Review

Author(s): Sam L. Slick

Review by: Sam L. Slick
Source: Chasqui, Vol. 7, No. 2 (Feb., 1978), pp. 120-121
Published by: Chasqui: revista de literatura latinoamericana
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/29739410
Accessed: 26-12-2015 12:37 UTC

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 Ruffinelli, Jorge. JOSE REVUELTAS. Xalapa, M?xico: Universidad Vera?
cruzana, 1977. 142 pp.

In contemporary Mexican letters few men have equalled the intel?

lectual and literary stature of Jos? Revueltas. Hisnarrative, parti?
cularly his short fiction, figures among Latin America's best. As a

political theoretician he was a major force in Mexican and Continental

leftist politics for three decades. Venerated by Mexico's university
students, Revueltas enjoyed constant acclaim in radical circles. In
spite of
Revueltas' importance, however, his literature has been woe?
fully neglected by literary critics, especially in Mexico. The reasons
for this apparent lack of interest are many. The "establishment" cri?
tics have largely chosen to ignore Revueltas because of his inveterate
opposition to Mexico's political structure. Leftist critics, on the
other hand, particularly those associated with the Partido Comunista
Mexicano, attacked his revisionist positions by offering polemical cri?
tiques of virtually no literary or critical value. Indeed, even today
the best studies of Revueltas' works are to be found in unpublished
doctoral dissertations written at American universities.
Jorge Ruffinelli's work, JOSE REVUELTAS, is the first book-length
study to be published on Revueltas, and thus is important in that it
attempts to rectify a long existing lacuna in Mexican literary criti?
cism. Ruffinelli, a Uruguayan critic who is currently teaching at the
Universidad Veracruzana in Xalapa, Mexico, sets forth to study only one
aspect of Revueltas' works--his narr?tive--carefully setting aside his
theater and essays. Essentially a chronological-biographical-thematic
approach, Ruffinelli's book is a reasonably solid introduction to the
material. The reader will apprehend a variety of underlying themes,
political events, and aesthetic concerns that shaped Revueltas' narra?
tive.

Perhaps the most intriguing part of Ruffinelli's work is the in?

troduction in
which he attempts to summarize the political and intel?
lectual life of Revueltas, using as a focal point the Mexican writer's
association with the Partido Comunista Mexicano. This in turn leads
Ruffinelli to a consideration of realism, socialist realism, existen?
tialism, and alienation. These issues, as well as others, are impera?
tive to any understanding of Revueltas' literature. Ruffinelli under?
lines the immense importance of leftist censorship, Revueltas' many im?
prisonments, and his expulsions from the PCM.
The principal body of Ruffinelli's text presents Revueltas1 nar?
rative in chronological order, providing plot summaries and critical
comment, while attempting to place each work contextually within a pre?
conceived framework. In general, the critiques of individual works are
handled with skill. Noteworthy is the treatment of LOS ERRORES, which
Ruffinelli appropriately considers the culmination point of Revueltas1
literary production. Another significant feature is the global view of
Revueltas' short story artistry. Certainly Ruffinelli has more than a
pedestrian knowledge of Jos? Revueltas' life and works.

120

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 Notwithstanding the singularity of the book,JOSE REVUELTAS may be
faulted on several counts. The title is somewhat misleading. Rather
than treating the man and his works, Ruffinelli relegates biographical
detail to serve his critical purpose, failing to mention a host of in?
formative and pertinent items. Similarly, the exclusion of the very
central works of non-fiction and theater is disturbing, for it limits
the reader's perspective. Perhaps a qualifying subtitle would have been
in order. Certain errata concerning key dates may confuse the reader,
such as 1959 for 1949 on page 71 (the publication date of LOS D?AS TE?
RRENALES), and 1967 for 1957 on page 72 (date of LOS MOTIVOS DE CAIN).
With respect to the criticism employed, it might best be described as
impressionistic,which should not necessarily create great difficulties;
but Ruffinelli tends to confuse the reader when dealing with such ab?
stract issues as alienation and art, given the absence of any coherent
approach or system.
Ruffinelli arbitrarily divides Revueltas' narrative into two seg?
ments. He suggests that the first period, consisting of LOS MUROS DE
AGUA (1941), EL LUTO HUMANO(1943),and DIOS EN LA TIERRA (1944), repre?
sents a time of self-doubt and
searching on the part of the Mexican au?
thor. On the other hand, subsequent works, according to Ruffinelli,
evidence a mature system of aesthetics and philosophy. This is all
highly doubtful, since Revueltas continued his literary meanderings for
years after?certainly throughout the fifties. Specifically, Revueltas'
attempt to come to terms with socialist realism as an aesthetic code is
present in the highly political LOS MOTIVOS DE CA?N (1957), even though
Ruffinelli conveniently groups it among non-political works. As an
overview, therefore, Ruffinelli's division of periods appears to raise
a series of unresolved questions, although the intent is to
explicate
cogently the author's development.
On balance, however, RuffineHi's JOSE REVUELTAS is an important
addition to any collection of Latin American literary criticism. For
some the book will unlock many puzzling riddles relating to the intri?
guing case of Jos? Revueltas. In the final analysis, this book is the
only published study of its kind and therefore the best to date.

Sam Houston State University Sam L. Slick

Antonio Sk?rmeta, comp. JOVEN NARRATIVA CHILENA DESPUES DEL GOLPE.Clear

Creek, Ind.: The American Hispanist, 1976. 107 pp.

There are at least two

to consider
ways this anthology of thir?
teen stories by ten authors. one From
point of view, it is a collection
that fills the gap by the
disappearance in post-1973 of Chile of virtu?
ally all avenues of expression for we11-qualified young Chilean writers
(at least the more established ones like Jos? Donoso have secure pub

121

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