Juan Rulfo, the Writer From Jalisco Who Would Turn 107 Today

The Infotmant ^ | May 16, 2024 | Mariana A. Sánchez

[nickcarraway]

The Mexican writer is considered one of the most important figures of magical realism.

This May 16, the Jalisco writer and photographer Juan Rulfo would be turning 107 years old today, so today we remember his birth and the best of his work.

The author of Pedro Páramo was born in the town of Sayula - just a few kilometers from Ciudad Guzmán - in 1917, where he lived until 1934, that is, until he was 17 years old. It should be noted that his childhood and adolescence were strongly marked by the Cristero War, which he took from his father in 1923.

After trying to enter the University of Guadalajara in 1933 - which he could not complete because the university was on strike - he moved to Mexico City to work in the Ministry of the Interior; By 1936 he began to travel through some regions of Mexico as part of service commissions and He published his most transcendental stories in literary magazines.

Magical realism icon

Juan Rulfo is considered part of the literary movement called “magical realism”, this is because his works present acombination of reality and fantasy, whose action takes place in American settings, and its characters represent and reflect the typical nature of the place, with its great socio-cultural problems interwoven with the fantastic world.

Later, in 1946, he also dedicated himself tophotographic work, in which he made notable compositions. He worked for the Goodrich-Euzkadi company from 1946 to 1952 as a travel agent., and between 1954 to 1957 he was a collaborator of the Papaloapan Commission and editor at the National Indigenous Institute in Mexico City.

It should be noted that in 1945 he published two of his most important stories in the magazine Pan en Guadalajara :“They have given us the land” and “Macario”,which marked his literary career.

Among other of his most notable works we list:

"The slope of the wives" (story, 1948)

“Talpa” (story, 1950)

“The burning plain” (story, 1950).

Already in 1951 América magazine also published the story "Tell them not to kill me!" and in 1953 the Economic Culture Fund integrated "The Burning Plain"-to which the story “They have given us the land” belongs- in the collection Letras Mexicanas. This was only the preamble to his literary success.

Later, in 1955, it was published Pedro Paramo, which is considered one of the best novels in Hispanic literature, and even of all literature. It was even translated into several languages, and earned him the “Xavier Villaurrutia” Prize in 1956.

In 1983 Juan Rulfo was also awarded the “Prince of Asturias” Award from Spain, which recognized his great influence in the subsequent narrative of his country and the prominent place that it occupies to this day in Hispanic literature.

Juan Rulfo was diagnosed with lung cancer, and finally died on the afternoon of January 7, 1986, which shocked the cultural community of Mexico.

[nickcarraway]

I translated this using Translate, so there could be mistakes. I haven't read anything else by him, but I consider Pedro Paramo to be among the best novels of the 20th century, and top 5 in Spanish. (Although I can't claim to be exhaustively read in Spanish literature.)

[DIRTYSECRET]

Though it was executed today.

[Deaf Smith]

Same.

[4Runner]

Now is NOT the time for Americans to be celebrating anything Mexican. Just not.

[Verginius Rufus]

“the Cristero war, which he took from his father in 1923”? Maybe it was supposed to say “which took his father from him in 1923”?

[Theo]

I read Pedro Páramo in college. Haunting book. Loved it.

[Chicory]

Checked this out and you are right! Putting it each way in English results in the same Spanish.