Juan José Arreola

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Juan José Arreola Zúñiga (born September 21, 1918 in Ciudad Guzmán , Jalisco , Mexico ; † December 3, 2001 in Guadalajara , Jalisco, Mexico) was a Mexican writer who became famous primarily for his work Confabulario . This motley collection of different prose pieces with a consistently ironic-satirical trait appeared for the first time in 1952, but was subsequently revised several times. The final version has been available since 1986 under the title Confabulario definitivo .

Life

From the age of eleven, Juan José Arreola had to pay for his own living. He worked in a wide variety of professions, including as a flying trader, bank teller, baker and actor under Rodolfo Usigli and Xavier Villaurrutia . From 1937 he studied at the Escuela Teatral de Bellas Artes in Mexico City . He published his first work ( Sueño de Navidad ) in 1941.

In 1945 Arreola was granted a scholarship to study in Europe. He traveled to Paris and took acting lessons from Jean-Louis Barrault and Pierre Renoir . With their support he got some small roles (extra) at the Comédie-Française . It was through the theater that Arreola made the acquaintance of the Argentine writer Luisa Valenzuela . In 1946 he returned and was subsequently employed by the Fondo de Cultura Económica until 1949 .

Professor of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México since 1964 , Arreola was involved in the founding of Los Presentes , a series of books that represented an important forum for modern Mexican literature.

reception

Despite his relatively narrow body of work, Arreola is a fixed point in the Mexican / Latin American literature of the 20th century. Together with Juan Rulfo and Agustín Yañez, he is one of the three great storytellers in his state of Jalisco . Surreal situations often develop in his texts, some of which are regional, and some are also cosmopolitan. In Mexico, the author became known to a wide audience as a literary commentator, especially on television. His services as a sponsor of young talent should not be underestimated.

Anyone who achieved literary success in Mexico in the 1950s or 1960s came into contact with Arreola in some form, be it Elena Poniatowska , Carlos Fuentes , José Agustín or José Emilio Pacheco . Arreola's texts have remained significant over the decades. In addition to short stories, plays and essays, they also include a novel, La feria , 1963 (German: the fair ).

Works (selection)

  • Varia invención , 1949
  • Confabulario total , 1962
  • La hora de todos , 1954
  • Bestiario . 1959
  • La feria . Roman, 1963
    • German: The fair . Translated by: Georg Oswald, Ill. Vicente Rojo. Septime, Vienna 2010 ISBN 978-3-902711-01-4

honors and awards

  • 1963: Xavier Villarrutia Prize
  • 1979: National Prize for Literature
  • 1992: Juan Rulfo Prize for Latin American and Caribbean Literature
  • 1997: Alfonso Reyes Prize
  • 1998: Ramón Lopez Velarde Prize

literature

Web links

notes

  1. ^ Texts revised several times by the author, most recently Confabulario definitivo , 1986
personal data
SURNAME Arreola, Juan José
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Arreola Zúñiga, Juan José (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Mexican writer
DATE OF BIRTH September 21, 1918
PLACE OF BIRTH Ciudad Guzmán , Jalisco , Mexico
DATE OF DEATH December 3, 2001
Place of death Guadalajara , Jalisco , Mexico