria

Centroamericana (EDUCA) created in San Jose by the

Confederation of Central American Universities under the

auspices of the regional common market and the

edu catio nal mo dern ization program s. EDUCA bec am e the

main publisher of the new generation of left-oriented

writers and li terary crit ics represented by f igures l ike

Claribel Alegria, Roque Dalton, and Manlio Argueta in El

Salvad or; Otto Rene Castillo in Guatem ala; an d Sergio

Ramirez in Nicaragua. (Beverly 47)

Despite Costa Rican literature's having littie of the international

attention given to the surrounding Central American countries, i t has

nevertheless produced notable works. One of the most interesting

features of Costa Rican literature is a certain degree of gender equity:

since its beginning, a significant number of major contributors have

be en wom en. Costa Rican wom en have by no mea ns had a n equ al

part in establishing what is contemporary Costa Rican society, and

today they still must fight for equal pay and recognition in the

bus iness world. Nevertheless, wom en have been includ ed in l i terary

m ov em en ts as well as in polit ical leadersh ip roles th ro ug ho ut th e

Tw entieth Century in Costa Rica. Wom en have also been im po rtan t

par t ic ipan ts in the countercul ture m ovem ents .

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In the first quarter of the Twentieth Century, the most

influential woman in Costa Rica was Maria Isabel Carvajal, known to

the literary world by her pseudonym. Carmen Lyra, and known

affectionately as "Chabela" by he r compatriots and friends. She was

one of the major influences in the evolution of the national literary

an d political social conscience in Costa Rica from the early 1900s

until he r dea th in 1949. Other notable women author s include

Yolanda O ream uno, who wrote in the 1950s; Julieta P into, wh o began

writing in the 1960s; Carmen Naranjo, also beginning in the 1960s;

and a multitude of younger novelists and poets during the 1980s and

1990s, such as Ana Cristina Rossi an d Tatiana Lobo.

Very littie has been written about these women writers. W hat

has been published about them has, in large part, been limited to the

Costa Rican periodicals. Alfonso Chase has written sev eral essays on

the works of Carmen Lyra, which he has published as introductions

to collections of her works. His contribution has been mostiy in

term s of biograp hical resea rch. Other Costa Rican critics who ha ve

written abo ut these auth ors include M argarita Rojas, Flora Ovares,

Carlos Santander, and Maria Elena Carballo. These authors have

contributed to two very important works in Costa Rican literature:

La casapatema.

Escritura

y nacion en

Costa Rica (1993), and

100

anos de la literatura costarricense (1995). Both of these works

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mention the women writers in this study.

100 anos de la literatura

costarricense, by Rojas an d Ovares, is a Ust with a brief descr iptio n

of all important works written in between 1890 and 1990 in Costa

Rica.

La

casa

patema,

by Rojas, Ovares, Sa ntan der and Carballo, is a

thematic overview of Costa Rican literature, divided into six topics:

Un pequeiio relato familiar; La arcadia tropical; La sociedad de

lectores; Nostalgia, recuperacion y ruptura; El lugar ameno; and

Um brales y frontera s. W ithin these categories they discuss the mo st

influential Costa Rican literature from the Twentieth Century.

Although the majority of the works discussed were written by men,

they do explore some of the literature written by women, including

En una silla de ruedas, by Carmen Lyra, an d

La

ruta de su evasion,

by Yo landa Oream uno . Both articles are brief, addressing the

stru ctu re of the novels. The review of En

una silla de ruedas

discusses Lyra's use of positive and negative space to m arginalize the

cha racte rs. The most extensive work addressing wom en writers is a

dissertation by Luz Ivette Martinez,

Carm en Naranjo y la narrativa

femenina en

Costa Rica (1985), which focuses primarily on Carmen

Naranjo, bu t mentions other au thors as well. While Martinez's

analysis briefly examines works by Carmen Lyra and Yolanda

Oream uno, an d m entions other women writers from Costa Rica, her

purpose is "demostrar que Carmen Naranjo representa la culminacion


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de la l i te ra tura femenina costarr icense y que es una representante

aute ntic a de la l i teratura femenina de Hispan oam erica" (17).

M artinez claims that two works by Carmen Naranjo, "Sobrepunto y

Diario de una multitud

consti tuyen su mo men to cum bre como

escritora . Con la prim era se inscribe en la vertie nte de ob ras

hispanoamericanas que recogen la problematica de la mujer en el

ambito de una vision critica de la sociedad" (17). While many critics

wall argue that

Los perros no ladraron

was Naranjo ' s mo st im po rtan t

work to date, very few comment on Sobrepunto, and o the r than

M artin ez's analy sis, it ha s received littie atte nti on . It is th e on ly

novel of Carmen Naranjo to date which treats the life of a woman.

However, the woman is dead, and the main character who

remembers her, and who teUs her story (or the fragments of a story)

is a ma n. Not only do es he limit the read er's vision of Olga, the

woman, but he also presents her activities and intentions from the

male perspective. What Olga may have suffered or endured as a

wo m an is no t know n by the read er. Her examp le of ch arac ter is no t

one which would be either acknowledged or disliked by feminists.

Martinez insists that

Sobrepunto

be conside red a work wh ich

presents the problems faced by Costa Rican women in the Twentieth

Ce ntu ry. Con sidering the fact tha t the female ch ara cte r is no t well

developed and that she does not face common problems, Martinez 's

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works different an d wo rthy of exam ination in term s of bein g

different,

Costa Rican li terature provides a unique opportunity for a

stu dy of this sort . As wom en hav e bee n active pa rticip an ts in th e

development of l i terary movements within Costa Rican li terature,

their works are already important contributions, in addition to being

wo rks w ritten b y wo men . While the two m ost rec en t analyse s of

Costa Rican literature, La casa paterna (1993), an d 100 anos de

literatura costarricense (1995) have been auth ored or co-authored

by wo me n, the re has yet to be a study of the con tributio ns to Costa

Rican li terature m ad e by wom en. The pu rpo se of this stud y is to

exam ine th e ways in which women have played a major , im po rtan t

role in the literary production in Costa Rica, as well as how they have

influenc ed Costa Rican political an d social institution s du ring the

1900s through this medium.

The following study specifically concentrates on four

Twentieth-Century women writers. Carmen Lyra, Yolanda Oreamuno,

Ca rm en N aranjo an d Anacristina Rossi. It reviews th em in

chronological order, examining their works in terms of importance

an d in nov ation , as the Twentieth Century unfolds, as well as in term s

of influence on Costa Rican society an d its intellectual pro du cti on . All

four of these women are recognized not only as major contributors to

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Costa Rican Uterature, but the y have also bee n very influential

polit ical activists. Carmen Lyra formed the Communist Party in the

early 1930s in Costa Rica, and re m aine d an active lead er un til h er

exile from the country in 1949. Yolanda Oreamuno also faced

self-

exile during the 1940s for her political activities and her opinions on

women's rights. Carmen Naranjo was Costa Rica's first woman to be

appointed to high bureaucratic and polit ical positions within the

co un try . In add ition to being Costa Rica's mo st prolific au th or (male

or female), she has also been a mem ber of Presidential ca binets,

served as Vice-President of the Costa Rican Social Security system

and worked as an ambassador represent ing her country in Israe l and

Ve nezu ela. An acristina Rossi has likewise be en invo lved in p olitical

activities an d pro tests . Her role in the 1980s and 90 s ha s be en to

ad vo cate th e prote ction of the Atiantic coast in Costa Rica from the

uncontrolled advances of tourism.

This stud y will examine th e major pros e works of these four

women writers from a developmental perspective of their

contributions to the Twentieth-Century novel in Costa Rican

lite rat ure . All four wom en writers have received int ern atio na l

recognition and earned a place for Costa Rica in Hispanic literature.

They have written about their country, using traditional language,

including the voseo, which takes the place of the pronoun "tti," and

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uses a special ve rb form. Their works stand ou t as im po rtan t focal

po ints in the de velopm ent of Costa Rican literature . Not only d id

their works greatiy influence other Costa Rican authors in terms of

style, tech niqu e a nd them e, but they also directiy influenced Costa

Rican society.

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CHAPTER II

CARMEN LYRA

M aria Isabel Carvajal was b o m in 1888 , in San Jose, Costa Rica,

to a single m ot he r. As was inev itable, he r illegitimate birt h affected

her social status and reception, and many of her l i terary works focus

on outcast members of society, children from broken homes, and

oppressed individuals and groups generally. These works are

them atically rem inisce nt of the works of Rosalia de Castro, a G alician,

writing in the mid to late 1800s, who likewise suffered because of

her illegitimate birth. According to Alfonso Chase, another factor

which greatiy influenced Lyra 's thematic choices was her internship

with the hospital San Juan de Dios. After finishing school, Lyra

w an ted to become a nu n. Her oppo rtunities for ma rriage w ere

cer tain ly limited bec ause of he r illegitimacy. As pa rt of h er

novitiate, she worked in the hospital . This experience provided her

with vivid examples of misery and sadness which proliferate in her

early works. Just as he r options for marriage ha d be en limited

because of her illegitimacy, neither was she allowed to profess and

become a nun in the Catholic Church (Chase 505). One year after her

graduation from high school, she published her first short story in a

nat ional magazine ,

Paginas llustradas.

In 1907 , she be ga n h er first

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novel , En una silla de ruedas, which was pub lished e leven yea rs

later in 1918. With this publication she became known as Carmen

Lyra, a name suggested to her by her close friend Joaquin Garcia

M ong e. According to Garcia Monge, Carmen-Lira was a bu s rou te in

Santiago, Chile (Chase 505).

As the author of Costa Rica's first novel, Garcia Monge with his

fr iendship constituted a very important influence during the initial

ph as es of Ca rm en Lyra's writing career. Garcia Monge was also

known for writing the first Costa Rican novel of social protest,

Hijas

del campo. While early

literary works in Costa Rica insis ted on

presenting idyllic settings and portraying strengths of the family,

Garcia Monge and a small group of writers, including Carmen Lyra,

be ga n to expo se the flaws in such idealized repre sen tati on s. Critics

including Rojas and Ovares have pointed out that Monge showed

characteristics of disillusionment even within his first novel El Moto:

La Costa Rica de la prim era imag en idilica era u n m u n do

donde las cosas tenian un nombre, donde las relaciones

sociales se vivian segtin la armonia que cubria los lazos

fam iliares. Poco a poco, las preferencias discursiv as se

vuelcan hacia el anonimato, posible en nuevos paradigmas

literarios. El m un do a non imo y su nuevo tiempo se

revelan como un dato inevitable y el idilio familiar

emp ieza a desplazarse , a l menos en la l i te ra tu ra . . . A la

pa r de a lgunos t rabajos que destacan funda men ta lmen te

los aspectos costumbristas del texto, los estudios mas

recientes subray an su potencial crit ico . . . y de nu nci an un

inicial resquebrajamiento del idilio familiar. (Rojas et al.

75-6)

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This te nd en cy is highly visible in the later w orks of Garcia Monge,

an d was most influential in th e works of Carm en Lyra:

Las figuras del labriego senciUo, el conch o estere otipo y

pintoresco ceden el protagonismo ante una galeria de

personajes que hacen ingresar a la escena literaria

sectores antes ausentes o puntos de vista ineditos.

Igualm ente, el hum orismo y la idealizacion de tradiciones

y costumbres nacionales, dan paso bien a una vision

sentimental (Dobles Segreda), bien a una perspectiva mas

critica (Garcia Monge, Lyra, Dengo). (Rojas et al. 146)

Earlv Publications (1907-1920)

One of Carmen Lyra's early publications, the brief na rra tive

"C am e d e miseria" (1911), exemplifies the type of lite ratu re

comprising what scholars consider her first period (1907-1912)

(Martinez 30). Strongly marked by her own experiences working

with the sick in the hospital of San Juan de Dios, "Came de miseria" is

a depressing story with a naturalistic treatment of characters and

eve nts. The influence of French authors such as Gustave Flaubert is

highly nota ble in the vivid descriptions used in "C ame d e m iseria":

Primero a Graciela, la descamisadilla encantadora, con su

faldita tan seria y su pequena camisa que le dejaba los

brazos y el cuello desnu dos . Pobrecita [sic] Ese dia su

ros tro picaresco, estaba triste. Sus ojos parlan chine s,

mu d o s . . .

Mas alia, como un gironcillo de noche, la cabeza de

Emily, la

chumequita,

como por carifio le dicen algunas

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veces sus compafieras, con la cara tan grave y los ojos

hum edo s, llenos de melancolia. Rosa, aquella m ore na

liberiana , tan simpatica, la mas inteligente d e tod as, n o

enseiiaba como de costumbre la mazorca brillante de sus

dien tes blancos. No se oia la charla de pajarillo d e C lara

ni las risitas sofocadas d e Ana Maria. T oda s. . [sic] todas

ha bian erm iudecido. jEl lugar

vacio

jLa compafiera ida

(Chase 47)

"Came de miseria" is written from the perspective of a teacher

who sees the poverty and misery surrounding an d enveloping he r

stu de nt s. One of these studen ts is very ill, suffering from a

com bination of serious disease and p aren ts insufficientiy edu cated to

kno w how to care for he r. The narra tive voice criticizes the lack of

consciousness some parents have, as well as the gene ralized inability

to stop the vicious circle from continuing: "Yo senti deseo d e g ritar a

aquellos padres:

icon

q ue dere cho haceis hijos asl? ^No veis que es

ca m e con qu e se alimenta la miseria?" (Chase 48).

In 1915, Carmen Lyra, along with Joaquin G arcia Monge,

Roberto Brenes Mesen, Omar Dengo, and Ruben Goto, crea ted an

intellectual group called Centro Germinal, from which grew many

ideas for social change, with several of the associates espousing

anarchic political philosophies. Their production of literary works,

including essays, short stories and novels, refiected these idea s, an d

expre ssed a strong hatr ed for the Tinoco dictatorsh ip as well. In

addition to the political essays, during this second writing phase,

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Lyra deve lop ed a style of pros e util izing the tec hniq ues of

M odernism . This tenden cy is evidenced in both Las fantasias de

Juan Silvestre (191S), and En una silla de ruedas

(1918). Alfonso

Chase notes:

En estos dos l ibros asimila lecturas anterio res, m aestro s

franceses, principalmente, pero esas influencias son

apenas perceptibles, interesandonos mas las realizaciones

de la auto ra, como prosista y observ adora no table. Son

obras que incorporan a nuestra l i teratura la belleza de los

rezagos del mod em ismo , con la clara concepcion d e un

realismo rom antico, impreg nado de nostalgia, de

descripciones del alma de los personajes, antes que el

dec ora do exterior que los aprisiona tambien . Son

detallistas, morosos, delicadamente evocativos,

presentados con simpatia y sensibilidad, con admirable

equilibio e n las proporcio nes psicologicas de los

carac teres. (13)

Las fantasias de Juan Silvestre initiated Lyra's dista ncin g of

he r work from the tradition of Realism and N aturalism, and lean ed

more toward Modernism, with its descriptions of things foreign to

the native Costa Rican. Often Lyra achieved such effects through

reference s to othe r l i terary works, or foreign aut ho rs:

A menudo saco en estos dias de mi bolsillo el pequeiio

volumen en que Carlyle cuenta "La vida y opiniones del

seiior de Teufelsdrockh" y leo fervorosamente. . . Y esto,

sin parecerme a aquellos de Ega de Queiroz, quienes

dec ian qu e "n i la fortuna de los Rostchilds

[sic],

ni la

co ro na de Carlos V los tent aria p ara salir de su pas ito

lento,

pru de nte, correcto" y tal cosa la hab laba n corrien do

desalados tras el farol de un coche. (Chase 204)

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En una silla de ruedas (1918) prov ides the best exam ple of Lyra 's

use of styUstic and structural elements adapted from Modernismo.

The novel combines Lyra 's treatment of society's miserable and

m arg ina lize d with a no tabl e dissatisfaction with Costa Rican society

of the early 1900s. Through these characters, Lyra provides visions

of lovely gardens reminiscent of Dario's "jardin de sueno," such as

that of the family home; dream-like descriptions of faraway lands,

such as Miguel's home land, a nd the powerful sea which divides them .

Her desc ription s weigh heavily with sensorial description s: the color

of flowers, th e smell of food, and th e soun d of mu sic. Also pr es en t is

a mysterious land of play created by Sergio and Ana Maria which

th ey inv en t to offset a life of des pair. Th ere live ch ara cte rs un kn ow n

to the ir rea l wo rld. The y set ou t daily into this exotic land . Ana

Maria guiding Sergio in his wheelchair, both dressed in borrowed

cloth es to escap e the ir dep ressing reality. Later in the no vel, w hen

Sergio is living in an asylum, he experiences flashbacks to his

ch ild ho od , also full of vivid imag ery. In this drea m -like sta te h e

relives a different reality l imited to selected and manipulated

images.

In the vein of Ruben Dario's later works,

En una silla de

ruedas also con tains elem ents critical of its co nte m po rary society.

Through its marginalized characters, the novel subtiy indicates the

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injustice fou nd with in Costa Rican society of th e early 190 0s. Th e

novel's protagonist, Sergio Esquivel, is paralyzed and fives his life in

a whee lcha ir . Much like oth er characters from Lyra 's early wo rks,

Sergio fails to see his con dition as unjust. In fact, h e con sid ers h is

wo rld to be quite no rm al. The na rrat or refers to his con dition as a

stroke of bad luck and sorrow:

Cu and o llego esta desgracia, Sergio aiin no h ab ia cum plido

dos a n o s . . . El pequei io se acosto a le g re . . . Al

ab an do na rse al sueiio, parecia un a vida que iba al

encuentro del sol; al despertar , era una vida que la suerte

ha bi a dejad o en el pais brum oso de la tristeza. Era com o

si una hada malefica se hubiera deslizado entre el silencio

de la noch e hasta la cama de Sergio y hu bie ra vaciad o su

ren co r en esta existencia que com enzaba a abrirs e. (237)

This differing perspective continues throug ho ut the novel, with

Sergio, aware of his differences, yet above feeling sorry for

himself;

while the n arr ato r, as well as the other ch aracters , wou ld truly suffer

for his cond ition . Although Sergio does not feel sorry for

himself,

h e

does constantiy yearn for a different, better world. When his

yo un ge r sister f irst considers why Sergio does not walk as she do es,

she supposes that he will be normal one day:

-Mama Canducha, ya se por que Sergio no puede

caminar . Tiene las piem as de un m o d o . . . Despues se le

haran como las mias, mamita Candelaria?

La anciana le contesto llorando:

-N o m i hiji ta, posiblimente Sergio no po dr a

caminar nunca.

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~Yo quisiera darle mis piem as, mam a Cand ucha.

Yo no las nece sito. A mi me gusta estar s entad a

hac iend ole vestidos a Luna. ^Puedo corta rm elas y

darselas?

-N o m i hijita, si esto se pud iera, ya hac e tiempo

qu e yo le ha bria d ad o las mias. (243)

The conversation between Gracia and Candelaria reveals not only

the ir sorro w for Sergio's condition, but also their nob le cha racte rs, as

both would be willing to give him their own legs if it were possible.

Not only Gracia is disturb ed by the revelation tha t Sergio will ne ver

be able to walk as they; Mercedes also is d eva stated:

M erceditas se fue entonces a un rincon a llorar. A partir

de ese dia no volvio a correr, ni hizo sino aquello que

podia hacer Sergio. Sus pequenas manos tuvieron para

estas piem as, tem uras por nadie sospechadas: las

apretaba a menudo contra su corazon, y cuando de noche

llevaban a Sergio a la cama, ella le buscaba los pies y

tra tab a de ca lentarlos con sus besos. (243)

Sergio begins his life with a moderately secure family.

Although his mother and father are separated due to his illness, he is

una w are of his father's disapp ointment. Sergio's early yea rs are n ot

spe nt with his father. The father has farm lan d in an oth er p ar t of

the c ou ntry n ea r the coast, and claims to live there to prov ide for

the ir economic stability. His fathe r's disgust at Sergio's disab ility is

not apparent to the boy for many years. Yet with his birth the

family slowly begins to unwind and disintegrate.

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Sergio's m oth er, Jacinta, is tiie cen ter of tiie child's world . "Para

el nino no ha bia en este m undo nad a m as bello ni mejor" (241).

Although he was a well-behaved child, whenever Cinta would leave

the h ou se, Sergio would become quiet and sad, refusing to smile un til

she ret u m e d with he r laugh ter. Sergio's adm iration for Cinta is no t

fully sha red by the narrator, who describes the m othe r as "ima

personita encantadora, con el cerebro a pajaros" (241). The narrator

ap pa re nt iy views Cinta as distracted an d imm atur e. Likewise, the

m istakes she m akes in life are judged in terms of he r being unfit for

the tasks dem and ed of her as m other and wife, rath er than due to a

selfish n atu re : "Los treinta aiios no lograron llevar la grave dad a esta

cria tura que jamas en terro la ligereza de su infancia" (241).

Although Sergio focuses his attention and his love on Cinta, the

functional role of m other is played by the old servant C andelaria, or

Mama Cand ucha, as the children call her . As the mo ther figure of

Cinta is slowly replaced by Candelaria, it becomes ap pa re nt that

within Carmen Lyra's novel there are two families rep res en ted . One

is the family that Sergio was b om into, an d th e second is the family

tha t is chose n. Candelaria, the first mem ber to become a par t of

Sergio's chosen family, worked as a young girl for the family of

Jacin ta. As an adult, she m arried an d had a family of he r own. Like

Sergio's, her family is destroyed when her husband and children die.

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Retuming to work for Cinta, she assumes the role of motiier and

housekeeper, both of tiiese being functions which fall beyond the

capa city of Sergio's moth er. Her character typifies Carm en L yra's

tre atm en t of the poo r an d unfortuna te. She is abov e ill will an d

presented as being morally a much better person than the wealthy

family she serves , with the exception of the children, as child ren are

innocent:

Can delaria servia con fidelidad y desintere s. Era de esas

criaturas que sirven sin rebajar su dignidad; su

obed iencia e ra inteligente, de la que enn oblece a qu ien la

prac tica. En do nd e ella estaba, se hacia luego

indispen sable; se imponia enseguida, sin hacerse sentir, y

m uy p ron to se convertia en el ama de la casa. Casi

siempre su corazon estuvo en un nivel superior al de sus

patro nes. (253)

Sergio's father is characterized as a rough, un m an ne red an d

un ca ring pers on . "La figura de Juan Pablo Esquivel era vulga rota y

poco a gra dab le, pero iba bien vestido y esto y las como didades que el

le ofrecia fueron suficientes para aquel cerebro de pajarillo que

jama s se detenia du rante dos segundos en el mismo asunto " (275).

Soon after the children are born, he acquires a small banana farm

ne ar the coast and sp ends most of his time there. Cinta discovers

tha t he has an othe r woman with whom he has children on th e

pla nta tion . As the time and c ulture dictate, she silentiy accepts the

situation without complaining and bears the hu rt. Jua n Pablo treats

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Sergio and his two sisters with the same indifference as he treats

Cinta. The auth or presen ts him as completely without ten de m ess .

His tre atm en t of Sergio is implicitiy emo tionally abu sive:

En su presencia, el animo de Sergio se encogia como las

hojas de la adormidera al sentirse rozadas por algiin

objeto extrafio. Siempre hab laba al chiquillo con u na

proteccion llena de lastima m altratadora . . . Algo asi

como esa sonrisa de condescendencia en los labios de un

pod eros o cu and o mete la mano en su bolsiQo en busca d e

la m on ed a de d arle golpecitos en la cabeza acom panad os

de un "pobre hijo mio " Y estas palabras caian en el

corazon del nino cual si fueran una limosna no imp lorada.

(277)

Much as Jacinta was replaced by Candelaria, Juan Pablo is also

replaced by a chosen father figure from the working class.

Sergio saw Miguel for the very first time when the latter was

rep airin g the roa d nea r Sergio's house. Miguel is a foreigner in Costa

Rica, "de apellido tan extraiio que nunca lo pudieron pro nu ncia r

correctamente estos amigos suyos para quienes tan querido fuera"

(257). Miguel sha res aspects of the same kind of lonely, tragic

dev elopm ent as Candelaria, in that he had once had a family from

which destiny separated him:

A veces se quedaba suspenso, silencioso y con los ojos

pue stos en los lefios que ard ian . Cuando volvia de su

ensimismamiento les decia que entre las llamas habia

vue lto a ver escenas muy lejanas: el era un n ino y en

torno de la gran chimenea de la cocina alia en su casa

paterna, estaban reunidas muchas gentes; su madre y sus

herm ana s m ayores, bordaba n; el y su herm anita a la que

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llama ban Sava, estaban sentados cerca de un pastor de su

padre, un muchacho hermoso y robusto que cantaba aires

del Tirol, acom panand ose con la citara. Sus herm ano s

lab rab an en m ade ra de pino los celebres juguetes de su

pais.

^Que ha br ia sido de su herm anita Sava tan linda y

tan alegre? . . . Mas adelante habia una epoca de su vida

que se perdia como una noche de muy larga duracion.

Pe regr ine m uch o. Un dia se encontro en Costa Rica y alii

estaba todavla.

iQue

ha br ia sido de los suyos? Si su

hermana Sava no habia muerto tenia que ser ya una

anc iana com o el. ^Que hab ria sido de la risa que an idab a

en su boca? Seguramente que habia volado huye ndo del

frio de la vejez. (268)

In

Strangers to Ourselves,

Kristeva explores the complex

archetype of the foreigner in literature, defining the foreigner as one

"who survives with a tearful face turned toward the lost homeland.

Melancholy lover of a vanished space, he cannot, in fact, get over his

having a ba nd on ed a period of time" (9). The reason for M iguel's

presence in Costa Rica is unknown, and his homeland Tirol is

pres en ted as m ysterious. Kristeva's arche type also comes from da rk

origins:

He has fled from that origin-family, blood, soil~and,

even though it keeps pestering, enriching, hinde ring,

exciting him, or giving him pain, and often all of it at

once, the foreigner is its courageous and melancholy

be tray er. His origin certainly haun ts him, for bette r a nd

for w orse, but it is indee d

elsewhere

tha t he has set his

hopes, that his struggles take place, that his life holds

together today. (29)

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Since Miguel is an immigrant, Kristeva's archetype insists that he be

a ha rd worke r. Not only must he be a labore r, but he also will work

at an y job which might be considered vulgar to the aristocracy . Even

more interesting is the fact that the foreigner will be able to invent

jobs that were not thought of, or perhaps necessary before:

But as far as the imm igrant is concerned , he has no t com e

he re jus t to waste his time away. Possessed with d riving

am bition, a pus her, o r merely crafty, h e takes on all jobs

an d tries to be tops in those that are scarcest. In those

that n obo dy w ants but also in those that nobod y has

thou ght o f . . . Since he has nothing, he can sacrifice

everything. (19)

The character of Miguel accords with Kristeva's portrait

throu gh h is interactions with others: "the foreigner's friends, aside

from bleeding hearts who feel obliged to do good, could only be those

wh o feel foreign to themselves" (23). Miguel is inde ed su rro un de d

by oth er "foreigners." Sergio is certainly foreign, separa ted from

society by his paralysis. Unlike others aroun d him, his wo rld is small

an d cloistered, marginalized, confined to a wheelchair. Candelaria is

also a foreigner as she is an Indian from Gu anacaste. She too has has

be en seve red from he r past. Like Miguel, Sergio an d his family will

face exile in their future.

Miguel is slowly enveloped by the family, first called and

befriended by Sergio, then accepted by the others. There he begins

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to fulfill th e role of fatiier, fixing tilings a ro un d the h ou se, ma king

useful utensils for Candelaria and inventing toys for the children

from scrap s an d un w ante d materials he finds durin g the day . Once

Sergio discovers th at Miguel has no ho m e, he a nd his sisters conv ince

the ir m o th er to allow Miguel to l ive with them .

Miguel enters the family almost as a bride enters marriage.

Permission is gra nte d him by Jacinta, and Cand elaria brings formality

to the ceremony as Miguel is led to his new bed:

Ya ve, yo e ra asi com o uste, un ser solo, pe ro u n d ia en tre

en esta casa y si ahora me sacaran me matarian, porque

aqui sembre el corazon que ha echado raices hasta entre

la tinaja d e la cocina. Vea, do n Miguel, yo me im ag ino

que el alma tiene como el cuerpo su sangre, que es el

modo de sent ir .

Y

pa que lo sepa, uno tiene su familia no

en los que cargan entre su cuerpo la mism a sangre, sino

en los que carg an en tre el alma los mismos sentim ientos.

(264)

Miguel's rep ly is simple: "Bueno, me que do . Y que Dios os pagu e"

(264). Ca nde laria reitera tes the idea of chosen family, as con ne cted

th ro ug h feelings an d soul, rat he r tha n established by bloo d. Miguel's

presence brings union to the family and peace to the household, and

together with Candelaria and the children, creates a temporary

family for Sergio, M erceditas an d Gracia. The who le ho us e res po nd s

to their union:

Entre las m an os d e Miguel y las de Can delaria, tod o

pro sp era ba y relum brab a de limpio. El jardin no volvio a

ten er m alas hierba s y los arboles frutales y las planta s de

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adomo producian maravillosamente desde que Miguel

pu sie ra e n ellos sus ded os sabios. Los conejos y las

palomas tuvieron casas mas comodas e higienicas. (264)

Sergio sees Miguel as wise. He adm ires him a nd loves him as

he has wa nted to adm ire an d love his own father. However, Miguel

is no t perfect. He is categorized as good an d nob le both for his status

within the hard-working poor, as well as for his tme love for Sergio

and his sisters. Yet Miguel disappears from time to time. His

absences remain without explanation, although it becomes known

that he has a serious drinking problem, as occasionally Miguel will

van ish on a drinking binge. Interestingly, as a foreigner, his

ch ara cter is judg ed o n a different scale from the other s. He is

forgiven for an y action o r flaw because he is no t from Costa Rica. His

wounds and scars may not be any more painful than those of

Candelaria, or other characters with whom he interacts, yet he is not

bound by the same strict code as they are.

While Candelaria and Miguel serve to bring stability to the

ho m e, they also provide Cinta with freedom from not on ly the tasks,

bu t also the emo tional responsibilities of m othe rhoo d. Sud denly

finding herself with time an d freedoms, C inta is seduced by a yo ung

engineer from Chile, named Rafael Valencia, and becomes pregnant.

During this time, Juan Pablo, her husband decides to sell his

plantation and return to San Jose. Unable to resolve her problem,

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Cinta m n s away from it, leaving with the C hilean for Peru,

abandoning her home and her children. Juan Pablo returns and

places Sergio's sisters, Gracia and Merceditas, in a boarding school,

and sends Sergio to live with his Uncle Jose and Aunt Concha.

All thr ee child ren feel totally miserable in the ir new lives.

Sergio finds Jose an d Concha cold and indifferent toward his

situation, accepting him in their home only for the extra money his

father will pay them . The sisters are equally unh ap py in th e

board ing school. Their only communication with Sergio is thro ug h

letters . Although they do not complain, their lonely situation, as

explained by Gracia, is very depressing:

Sergio, herm anito querido, ya estamos en vacaciones y

todas las compafieras se han marchado, pero como

nosotras no tenemos adonde ir, papa ha conseguido que

nos quedemos en el Colegio.. .Cada mafiana vamos a subir

a la azotea a verlas: no lo olvides y vos tamb ien p ara que

alii se jun ten nuestras m iradas. Y adivina lo que vimos?

La palm era alta del jardin de nues tra casa. La mo via el

viento e inclinaba hacia nosotros su cabeza como

llam ando no s. ^duien vivira ahora alii? (328)

Worse yet, Mercedes does not recover from the depression brought

on by the aba nd on m ent of their m other. Her letters to Sergio are

tragically brief and despairing. Her references to being c o ld -

"Hermanito de mi alma: Yo no te escribo tanto como Gracia, porque

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tengo mucho frio" (328)~foreshadow her sudden death from a high

fever.

Sergio's only comfort in the home of his aunt a nd uncle is the

presen ce of Ana Maria, an orp han adopted by his aunt in orde r to

ap pe ar ch aritable to represen tatives of the Catholic Church. Ana

M aria is treat ed w ith mu ch the same indifference as Sergio, yet she

ha s ne ve r known anything different. Sergio an d Ana Maria become

very close as they share so mu ch in common. Both have bee n

abandoned by their parents and both are merely tolerated as

outsiders in the house of Concha and Jose. Ana Maria takes Sergio

everywhere, dressing him in disguises, and they imagine themselves

as different. They often pass through the barrio becoming friends

with the poor workers.

Lyra does n ot allow her cha racters to develop far from a

limited nucleus of stereotypes: children are irmocent, manipulated

and mistreated; the poor are humble, loving and good; the wealthy

ar e powerful. Among the wea lthy, the re are two classifications: the

intelligent and cruel, such as Sergio's father and aunt; and the

unintelligent, such as Sergio's mother an d uncle. The u nintelligent

wealthy do inflict pain (such as the abandonment by Cinta), but the

narrator forgives them for their actions as being due to stupidity

rather than intended cruelty.

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Sergio ma intain s his relationship w itii Can delaria a nd Miguel

wh ile living with Concha. Can delaria finds work with an o th er family,

b u t com es to see Sergio on Sun days, he r day off. Miguel com es from

time to time to give Sergio a violin lesson, and often he passes

through the neighborhood with the pre tense of sharpening knives,

jus t to sit and visit with Sergio. On his visits he b rings cook ies a n d

sweets m ad e by Can delaria. He fully un de rst an ds Sergio's longing for

ho m e an d th e family he has lost. Sergio imagin es Miguel's feelings as

m uc h like his own: "Y yo vi en los ojos del viejo un a gr an tristeza.

Pense que Miguel queria ver el mar por donde podria volver a su

casa, alia do nd e vivia su herm anita Sava, la que cu an do p artiera , se

quedo diciendole adios desde una colina, con un panuelito bianco"

(317).

Sergio's imaginary, invented world with Ana Maria is not a

stable one, and soon Ana Maria is need ed to accom pany an d care for

Aunt Concha on an extended stay in Europe. Sergio's father, Juan

Pablo, remarries and agrees to take Sergio as well as Gracia into his

new home, but Sergio refuses and is sent to a boarding school in the

city of Cartago, where he is separated from Candelaria and Miguel by

th e dista nc e. In the few letters he receives from A na M aria, she

confesses that she has told others that she has a brother named

Sergio in Costa Rica.

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W hile at th e bo arding school Sergio is visited by his pa re nts .

The first visit is by his father. He does not bring Gracia, but ra the r,

his thr ee new son s, all of whom lack physical pro blem s. The olde st is

na m ed for his father, Juan Pablo, who brings the th ree boys to offer

pres en ts to Sergio. However, the real mo tive is m ore likely to show

Sergio his o ther "tru e" sons, illustrating how a real son should be.

The im plicit com parison is cruel. Yet Sergio is seemingly un hu rt by

the visit. They leave and Sergio resum es playing the violin,

indifferent to their departure.

The se cond visit, however, almost destroy s Sergio. Symbolic of

tre m en do us chan ges to occur, it is New Year's Day. Before the arrival

of Cinta, a strange happ iness foreshadows the even t: "Dia de an o

nu ev o. ~ Mis compafieros juegan en el patio y sus gritos se

confunden con el murmullo del viento. Cae una ganjia finisima

irisada por los rayos del sol. Estoy alegre sin saber por que" (357).

Cinta's visit comes without warning. Unlike the cold indifference

Sergio feels when his father comes to visit, the arrival of his mother

pulls him back into the reality of home and family: "Por un m om ento

pierdo la nocion d e las cosas . . . Se borra la luz en las ventan as . . . Al

volver en mi tengo apoyada la cabeza en el pecho de mama" (358).

Cinta arrives with two children from her new marriage to the

Peru vian e ngin eer. Like Sergio's father, she also has had thr ee new

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ch ild ren , replacin g Sergio, Gracia an d M ercedes. Sergio is

immediately drawn to these three, unlike the children of his father.

He cries w he n h e sees that th e l i tt ie girl looks ve ry m uc h like

M erced es. However, his conv ersation with his m oth er reveals an

ugly reality to Sergio. Although she affirms, "He vuelto a Costa Rica

porque no podia mas [sic] Ay Sergio, vivo con el pe ns am ie nt o

pa rtid o e n do s, un a m itad con ustedes, la otra con ellos" (359-360 ),

Sergio sees her for the first time with eyes of an adult:

jAy jotros hijos y otro s intereses A rato s ha bl ab a con

seriedad y tristeza; por sus ojos y su boca pasaba un

soplo,

y yo creia que la pena iba a apagarlos, pero

enseguida la l lama se reanimaba; entonces me parecia ver

su alma, una alma en la cual no habia el recuerdo de su

hijita m ue rta , ni el de G racia, ni el de Sergio qu e iba p or la

vida en una s i l la de ruedas. . . . mama agi ta su mano

enguantada en serial de despedida.

Un nudo me aprieta la garganta y siento que va a

estallar mi llanto.

-Mama, levanta e l ve lo para ver te ~le pido.

Lo hace, y que to nto soy, me m altrata m irar su

rostro i luminado como siempre y no ensombrecido por la

p en a. ^No h ab ra en su interio r un dolor parec ido al mio?

(361)

Cinta informs him that she no longer lives in Peni, but rather,

in Colom bia. For m an y years Sergio has tho ug ht of Pen i as some

place magical, pe rha ps safe, such as their former h om e. His mo the r

ha s bee n living there. In school he learned of the great d istance

betw een Costa Rica an d Peni an d tr ied to imagine this cou ntry an d

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con side r it a safe have n for his m othe r. However, just as he realizes

that his mother has not longed for him as he thought, he realizes that

she has no t bee n living in Peru, either. Everything abou t his m oth er

ha s bee n false. Mem ory of the past has deceived him. His re ah ty is

now different, an d h e protects himself from this ugly pas t by

replacing his m othe r with Candelaria, summ oning up the mem ories

of his "Mama Canducha" alongside Miguel. He relives his childhood

within th e confines of the boarding school and completely re places

Cinta with Candelaria . Although Cinta has informed him tha t she will

be in Cartago for fifteen days and will return every day, luckily,

Sergio never sees her again.

Soon after the visit from Cinta, Ana Maria re tu rn s to Costa Rica

with Concha an d Jose. As Sergio has grown into an ad ult, so has Ana

Maria. He re tu rn s to live in the house of Concha and Jose, feeling

disillusioned by the appe arance of Ana Maria. He ha d expected to

find the littie girl tha t he missed so much, bu t instead has

encountered a young lady, well traveled in Europe and fluent in

French.

. Ana Maria ha s always considered Sergio as he r bro the r. In a

lette r from Europe, she defines their relationsh ip as such . Sergio

ne ve r comm ents on this definition. However, when she re tur ns , she

is in love with a Costa Rican who had been studying in Europe as

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well. Sergio feels very distant from Ana Maria. Although she treats

him as she did before, he suddenly realizes that he has nev er

cons idered he r as a sister:

iQue ton to era Como no podia confiar a nad ie este

sen tim iento extrafio e inefable, lo confio a su violin y fue

entonces cuand o escribiera por prim era vez las arm onias

escuchadas en su interior, su primera

"romanza sin

palabras'\

un trozo de mtisica de esos que solo

coimiueven a la gente joven y romantica y que hacen

estirar los labios despectivamente a los mtisicos viejos de

gusto depurado. (366)

Sergio does not have to confront his emotions at this time, however.

W ithin a few m onth s, Ana Maria gives birth to a child an d the father

disa ppe ars. Concha considers forcing the man to m arry Ana Maria,

un til she discovers th at he is from a distinguished family. Ana Maria

would not be allowed to marry simply because, as an orphan, she

cannot be sure who her parents were, or from what social level they

cam e. Much like Carmen Lyra's own m other. Ana Maria must raise

her child alone.

Ana M aria leaves the house of Concha and Jose, an d Sergio is

sent to an asylum for the incurably ill, where M ama Ca nducha

accom panies him . In the asylum, Sergio finds himself su rro un de d by

ver y sad situations . His own infirmity seems slight wh en com pare d

to the other s. His accomm odations are pleasant, and C andelaria is

th er e with him, but he still is incred ibly lonely for Ana Maria. He

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retreats into his violin, spending hours each day working on music.

His co rres po nd en ce with Ana Maria continues as before, thr ou gh

le tte rs. Th is tim e, how ever, it is Sergio wh o affirms the ir

relationship by referring to her as "hermana mla" and to her son, also

named Sergio, as "mi sobrino."

Sergio's music becomes known throughout the asylum, and one

da y is ov erh ea rd by a well-known visiting comp oser from England,

n am ed Clovis Shirley, a foreigner, who is dra w n to Sergio as was

M iguel. Unlike Miguel how ever, Shirley is a ve ry wealth y v isitor,

an d well-known mus ician, merely passing thro ug h Costa Rica. He ha s

never heard anyone play the violin with as much passion as Sergio,

as music had become Sergio's principal interaction with the world:

Por sobre la musica el corazon de Sergio podia corretear

con la alegria de un niiio sano sobre un campo en

pr imavera . Y no solamen te correte ar, sino volar. De ntro

de su cuerpo, condenado al recogimiento, su corazon

estuvo en cerr ado como entre un capullo, hasta el dia e n

que la armonia de los sonidos vino a ponerle alas. Las

nota s negras sem bradas en los pentagram as, fueron pa ra

su espiritu como unos guijarros q ue indicaban la sen da

qu e cond ucia hacia un palacio enc anta do . (275)

Shirley arra ng es for Sergio to play in the National Th eater . Once his

music is he ar d b y others, suddenly the forgotten outcast of society

becom es truly appre ciated . Shirley also gives Sergio eno ug h m on ey

to continue his study in his own home, surrounded by Candelaria,

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M iguel, Gracia an d Ana M aria. Finding them selves in a stable

situation . Ana Maria an d G racia open a dressma ker 's sh op, and Sergio

gives violin lessons. Good fortune continues and they are able to

pu rch ase their family ho m e where they lived as chi ldren.

Not long after they are all reunited, they receive a letter from

Cinta, along with a ph oto grap h of her with her thre e children. Her

letter , tender and kind, informs them that she now lives in

Arg entina. She ap pe ars to be very wealthy. Sergio, thril led to

receive w ord from her , kisses the pho togra ph, while Gracia, who has

never seen her mother since she abandoned them as children, is

ov erw he lm ed . She cries silentiy an d asks Sergio if pe rh ap s th eir

mother loves the other children more than them.

After six years of great unhappiness, Gracia slowly returns to

normal, marries one of Sergio's friends, and continues living in the

sam e hom e. Ana Maria also retu rns to he r former self. Being very

attractive she has suitors, something not permitted earlier in her l ife

because of her social status. However, she rejects her suitors when

th ey sp eak of m arria ge . Explaining to Sergio she says:

-N u n c a te ab an do na re, Sergio, nu nca . Con tu carifio y el

de mi hijo se llena mi corazon. Y ya ves, todavia me

q u ed an los de Miguel y Can delaria. Si Dios no s d eja,

l legaremo s a viejos, yo pastorea nd ote y vos d ejan do te

pa stor ear, ^No te parec e un porv enir ag radable?

Despues mi hijo se casara y nos dara n ie to s . . . iQue

viejillos mas buenos seremos?

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Yo repUco: -N o , Ana Maria, sos muy joven y el

am or puede volver a buscarte y . . .

Me m ira intensam ente y veo en sus ojos ima

revelacion que me deslumbra. No me deja term inar.

-S i , el am or ha vuelto, Sergio . . . me parece el

primero . . . pero no hablemos de eso . . . (425)

Sergio and Ana Maria have been raised as brother and sister.

Although not brother and sister by blood, they also have

acknowledged the relationship as such, referring to one another as

br ot he r an d sister. The suggestion that they now assume the roles of

father an d m othe r, m an a nd wife hints of incest, and is left as only a

suggestion by C armen Lyra.

Sergio sleeps after this revela tion. The nove l en ds with his

dre am , in which Ana Maria is old, and her son is an a dult. Together

the y lift a child into the air. Next to them, Sergio is a tree w ith a

ve ry s trong trunk , an d legs which have become thick, strong, black

roots in the grou nd. In his dream , Sergio has become the s upp ort

and the strength of the family he has chosen, a sharp contrast to the

fragile childhood Sergio.

W ithin the nove l, four separa te time periods exist. Th e first

encom passes Sergio's early childhood. Sergio's mem ories differ from

the narrator's analysis of the situation, and in them he lives in a

perfect w orld, sur rou nd ed by a caring family. He does not pity

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himself as tiie narr ato r does, no r does he interpre t his father's

abse nce as aba ndo nm ent. In his world things are simple an d

inn oc en t. As this time of innocence begins to disintegrate, Sergio

unkn ow ingly begins to establish his second family.

During the second time period, Sergio lives with his aun t an d

imcle, and loses his sisters, one to distance and one to d eath .

However, he g ains anoth er sister. Ana Maria, together with som e

unp leas ant pa ren t figures: Concha and Jose. The second time period

also ends ab m pti y as Concha, Jose and Ana Maria aban do n Sergio for

three years while they travel through Europe. Although they try to

reestablish their former situation upon retuming, it does not function

as pla nn ed an d Sergio is sent away to an asylum.

The third time period is set in Cartago, with Sergio in the

asylum, atte nd ed by Candelaria, experiencing a type of limbo,

isola ted from the family un it, yet still m anip ulate d by it. Both visits

by his father and mother constitute reenactments of the original

abandonment, perhaps more painful still due to the fact that they

both bring new children who have replaced Sergio, Mercedes and

Gracia.

In the fourth time period, Sergio, now a young m an in his

twenties, and his chosen family are miraculously reunited thanks to

the ch ance visit of Clovis Shirley and Sergio's violin. Their re tu rn to

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the family home is symbolic as the return to a happier time, a more

inn oc ent tim e. In this final period, Sergio has once again moth er and

father figures in Miguel and Candelaria, his sister in Gracia, and an

undefined relationship with Ana Maria, changing from that of sister

to that of companion.

As time periods oscillate between positive and negative

cond itions, both c haracters a nd space are also defined in black an d

white terms within

En

una silla de ruedas. Positive cha rac ters are

not necessarily perfect, but rather, characters whose flaws, if notable,

are redeemed through suffering or overlooked because of their good

inte ntio ns. Negative charac ters are no t necessarily criminals, yet

the y tend to be selfish, egotistical an d neglectful. Children a re all

characterized as good, as are foreigners, excepting Rafael, the

eng ineer, w ho is neith er good or bad. He takes Cinta away, yet she is

responsible for her decision to leave.

Lyra presents within her novel obvious social dualism; wealthy

Costa Ricans are prese nted as bad, as evidenced by Juan Pablo,

Concha an d Jose, while the poor are uniformly ha rd workers,

innoce nt an d honest. There are no gray characters, with the

exception of Cinta, who may b e marginally or un intentionally bad,

but is loved unconditionally as the biological, original and

irreplaceable "mother" by her children.

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Space is also defined as good or bad within the nove l. Rojas

and Ovares consider space as directiy related to the condition of the

family: "La positividad/negatividad de los distintos espacios y la

oposicion

aqui/alia

esta ma rcada fundamentalmente por la

reunion/separacion

de la familia" (Rojas et al. 170). How ever, space

seems at times to acquire its own characteristics, regardless of the

family situ ation . The family hom e is positive space, full of gardens

with fruit trees , doves and r abb its. Inside, it is full of w arm th an d

love. W hen Sergio leaves his hom e to go live with his uncle an d

aunt, he envisions the house reacting to his departure:

Ya en la calle vuelvo los ojos pa ra m irar mi casa. AUi

qu ed a con sus grandes corred ores, que las flores rojas,

rosa das y blancas de los jardines ponen tan alegre. Tiene

las ventanas cerradas, como para no vemos salir, y sobre

el tejado las palomas alineadas esponjan al sol su plumaje.

. . . De la chimenea sale un jironcillo de hum o que ondu la

bajo el azul del cielo; yo imagino que es el pafiuelo con

que mama Canducha nos dice adios. (292)

The h om e of Concha and Jose possesses a very different perso nality

an d exu des an air which is completely opposite. Su rrou nde d by a

disagree able n eighbo rhoo d and isolated from the city, it stands close

to a noisy road which run s between San Jose an d G uadalupe. The

house itself is cold and uninviting:

El caseron es antiguo, de gmesas paredes, con ventanas

volad as [sic] y provistas de rejas de h ierro . A la en trada

ha y dos naranjos y sobre el tejado crecen hierb as. Las

hab itaciones son vastas y frias, con el pavimen to de

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ladrillos que mi tia hace encerar a men udo, y que a

pr im era vista se creer ian mojados. Los muebles son

pes ado s y gran dote s. La sala tiene un aspecto liigubre

con sus sillones y sofa forrados en tela oscura, en las

par ede s retra tos de abuelos de cara de pocos amigos y

dentro de un fenal una dolorosa enlutada y triste con el

coraz on atravesad o por pufiales. (294)

By con trast, althou gh the asylum is described as a positive

place, w ith its beautiful garde ns an d com fortable ro om s, within it

live a sad collection of misfits and social outcas ts, as well as e lderly

peo ple who have bee n discarded by their families. In accord with

Lyra's strict adherence to stereotypes, the people consigned to the

asylum are kind and good, undeserving of their abandonment.

Description within Lyra's novel differs from narrator to

na rra tor . The narra tion develops through several different narra tive

voices . The flrst, a third person, om niscient voice, tells of Sergio's

past, supporting the story with quoted speech:

El ancian o medico q ue lo vio nacer exclamo alegrem ente

cua ndo Sergio llego a este mundo , al mirarlo tan bien

confo rmado: -jBienvenido, mu chacho Se ve que

Nuestro Sefior estaba de buen hum or cu ando te hizo.

Aqui tenemos a uno a quien nos m andan bien arm ado

pa ra ir po r este valle de lagrimas. (238)

This reaction prove s cruelly ironic when the boy's illness conflnes

him for life to a wheelchair. The narra tor continues, interjecting

pres ent-ten se qu oted speech in the past-tense description. In

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addition to dialogue, the narrative also incorporates monologues in

the form of folk stories told by Cand elaria. About fifty pages into the

narrative, suddenly this established format ends and the narrator

turns the story over to Sergio:

Ha pasa do en tiempo . . . [sic]

-jCuantos afios han transcurrido desde aquellos dias -se

dice Sergio a si m ism o-a brien do su mem oria frente a un a

ve nta na llena de luz o en la oscuridad de la noche cuan do

esta solo y todos duermen:

Nada de lo pasado se ha perd ido. Recorro estos

recuerdos, como si recorriera una galeria de cuadros

pintad os po r si [sic] m is m o ... Me detengo como si yo no

fuera Sergio, ante cada uno de los Sergios sentados en su

silla de rued as . Es un a larga fila. Comienza una mafiana

en qu e el techo que cubria mi vida se de rru m bo , y la fila

se pierde en lo desconocido. (280-281)

Sergio's na rra tion continues shifting from one time perio d to ano ther,

blending and confusing various time planes. The majority of the

time he des cribe s th e past. Yet, occasionally he will switch to a

present tense narrative, suggesting the voice of the juvenile diarist:

"Mis herm anitas vienen a verme dos veces al m e s . . . Ahora voy a la

escuela. Antes no iba porque en casa mam a y Gracia me ensefiaban

letras y niim ero s" (325 ). Before Sergio can establish a firm time

plane, his narrative falls back into the past to foresee something that

will ha pp en in the future of his story: "Durante los afios que de nifio

pa sar a y o en la casona de San Francisco, en los primeros dias de cada

vera no, Ana Maria no dejaba quieta mi silla de ru e d a s .. ." (332).

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Once Ana M aria and Sergio are sep arated, Sergio's na rra tive

introdu ces letters from Ana Maria, whose voice is there by ad de d to

th at of the prota gon ist-nar rator. The text also contains da ted

sub tities ind icating that what follows comes from Sergio's dia ry . The

dia ry e ntries , being in pres ent tense, differ from Sergio's

retrospective narrative (outside of the diary) being more descriptive

of Sergio's feelings, ra th er than events. After his first diary en try,

the na rrativ e voice of the initial, third-person na rra tor retu rns .

From this point onward in the novel, several narrative voices

(omniscient third-person narrator, Sergio, Sergio's diary entries,

letters from Ana Maria and Sergio's sisters, letters from Jacinta)

alternate from one paragraph to the next, often separated by

supp orting dialogue. The novel ends with dialogue between Sergio

an d Ana M aria, enveloped by the omniscient voice.

Luz Ivette Martinez notes these sudden shifts in narrative

voice in her analysis of En una silla de ruedas. In add ition, she

comments on Lyra's interesting use of different verbal forms to

m anip ulate time w ithin the novel:

Esas formas v erbales tradicionales, junto al em pleo

del presente de indicativo, adquieren mayor significacion

cu and o Carmen Lyra las maneja en otra dimen sion. Es

evidente que en la novela no importa el tiempo

mensurable objetivamente, sino el tiempo vital, el tiempo

vivido por los personajes de la narra cion. Asi, adq uiere

rasgos de modemidad, pues se da ese reencuentro

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subjetivo con el tiempo pasad o que se intenta recu per ar

en un sentido proustiano. (44)

En una silla de ruedas

certainly typifies early Twentieth-C entury

litera ture in Costa Rica; however, it also contains man y m o de m traits,

especially Lyra's use of multi-voiced, or polypho nic na rra tive .

Most critics consider the novel to be Carmen Lyra's best work,

although it was never as popular as Cuen tos de mi tia Panchita, and

was not as widely read as were her political essays until much later

in the Twentieth Century.

Later Publications (1920-1949)

In 1919, together with other writers and teachers, Lyra helped

lead a large demonstration through downtown San Jose. The protest

resulted in burning the offices of the official newspaper. La

Informacion, and Alfonso Chase notes that:

Carmen Lyra tuvo una destacada p articipacion, como

oradora y conspiradora. AUi afirmo sus convicciones

politicas y tambien sus primeras intervenciones como

oradora de plaza ptibUca, como luchadora contra la

injusticia, la dictadura, el sistema imperante. (14)

One year later the Tinoco dictatorship feU and Julio Acosta was

app oin ted p resid ent. Wanting to restru cture the Costa Rican school

system, Acosta sent Carmen Lyra to Europe to study pedagogy in

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1920.

Th at same yea r she pubUshed her most famous work,

Cuentos de mi Tia Panch ita, a series of tales drawn from the oral

traditions found throughout the Americas. UtiUzing storylines and

ch ara cter s resembUng Uncle Remus from North America, and tio

Conejo from South America, Lyra rew rites well-known folk tales

with a distinctiy Costa Rican fiavor, adding new twists and turns to

old stories from oral trad itions, using idioms com mon to Costa Rica as

weU as a rich vocabulary of costarricanismos, and of course, the

voseo form of address:

Habia una vez un hombre muy torcido, muy torcido.

Parecia que el tuerce lo habia cogido de mingo. Como era

mas torcido que un cacho de venado, le pusieron el apodo

de Cacho de Venado y asi todo el m und o le Uamaba Juan,

Cacho e' Venao [sic] . . . Creyendo hacer u na gracia, se

caso, pe ro la paloma le salio un sapo, porq ue la mujer

tenia u n h um or q ue solo el santo Job la podia agu antar.

(37)

Lyra's stories abo un d in hum or an d wit. Through h er use of

costarricanismos and common idioms she takes universal folk tales

an d m akes them become local stories as well. In one story, Lyra

employs a version of the African literary form of the dUemma tale,

or judg m en t tale, hi he r story "Como tio Conejo les jugo sucio a tia

Ballena y a tio Elefante." Unlike its traditional African co un terp art

which uses a Tortoise for a trickster, Lyra uses Uncle Rabbit (tio

Conejo), a chara cter found in the mdigenous traditions of the

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Am erican contine nt. When tio Conejo hears th at tia Ballena an d tio

Elefante have decide to join forces and rule the earth, he rejects their

pla n a nd dec ides to mak e it backfire. Finding tia BaUena, tio Conejo

tricks he r in to helping him o ut of a difficult situation:

-T ia Ballena de Dios. jQue tiempo me la encu entro

jViera qu e cab allada me ha pasado ^Pues no se me

metio la unica vaquita que tengo entre un barrial como a

m edia legua de a q u i? .. . El caso es que aUi me la tiene en

ese atoUadero y como es tan poquita, esta Uora y Uora con

el bar ro h as ta el pescuezo . Por vida suyita Tia BaUena,

saquem e d e este apuro, uste que es el mas fuerte de

todos los animales y ademas tan nob le. (148)

A simUar s tory is told to tio Elefante. Each wishes to claim the titie of

the strongest animal on the earth, so they agree to help tio Conejo.

During their tug-of-war they discover each other on o ppos ite ends of

the ro pe . UrUike the dilemma tale in which the character s recognize

their trickster as a strong adversary and anticipate a decision

concerning who is the smartest or the best from the audience, they

do not recognize tio Conejo as the trickster. WhUe in the traditio nal

story Tortoise, Hippopotamus and Elephant must agree that all are

equ al, in Lyra's tale the trickster is definitely the sm arter of the

th re e. Not only do tia Ballena and tio Elefante fail to figure out who

is be hind the trick, the y con tinue their senseless tug-of-war, still

trying to prove who is the strongest.

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Ten tales in Cuentos de mi tia Panchita con cern or featu re tio

Con ejo. AU ten revolve aro un d tio Conejo's attem pts to ou tsm art

ot he rs. Often he himself becomes the victim of the pra nk . The

th ir te en rem ainin g stories in the collection presen t different

ch ara cter s. Often grotesque and fr ightening, bu t always funny, they

provide Costa Rican versions of widely known fables and fairy tales.

Ca rm en Lyra's coUection of folk tales was strong ly influen ced

by two factors. As a kin derg arten teacher, she used folk stories a nd

children's stories very much as part of her routine in the classroom.

How ever, she was also greatiy influenced by socialist conc epts of

folklore belonging to the working class. Evident in her stories are the

idioms, vocabulary and language usage common to the uneducated

Costa Rican worker that Lyra celebrates, whether it be in her

dialogue within folk tales, her archetype of the noble worker (En

una silla de ruedas), or figures dep icte d w ithin h er poUtical essa ys.

Upon rettorning to Costa Rica after European pedagogical

studies, Lyra founded the country's f irst kindergarten, in the

M ontesso ri trad ition . She also con tinue d writing, greatiy influenced

by new Russian authors emerging from the Bolshevik Revolution

(Chase 146 ). Her poUtical phUosophies provid ed th e focus of works

such as "El ba rrio Cothnejo-Fishy" (1923), an d "Bananos y ho m br es "

(1931).

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"El ba rri o C othnejo-Fishy" is a political satire describ ing a

ba rrio of we althy Costa Ricans, who ar e praised an d glorified for

the ir ma nipu lation and exploitation of others. OriginaUy "Conejo," the

famUy of Jose Manuel Conejo change their n am e to "C othnejo" to

cre ate a Euro pean m ystique. At the beginning of this essay,

originally pubUshed in the national periodical. La Careta, Lyra

explains that Jose Manuel Uved by ruthless greed, yet was admired

and considered an upstanding citizen:

A

mu chas pe rsonas arruino , mutilo y mato su ansia d e

acumular dinero bajo sus manos. Pero cosa extrafia:

cuan do m as estrujaba y maltrataba al projimo, may or era

su prestigio entre las gentes que ponen y quitan

gobiem os y m ayor el ntimero de consideraciones d e que

lo rod eab a lo que Uaman la buen a sociedad. (259)

Lyra's critical attitude toward the Costa Rican society of the

early 1900s becomes less tolerant th an before, as seen in E n una

silla de ruedas.

Now, instead of alluding to the wealthy elite as

mean, cruel and spiteful by placing them in an environment which

suggests "cold, dark, dam p an d uncomfortable," h er analysis is more

stark, scientific and unfeeUng:

Como el entomologo armado de lentes, pinzas,

frascos con cianuro y yeso o con alcohol, etc., se va a cazar

insectos y a o bservarlos, asi nosotros vam os al B arrio

Cothnejo-Fishy a examinar la forma y los hechos de las

gentes distinguidas de un centro aristocratico ubicado en

Costa Rica, un paisecito de Centro America de medio

miUon de habitantes que tiene mucho de Tarascin. Y los

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