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En este ensayo examino la poesía compilada por Nicanor Parra en Obra gruesa (1969) con el fin de ilustrar la forma en que el poeta utiliza de una manera sistemática el espacio simbólico. Ofrezco varias categorías, entre ellas espacios de la naturaleza, la muerte, o de lo existente, que ejemplifican una visión poética parecida a la idea de heterotopia propuesta por Michel Foucault. A través de una lectura de estos espacios en una selección de poemas, arguyo que los espacios categorizados reproducen un mundo poético que refleja la realidad vivida como algo torcido para enfatizar la desesperanza existencial del ser humano.
Palabras clave: Nicanor Parra, antipoesía, heterotopia.
In this essay I examine the poetry published in Obra gruesa (1969) in order to illustrate Nicanor Parra's systemic use of symbolic space. I offer several different categories, among them spaces of nature, death, or the real, which exemplify a poetic version of Michel Foucault's heterotopias. Through detailed examination of these spaces in selection of poems, I argue that the spaces I have categorized reproduce a poetic world which reflects lived reality as twisted thus emphasizing the existential despair of the modern human condition.
Keywords: Nicanor Parra, heterotopia, antipoetry.
The work of Chilean poet Nicanor Parra has popularized the use of colloquial language in poetry, legitimized humor, and upon closer examination has generally confused its readers. While critics have written a great deal about Parra, none have yet examined his uses of symbolic spaces. There are excellent close readings of particular poems from different theoretical perspectives1, as well as much discussion that works towards describing a theory of anti-poetry2. This criticism helps elucidate Parra's poetry in terms of its relationship to non-anti-poetry and identifies salient particular techniques. Parra's poetry, particularly the collections gathered in Obra gruesa (1969), is filled with symbolic spaces that function to distort reality and draw attention to the deformation of the human condition, a theme that underlies his work. Given the large number of references to symbolic spaces in the various books collected in Obra gruesa, I propose to identify and categorize these spaces, offering interpretations of the functions of each category throughout the volume. I will also examine several specific poems in order to explain the function of the spaces present within...