Theparishpriesthadhisfirstsuspicionofanimpostorwhen
be
sawthat
he
[theoldman]didnotunderstandthelanguageofGod
or
knowhow
to
greethismmisters.
Then
he
nOticedthatseencloseup
he
wasmuch
tOO
human:
he
hadanunbearable
Supplementsalsoplaynn
important
rolein
Garda
Marquez.'s
tale
about"A
Very
Old
Man
with
Enormous
Wings;'
whichis.as
we
shallsee,
partof
theliterary
c::anon
generated
by
the
tropeof
£lying.
This
Story
differsfromRodriguez.Frcy!c's
and
Carpentier'sversionsin
that
itscurious
protagonist,
if
hecan
be
calledthatatall.
is
notblack.
In
fact,there
is
agreatdeal
of
confusionaboutwhoorwhatthisstrangewingedcreatureactuallyis:"Thelightwas
so
weakatnoonthatwhenPelayowascomingback
to
thehouseafter
thrOWing
awaythecrabs.
it
washardforhim
to
see
what
it'
was
that
was
m ~ v i n g
andgroaninginthe
rear
of
the
courtyard.He
had
togetvery
dose
tosce
that
it
wasanoldman.
averyoldman.
lyingfacedowninthemud.who.in
spitl::
of
histremendousefforts,couldn'tget
up,
impeded
by
hisenormous
w;ings."
While
thehugebuzzardwingsofthis
" d r e n c h e ~ d
great-grandfather:'now"foreverentangledin
the
mud,"substantiallyimpedehisownphysicalmovements,theyseem
to
haveexactiytheoppositeeffectontheinhabitantsofthisunidentifiedtown.which
is
anotherversion
of
Macondo-but
withadifference.Ma
c o n d o ~
as
weknowfrom
OneHundred
Years
0/
Solitude,
is
locatedin
the
mterior
of
Colombia,whereasthetownweencounterinthisstory
is
clearlysituatedontheCaribbeancoast.This
is
notonlyevidentfromtheverybeginning
of
thetext.where
we
hearaboutPelayothrowingthedeadcrabsintothesea;
Garda
Marquez
is
carefulthroughoutthestory
to
remindhisreaders
of
thatspecificlocation.Unfortunately,thesemoreor
less
subtlereminders-referencestoMartinique.theCaribbean.andJa
maica-have
been,forsomereason,eitherchanged
or
completelyremovedfromthetext
of
thetranslation.Furthermore.itshould
not
beoverlookedthattheoldmanspeaks"anincomprehensibledialectwithastrong
sailor's
voice"
{my
italics'.
At
firstglance.allthesedetailsmayappearrelativelyinSignificanttotheactualnarrative.
On
closerJook.however,theyindicatetheImportance
Garda
Marquez.attributestotheCaribbean
as
aculturalcontextwithinwhichtocastthewingedoldman.The"inconvenience"ofthewingsgivesriseto
aU
kinds
of
speculationaboutthestranger'sidentity:someregardhim
as
thevictim
of
a
s h j p ~
wreck.others
daim
thathe
is
angelknockeddownbythe
t h r e e ~ d a y
rainiandFatherGonzagaalmostpredictablysuspectsthat
he
IS
oneof
the
devil'scarnivaltricks.smelloftheoutdoors,thebacksideof
his
Wings
wasstrewnwithparasites,and
hiS
mainfeathershadbeenmistreatedbyterrestrialwinds.andnothingabouthimmeasureduptotheprouddignityofangels.Then
he
cameoutofthechickencoopandinabriefsermonwarnedthe
CUrtOUS
againsttherisks
of
beingingenuous[sic:simple-minded}
..
_.Hearguedthatifwingswerenottheessentialelementindeterminingthedifferencebetweenahawkandanairplane,theywereevenless
so
intherecognition
of
angels.
Yet
thesewings,parasite-infested
as
theymaybe.are
of
crucialimportancenotsomuchfordeterminingtheactualidentity
of
thefallenfreak,butforcomprehendinghowandwhy
Garda
Marquezemploysthetrope
~ f
flying
as
afoundationforhisownparticularversionofamoreor
less
"marvelous"Americanreality.Describedandexaminedinquitesomedetail
in
this
Story,
thewingsarethevisiblemetaphOricextensionsoftheAfro-Americanmyth
of
flying.Theyalmostliterallygrowoutofthatmyth,whichitself
is
anappendage,a
suppiement
intheDerrideansense,tothebody
of
HispaniccultureintheCaribbean.It
isqUlte
tellinginthisregardthatthedoctor,whocould
not
resistthetemptation
of
examiningthe"angel,"shouldbestruck
by
"thelogicofhis
wings"-"They
seemedsonatural
in
thatcompletelyhumanorganismthat
he
couldn'tunderstandwhyothermendidn'thavethemtoo."The
logic
of
thewings,
as
itwere,
is
thelogic
of
thesupplement,which
is
at
oncecomplementaryandadditional;
it
IS
bothapartof
as
well
as
apartfromtheculturalandtextualcontextinwhich
it
appears.Thisambiguity
is
preciselywhatcharacterizesthepositionofthebirdlmanwithinthatcommunityintowhich
he
hasbeenaccidentallythrown.
He
is
astranger.yet
he
is
familiar;
he
appearstobehuman.yet
he
is
morcthanthat;
he
is.
in
short,abeingwhichcannoteasily
b ~
contained
withlO
noncontradictorydefinitions.
In
thissense,theoldman!sambiguousanatomy
is
alreadysufficienttoplacehim.muchlikeJuana
Garda
andalsoMacandal,indirectoppositiontothekindofauthoritytowhichFatherGonzagaappealsfor
tl
afinaljudgmentonthenatureofthecaptive:'Thepriest'lpromisedtowettealettertohisbishop
so
thatthelatterwouldwritetohisprimatesothatthelanerwouldwritetotheSupremePontiffin
order
togetthefinalverdietfromthehighest
courts:'
Clearly,RodriguezFreyle'sJuanaGarcia,Carpentier'sMacandal.and
Garda
Marquez'soldmanwithenonnouswingsareallmythicalfigureswhichexistoutsideandindefianceofthe
authomy
ofthelaw.which
in
all
threecases
177
abriel
Garda
MarquezandAfro·AmcricanLiterature
ERA
M.
K U T Z f N S K ~
76
attempts,ratherunsuccessfully,
to
confinethemwithinthelimits
of
afixeddefinition
or
identity,tomakethemadheretotheconceptualcategoriesofficiallyemployedtodefine
reaUry
andtruth.It
is
importanttonotethatintimateconnectionbetweenthelaw,whJchassurespermanenceandidentity,andthekindofwridngwhichmay
be
caJJed
"legal"inthesensethat
it
doesnottoleratecontradictions
and
ambiguities.Thiswriting
is
usedasameans
of
socialcontrolin
mar
it
seekstoimposeindeliblemarks
of
theofficialauthorityvestedin
it
by
thebureaucraticapparatus
of
eitherChurch
or
State.In
Garda
Marquez.'s
Story,
thislink
is
moSt
evident
inapassage
thatemphasizestheinherentlyviolentnature
of
suchinscriptions
of
authority.
The
particularactofviolencewewitnesssignificantlyassumesanother,veryspecific,culturaldimensiononceweconsiderthatitwasacommonflracticeamong
s l a v e ~
holders
in
all
parts
of
theNewWorldtobrandtheirslavesaspunishmentforcertainoffenses.Thisform
of
punishmentwasmostfrequently
a d m i n ~
istered
to
recapturedrunaways,
so
that
theycouldeasilybeidentified
by
their
mark
of
possession.
The
onlyrimethey
{the
curiousgatheredinfrom
of
thechickencoop]succeededinarousinghim[theoldmanlwaswhentheyburnedhissidewith
an
ironforbrandingsteers,forhe
had
beenmotionlessforsomanyhoursthattheythoughthewasdead.Heawokewithastart,rantinginhishermeticlanguageandwithtearsin
hiS
eyes,andheflappedhis
Wings
acouple
of
times,whichbrought
on
awhirlwind
of
chickendungand
l u ~
nar
dustandagale
of
pank
that
didnotseem
to
be
of
thisworld.Althoughmanythought
that
hisreactionhadbeenone
nOt
of
rage
but
of
pain.fromthen
on
theywerecareful
not
toannoyhim.becausethemajorityunderStoodthathispasslvitywasnot
that
of
aherotakinghiseasebut
that
of
acataclysminrepose.Again!thissceneissomewhatremmiscent
of
Macandal'sexecutionin
The
Kingdom
of
ThisWorld,
whichIhavementionedearlierinconnectionwiththeend
of
thestacy
of
Juana
Garda.
ThereisaremarkablefigurativeanalogyherebetweenMacandal'smovingthestump
of
hisarmina"threateninggesturewhich
waS
nonethelessterribleforbeingpartial"attheverymomentthattheflameswerebeginningtolickhislegsandtheoldman'sflappinghiswingswhentouched
by
the
hot
brandingiron.Bothgesturescauseapanicamongthecrowd
of
spectators,
who
areinstantly
178
VEIV.
M.KUTZ1NSKI
Gabriel
Garcia
Marquezand
Afro-American
Literature179reminded
of
thedestructivepowerslatentinthekind
of
magicascribedinsimilarwaystothesetwocharacters
as
wellastoJuanaGarcia.Thisinvitesustoconsiderinmoredetailanimportantqualitysharedbythesethreefigures:Theyareallbelievedto
be
sorcerersandassuchinvestedwithspeCialcurativepowers.Itis
not
anexaggeration,then,todescribeeachas
what
Derrida
Aas
calleda
phannakos
(healer.wizard.magician,sorcerer).
The
term
is
particularlyappropriatebecause
of
itsambiguity,whichresultsfromthecontinuousvaciIlation
of
itsmeaningsbetweenallkinds
of
positiveandnegativeconnotations.
The
characteristicambigUity
of
the
pharmakos
is
perhapsmost
a p p a r ~
entinthecase
of
MacandaI,whoseacquiredknowledge
of
plantsandherbsenableshimtoorchestratealarge-scalepoisoning
of
thewhiteslaveholdersandtheu-families)thus"curing"theblacksfromthepains
of
theirbondage.Incontrast,
JuanaGarda's
poison
is
muchmoresubtle:
By
o f f e r ~
ingthepromiscuousyoungwife
of
aSpanishmerchantconcreteevidence
of
hishusband'sowninfidelityintheform
of
asleevefromhismistress'sdress,sheenablesthewoman
to
conceal,andevenlegitimize
by
way
of
blackmail,theaccidentalresult
of
heradultery(thechild
who
isbornanddisownedduringherhusband'slongabsence).
JuanaGarda's
services
im-
plicitlysanctionsuchmaritaltransgressionsandthusposeathreattothemoralorderaswellastothepublicimage
of
thecolony.Hermagic
p o i ~
sons
nat
thebodies.buttheminds
of
theresidents
of
Bogotli.
The
a m b i g u ~
ouspowers
of
GarciaMarquez'smysteriousoldmanatesuggestedinavariety
of
ways.Boththefact
that
thesickinfant
of
PelayoandElisendarecoversalmostimmediatelyafterthe"angel's"appearanceintheir
c o u r t ~
yardaswellasthearrival
of
pilgrimsfromallovertheCaribbean
In
hope
of
miraculousrelieffromtheirillnessesanddeformitiesindicate
that
he
mightpossessthepositivequalities
of
ahealer.liThemostunfortunateinvalids
on
earth
[sic:
of
theCaribbean]came
in
search
of
health:a
poor
woman
who
sincechildhoodhadbeencoundngherheartbeatsandhad
runout
of
numbers.aPortugueseman
[sic:
aJamaicanJ
who
couldn'tsleepbecausethenoise
of
thestarsdisturbed
h i m ~
asleepwalker
whogot
up
at
night
to
undothethingshehaddonewhileawake;andmanyotherswithlessseriousailments."But
all
thewingedsageoffersthoseinvalids.whoseunusual.if
not
absurd.afflictions
cannot
butstrikeusassomewhatBorgesian,are"consolationmiracles,whichweremorelikemocking
fun"
thanseriousremedies:"thefewmiradesattributedtotheangelshowedacertain
mentaldisorder,
liketheblindmanwhodidn'trecoverhissightbutgrewthreenewteeth;
or
theparalyticwhodidn'tgettowalkbutalmost
180
VERAM.KUTZTNSKI
Gabrid
Garda
Marquez.
and
Afro-AmericanLiterature181
wonthelonery)
and
theJeperwhosesoressproutedsunflowers".(my
italics).
Those
exn'aordinary"consolation
miracles"
are,
of
course,fUrther
manifestations
of
the
samekinds
of
supplementaritywhich,aswehaveseen,determinesthelogic
of
theoldman'swings.Thislogicinitscharac
teristicambiguity
.15
akin
to
theinherentlycomradicrorynature
of
the
pharmakos;
infact,thewingsareasynecdochialrepresentation
of
the
pharmakon.
which
IS
themagic
power
of
transformationearlierdescribed
as
"volateda."
What
wearedealing
with,
In
short,
is
not
aconclidon
of
mentaldisorder.
but
amethodcapable
of
both
enriching
and
at
thesametimeendangeringthestability
of
theaccepted.officialversion
of
an
historw
iealreality
and
anhistoricalprocesswhich.meach
of
thethreetexts.
is
represented
byafigure
of
publicauthority:
th,::
Governor
of
SantoDommgo
In
TheKingdom
of
ThisWorld;
theChiefInquisitorin
Elcamero;
andFather
Gonzagam"AVery
Old
Man
with
Enormous
Wings."
Thisconceptualmethod,whichavailsItself
of
theparadoxicallogic
of
thesupplement
or
pharmako71
in
order
to
disruptanddestabilizeconventionalWesternideas
of
order
as
wellastheformulaiclanguagemwhichtheseideasarecast,SignificantlyJinksMacandal'spoison,
Juana
Garda's
sleeve,theWings
of
theoldman
and
hisconsolationmiracles.Althoughitmightbeargued
that
thePlatomdDerrideanconceptsofthe
phamtakos
and
the
phannakotf
asappliedtothesetexts
lift
them
out
of
theirspecificcultural
and
literarycontextbyreducingtheirfigurativeproperties
to
universals,
itought
tobenoted
that
theinseparablebondbet\veen
phamtakos/pharmakOIl
andflightalreadypreemptssuchareadmg.
The
phannakos
as"volateria"
is
endowedwithirreducibleculturespecificmeanings,
and
assuchverifiesthecontinuedexistence
of
distinctAfro-AmencanismsintwentlethwcenruryLatinAmencanliterature.TheseAfrowAmericamsmsarepronouncedenough
to
generateaseparatecanon,
butat
the
same
timeithastobeemphaSized
that
this
canon,
unlikeits
North
Americancounterpart,doesnotSimplyconsist
of
textsproduced
by
a
dearly
defined
"minorl1:Y."
Rather.it
IS
composed
of
textswhichaddAfro-Americanmyth
and
historytoLatinAmerica'srepertoire
of
foundingfables.Afro-Americathusbecomes
an
integral
partof
theliterature
of
theHispamc
Caribbean,
but
It
is
integratedintothislargercuituralandliterarycontext
without
losingitsdistinctivenessorauthenticitY.Viewedfromthisperspective.it
is
notall
that
surprising
that
evenawriterlikeGarciaMarquez.should.
among
otherthings,layclaimtothesamecultural
h e r l ~
tageasablackwriterfromtheUmtedSates.Afro.AmencaconstitutesabridgebetweenLatinAmerica
and
theUmtedStates,
andit
is
certainlynocoincidence
that
therelationshipbenveenthosegroupswhich
compdse
theculturalfliteraryestablishmentintheUnitedScates
and
particularlytheHispanicCaribbean
is
quae
similarto
that
betweenso-calledwhiteAmerica
and
itsblackcommunity.
This
hasbeenhistoricallytrueapproximatelysincetheturn
of
thecentury.Suchgeneralizations
of
courserequire
at
Jeastsomeevidence.
Without
leavingtheImmediaterealm
ofour
diSCUSSion.
whichhasbeenpredominantly
butnot
exclusivelyliterarysofar.I
would
thuslike
to
callattentiontoapoembythelateRobertHaydenentitled''ForaYoungArtiSt,"which.
as
indicatedbythe
author
himself.
is
atribute
to
Garda
Marqueis
"A
Very
Old
Man
with
Enormous
Wings."
That
an
Afro-American
poet
likeHaydenshouldsmgle
out
thisparticular
short
storyasthebasisforone
of
hisbest-knownpoems
at
atime
when
literarycdtics
and
historianswereforthemost
part
verymuchpreoccupied
with
cuttingtheAmericanliterary
canonmto
thinethnicslices,
is
astatement
of
someimportancewhich.ifnOthingelse,indicatestheexistence
of
asubstantiallagbetweenAmericanliterature
and
itscritidsm.
Without
overstatingtheimportance
of
Hayden'ssymbolicgesture,it
is
safetosay
that
therelationshipbetweenhispoem
and
Garda
Marquez'sstoryis,inmanyways,representative
of
alarger
pattern
of
cross-culturalinterpenetrationinmodernAmericanliterature.Hayden
is
by
no
means
an
exceptioninthisregard,anditis
worth
noting
that
the
workof
othercontemporaryblackwritersfromtheUmted
States-among
themthepoets
Jay
Wright
and
Michael
Harper
aswellasthenovelistGayl
Jones-reflects
asimilarinterestinLatinAmerica.Butletus
look
moreclosely
at
thetextualrelationshipbetween
"For
aYoungArtist"
and
"A
Very
Old
Man
with
EnormousWings."ObViously,
what
attractedHayden
most
tothisstorywas
Garda
Marquez'speculiarpractice
of
thetraditionalAfro-Amencanflightmetaphor.For
Hayden.
as
for
Garda
Marquez,
thegift
of
flying
is
intimatelyassociated
with
thepoetic
power
tounsettle
and
transformlanguagebymakingitreferentiallyandrepresentationallyambiguous,byfreeingitfromtheconstraints
of
smgular,fixedmeamngs.Liketheoldmaninboththepoemandthestory,thislanguage
"twists
away/fromthecattle-prod"(myitalics),
and,
In
doingso,assumesasemanticmultiplicity
or
plunvalence
that
is
aselusiveasthe
"angel:'
who,
afterfinallydragginghimself
out
ofthechicken
coop,
"seemedtobeinsomanyplaces
at
thesametime
that
theygrewtothink
that
he'dbeenduplicated,
that
he
was
reprodudng
himselfallthroughthehouse."Thiseiusiveness,which
IS
Significantlyfiguredasaprocess
of
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