Phrase of Edurme Portela
Despite her relatively short career as a novelist, Edurne Portela has managed to carve out a name for herself among the most notorious writers of 2017st-century Spanish fiction. Since XNUMX, the Iberian historian, philologist and university professor has published four novels, among which, Eyes closed (2021) —Euskadi Prize for Literature 2022— is the most recent.
This story takes place in Pueblo Chico, defined by the author as a place “that could have any name”. There, the dialogues and thoughts of its inhabitants reveal a collective trauma from the past whose consequences affect the present. Consequently, the novel delves into a very important topic for Portela throughout her professional career: violence.
Analysis and synopsis of Closed Eyes
Creative process
Despite the choice of a frequent theme in Edurne Portela —violence—, the construction of the history presents/displays several evident differences in comparison with its predecessor novels. To begin with, the writer distanced herself from her own experiences to the detriment of a discourse formed by the voices of different characters.
So, each member of the story has their own perspective that immerses the reader in several particular worldviews. On some occasions, these “individual worlds” show the memory of a father; in others there is room for nostalgia and love. However, Throughout development there are two silent and overwhelming sensations: fear and helplessness.
Argument
In this novel, the author unmitigatedly exposes the problem of a collective memory that is very difficult to manage: violence. It is a terrifying context in which the injustices were not propitiated by a single faction or group. Moreover, all the members of the narrative —to a greater or lesser extent— were perpetrators of infamy or ended up tainted by immorality.
For this reason, guilt left an omnipresent imprint on all the characters, since not even the forgiveness of the victims served as a vehicle towards acquittal. Such a pathetic picture was made worse when it involved the many people who had disappeared without a trace. In addition, occasionally, the impoverished and desperately oppressed assumed the role (of necessity) of victimizers.
the place of events
Pueblo Chico is an enclave of unknown location where most of its inhabitants have died or left. Although, that place without a precise seat undoubtedly represents some rural area devastated by the Spanish Civil War. In fact, the village only has a handful of elders and a recently arrived couple with the intention of staying to live off the crops.
In consecuense, silence is the perennial tonic there; the sporadic noise is caused by the horns of vendors coming from Pueblo Grande. Among all the residents, Pedro —a grieving and crippled old man— is the faithful reflection of the soul of a town torn apart by violence.
The narrator and the protagonists
The events are revealed in three times by an omniscient narrator with a variable tone. Sometimes the narrator tells the facts with a palpable emotion, but in other passages he coldly describes the events without showing an iota of implication. However, when the action focuses on Pedro the narration passes to the first person and is immersed in the pain of the protagonist.
The figure of the character main transmits a stabbing pain, deep and obvious in the scars of a latent past in the present. It's more, his isolation has been so long that as a child he only spoke to grazing animals. Likewise, the apparently hidden remorse is still perceptible in the gaze of the marginalized, linked to each other through loneliness.
Other important characters
Ariadna
Day after day, this young woman feels more comfortable with daily life in the mountains due to sunrises, sunsets and a quiet lifestyle. Additionally, as she works from home, she quickly adapted to the customs of the village. The passage of time will reveal to her that her bond with Pueblo Chico is much stronger than initially imagined.
Eloy
He is the husband of Ariadne, a man with a predilection for challenges. Country work has visibly improved his physical condition, so rural life has come in quite handy. Nevertheless, At times, he misses the city.
Some of the complementary characters
- Lola: mother of little Pedro and wife of handsome Miguel. She is a woman with a fear of boot stomps due to bad memories emulated by that sound.
- Theresa: She is a lady with some secrets kept. Their children are the young Federico and the infant José. The latter watches over the goats together with little Pedro.
- Frederick: was forced to be caccomplice of the military in search of the escaped men of the town.
About the author, Miren Edurne Portela Camino
Edurme Portela
Look Edurne Portela Camino was born in Santurce, Vizcaya, Spain, in 1974. His first university degree was a BA in History from the University of Navarra (1997). Next, he continued his academic training in the United States, first with a master's degree in Hispanic Literatures; then with a doctorate in Spanish and Latin American Literature.
Both postgraduate degrees were obtained at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Later, The historian worked as a teacher between 2003 and 2016 at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. In this house of studies she was also a researcher and held various administrative positions at the Humanities Center of the College of Arts and Sciences.
From scientific publications to essay
In 2010, Portela became co-founder of the International Association of Spanish Literature and Cinema XXI Century. In that entity, she served as vice president —between 2010 and 2016— and was part of the editorial committee of its magazine. Additionally, during her stay on American soil, she published six scientific articles, almost all of them focused on the different variants of violence.
That same theme constitutes the core of the two essays by the writer from Santurza, Displaced Memories: The Poetics of Trauma in Argentine Women Writers (2009) and The echo of the shots: culture and memory of violence (2016) In 2016, the Hispanic writer ended her professional career in North America and returned to his native country to focus entirely on writing.
Novels
Since her return to Spain, Portela has become a regular contributor to various newspapers, magazines and digital media. Among them: The tide, El País, The Courier, RNE and Cadena SER. Meanwhile, the Biscayan writer published her first novel, best absence, recognized with the award Best Fiction Book by the Guild of Bookshops of Madrid.
List of novels by Edurne Portela
- best absence (2017);
- Ways to be away (2019);
- Quiet: Stories to go alone at night (2019). Feminist novel that compiles fourteen stories written by 14 Spanish authors;
- Eyes closed (2021)