Elena Delfina Garro Navarro (1916-1998) was a Mexican writer, playwright, screenwriter, and journalist. The development of his work has been framed by critics within magical realism, that is, the expression of the unreal within the day to day. In addition, she has been considered one of the most relevant intellectuals of the 20th century..
Garro's work encompassed different literary genres, among which stood out: poetry, novels, short stories and essays. Her writings were characterized by magic and mystery, also by the development of taboo topics for the society in which she lived, such as the right of women to be free..
Some scholars of Elena's life, as well as her own testimony, agreed that her married life with fellow writer Octavio Paz was difficult. The development of his literary work was overshadowed and stalled for a time, both by marriage and by a series of unfortunate events that happened.
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Elena Garro was born on December 11, 1916 in the town of Puebla de los Ángeles, Puebla. He came from a politically revolutionary middle-class family. His parents were José Antonio Garro Melendreras, Spanish, and Esperanza Navarro, Mexican. The couple had five children.
Elena Garro lived her early childhood years in the city of Iguala, in the state of Guerrero, where she received her early education. In 1928, when he was twelve years old, he went to Mexico City where he completed his high school studies. Then he entered the Colegio San Idelfonso where he studied high school.
Soon after, he began to train in philosophy and letters at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Later, in the same house of studies, he began his training in Spanish letters, since from an early age he had manifested his ability and ability to write.
When Elena Garro was still studying at university, she met the writer Octavio Paz. Then in 1937, when she was just twenty-one years old, they were married; That meant that Garro did not finish his career in Spanish letters, because a month later they traveled to Spain. They had a daughter named Helena.
Just married, Garro traveled with her husband to Spain, to attend the II International Congress of Antifascist Writers for the Defense of Culture. Such experience served the writer to develop Memories of Spain 1937, where he expressed the behavior of the personalities who attended.
According to scholars of Garro's life, and his own version, from the beginning his marriage to Paz was doomed. In the early forties her husband was unfaithful to her with Bona Tibertelli, who was a painter. While Elena fell in love with Adolfo Bioy Casares, Argentine writer.
Elena Garro lived in the shadow of her husband, her professional activities were reduced. In 1947 the writer tried to kill herself because she felt depressed and frustrated. However, he recovered, and the marriage managed to survive for a few more years..
Shortly after returning from Spain, Garro and her husband went to live in the United States, he had obtained a scholarship. Then she took advantage of specializing in the University of California at Berkeley, later she began a life of travel with her husband.
Although Elena Garro had a talent for letters and writing, for a long time she could not dedicate herself to such a task. This was due to the fact that she had to behave like the wife of a diplomat, since Octavio Paz for a decade held that function in several countries.
Elena returned to Mexico in 1953, after having lived abroad for ten years, both in France, India and Japan, in the company of her husband. Within three years of having settled in his country, he managed to publish three titles, of a dramatic nature and of short length..
The titles that made her known as a playwright in 1956 were: The pillars of Doña Blanca, Walking around the branches Y A solid home. The latter was the most renowned, it was published in 1957 in two magazines. In 1959 she separated from her husband Octavio Paz.
In the sixties, Elena Garro experienced a series of vicissitudes that led her to travel a path of darkness. Coupled with the marital separation, there was also professional stagnation. In addition to the aforementioned, the problems he had for accusing the PRI party of being oppressive were added..
On the other hand, Elena made strong criticisms of communism, which resulted in her being monitored by the Mexican secret police and the Central Intelligence Agency. At the same time, she was accused of supplying information related to the 1968 student movement..
Elena Garro was accused of reporting on the activities carried out by Mexican students in 1968, which resulted in the well-known Tlatelolco massacre. According to the authorities at that time, the writer had accused several intellectuals of such an event.
Among the personalities that Elena had supposedly pointed out were: Rosario Castellanos, Carlos Monsiváis, Leonora Carrington and Luís Villoro. Although the daughter of the writer denied such accusations against her mother, they were victims of threats and reprisals.
The student events of 68 that occurred in Mexico and the alleged accusations that Elena Garro made against some intellectual figures, forced her to leave Mexico. The writer was subjected to attacks, and her colleagues rejected her.
So from 1972, and for almost twenty years, he lived outside his country, first he took refuge in the United States, and then in France. During that period her work as a writer was interrupted, she was practically forced, out of fear, to live in anonymity for about ten years.
Elena Garro visited Mexico in 1991, and made the decision to return permanently in 1993. The writer went to live in Cuernavaca with her daughter and several cats. He died on August 22, 1998, at the age of eighty-one, due to lung cancer.
- Xavier Villaurrutia Award in 1963 for the novel The memories of the future.
- The Grijalbo Prize in 1981 for the novel Testimonials about Mariana.
- Colima Fine Arts Narrative Award for Work Published in 1996.
- Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Award in 1996.
Elena Garro's literary style was characterized by having a clear, precise and expressive language. In addition, the writer developed her works within the so-called magical realism, so the strange, unreal, illogical and amazing were elements present in her work.
In Garro's work it was common to observe a dynamic narrative, and in constant movement. Also the characters of the writer had magical and unlikely characteristics, where fantasy transported the reader to unknown and surprising worlds.
- The tree or fragment of a diary (1958).
- Perfect moon (1958).
- The day we were dogs (1962).
- Our lives are the rivers (1963).
- Blame it on the Tlaxcalans (1964).
- The goblin (1964).
- The little shoemaker from Guanajuato (1964).
- What time is it? (1964).
- Before the Trojan War (1964).
- The theft of Tiztla (1964).
- The ring (1964).
- It was Mercury (1965-1966).
- Collection We are running away Lola (1980). It was composed of the following titles:
- The lost Boy.
- The first time i saw myself.
- The liar.
- We are running away Lola.
- Fredegunda's crown.
- Thinking heads.
- I must forget.
- The four flies.
- A woman without a kitchen.
- The lady and the turquoise.
It was one of the best known stories of Garro, which was about a family that, in addition to living in extreme poverty, suffered the abuse and offenses of their father. The story was narrated by Camila, the mother, who does not rest in giving love and protection to her children.
Gabino, who was the head of the family and the cause of the beatings, seeing that his children were growing up, felt the fear of being attacked by them. The tale reaches its peak when the mother got a gold ring and gave it to her eldest daughter, Severina, who lost it to her lover..
“Come on, Camila, a golden ring! And I bent down and took it. It was not robbery. The street is the street and what belongs to the street belongs to all of us. It was very cold and did not have any stones: it was an alliance.
It dried on the palm of my hand and I didn't think I missed any fingers because it stayed still and then warmed up. On the way home I kept saying to myself: I'll give it to Severina, my oldest daughter ... ".
- The memories of the future (1963).
- Testimonials about Mariana (nineteen eighty one).
- Reunion of characters (1982).
- The house by the river (1983).
- And Matarazo did not call (1991).
- A red suit for a duel (nineteen ninety six).
- A heart in a trash can (nineteen ninety six).
- Look for my obituary and first love (1998).
- My little sister Magdalena (1998).
It was Elena Garro's first novel, which was structured in two parts. Each of the sections into which it was divided dealt with topics related to the history of Mexico. With this publication, the writer won, in 1963, the Xavier Villaurrutia Prize.
The story of the novel is based on the Moncada brothers during the Cristero War in the town of Ixtepec. In the work, it is the town itself who describes the events that its inhabitants lived through due to the actions of General Francisco Rosas, motivated by his love for Julia.
The argument takes a turn when Felipe Hurtado arrived in town, a man who destabilized Rosas's security after falling in love with his beloved. At the same time Hurtado gave citizens a different vision of life through poetry and theater..
When Rosas did not hear from Julia, he decided to go find Hurtado at the Moncada family, but he realized that they had both fled. Furious at the situation, General Francisco attacked the town. At the time, Rosas fell in love with Isabel Moncada, however, his brother Nicolás is murdered by this.
Young Isabel was deeply affected to discover that the man she was in love with ended her brother's life. There the unreal element characteristic of Garro entered, as the lady turned to stone after pain and suffering, General Rosas disappeared forever.
- General Francisco Rosas: military ruler of the town of Ixtepec.
- Felipe Hurtado: artist who gave the citizens of Ixtepec a dose of joy, while fleeing with Julia, Rosas's beloved.
- Julia Andrade: she is Rosas's young lover, whose beauty made her attractive to all men.
- Isabel Moncada: at the beginning of the novel she began as a child, she evolved into an intelligent lady who fell in love with Rosas.
- Nicolás Moncada: he was Isabel's protective brother, who was also the victim of the wrath of his sister's lover.
- Juan Cariño: he was one of the optimistic characters in history, his claims were aimed at making the town a prosperous place.
“I passed her almost in fear, feeling ugly and silly. He knew that Julia's radiance diminished her beauty. Despite her humiliation, fascinated by love, she superstitiously approached her, hoping that something would rub off on her ".
This work by the Mexican writer was framed within the magical realism movement, that is, the story expressed unreal and fantastic events developed in everyday life. Elena Garro was influenced by titles from Evelyn Waugh and Scott Fitzgerald.
The play dealt with the life of Veronica, a woman who had a stormy relationship with Frank. The couple constantly fled aimlessly across Europe, due to the man committing murder. Finally, the characters are related to the writers who influenced Elena Garro.
“… A bad step had been to disobey her father and marry without his consent, then the flood had fallen on her and from that day on, fear seized her. Fear had led her to flee from her husband, later from Frank, who then caught up with her, and now she had to flee again ".
- A solid home (1957).
- The Wizard King (1958).
- The move (1959).
- The lady on her balcony (1959).
- The tree (1963).
- The silly lady (1963).
- Dogs (1965).
- Felipe Angeles (1967).
- Benito Fernandez (nineteen eighty one).
- The trail (nineteen eighty one).
- San Angel stop (Posthumous edition, 2005).
It was one of the first plays that Elena Garro wrote with lyrical language. In addition, he separated from the traditional to direct himself towards the idea of life after leaving the earthly plane. The author did not develop time or space, the irrational became present.
The story is about a family that waited for the birth of Lilia, its last member, to wait for the end of life together. Finally, the characters find their place in eternity through the symbolism of death as a place that cannot be left..
In 1957, Garro's play was published in various magazines, including Tomorrow Y South. In that same year it was brought to the stage by the Poesía en Voz Alta theater group directed by Juan José Arreola, the public welcomed it, and was chosen as the best work of that year.
- Clemente, 60 years old.
- Mama Jesusita, 80 years old.
- Doña Gertrudis, 40 years old.
- Muni, 28.
- Lidia, 32 years old.
- Vicente Mejía, 23 years old.
- Eva, 20 years old.
- Catalina, 5 years old.
Voice of Doña Gertrudis - Clemente, Clemente! I hear footsteps!
Clemente's voice -You are always hearing footsteps! Why are women so impatient? Always anticipating what is going to happen, predicting calamities.
Voice of Doña Gertrudis -Well, I hear them.
Clemente's voice - No, woman, you are always wrong; you get carried away by your nostalgia for catastrophes ...
Voice of Doña Gertrudis -It's true ... But this time I'm not wrong.
It was a Garro play based on an event from the Mexican Revolution, related to the trial against General Felipe Ángeles. In this work, the Mexican writer developed in documentary form from the arrival of the hero to Chihuahua until the moment of his execution.
Felipe Angeles was first published in the magazine Coatl Guadalajara in 1967. Later, on October 3, 1978, it was presented at the Ciudad Universitaria Theater. Then, in 1979, Elena's work, under the direction of Hugo Galarza, opened the Sitges festival in Barcelona, Spain.
General Diéguez -The arrival of the prisoner will cause a riot ...
Bautista -Since last night the reinforcement troops have been quartered. Today at dawn, the soldiers swept with their rifle butts the people who wanted to take the theater by storm, when there was no room in the room. Then we cleaned the surroundings of unruly and the troops closed the intersections.
General Diéguez -The man is contradictory. Last night when I arrived in Chihuahua, I was surprised by the hostile crowd that closed in my path. I even thought that I would not make it out alive.
Bautista -This is the city of Francisco Villa and from here General Felipe Ángeles left to take Zacatecas. They do not forget that. They were expecting him last night, and seeing you angered them, my general.
- Memories of Spain 1937 (1992).
This work by Elena Garro referred to her experience in Spain after attending with her husband Octavio Paz the Second International Congress of Writers for the Defense of Culture, held in 1937. The writer compiled the actions of intellectuals in the face of the Spanish situation.
Garro, through uninhibited language, expressed the opinions of the writers before the Second Spanish Republic, as well as their opposition to fascism. In addition, he shared the experience of having met the writer Antonio Machado and his mother in the city of Valencia.
The language used by Garro in these memoirs was precise, clear and at the same time full of sagacity, enthusiasm and coherence. The publication was characterized by being unique and different from the others referring to the same topic. It was in 1992 that the book was released.
“The intellectuals were busy with the congress and the presentations. Me, with fear. Manolo Altolaguirre, with light cinnamon eyes and a childish smile, assured me: Elenita, don't worry, I'm very scared too ... And Manolo looked up at the sky ... ".
- Mexican revolutionaries (1997).
- “Misery, like physical pain, equals the minutes. The days become the same day, the acts the same act and the people a single useless character. The world loses its variety, the light is annihilated and the miracles are abolished ".
- "The memory of the future is valid, but it has annoyed me, and I am changing the endings of all my unpublished stories and novels to modify my future".
- "Before the steps of a man always go the steps of a woman".
- "Here the illusion is paid with life".
- “My people are dark skinned. He wears a white blanket and huaraches ... they are adorned with gold necklaces or a pink silk scarf is tied around his neck. He moves slowly, talks little, and gazes up at the sky. In the afternoons, when the sun goes down, he sings ".
- "In the depth of the lie there is always something evil".
- "I wish I had no memory or turned into pious dust to escape the condemnation of looking at me".
- "I had the impression that death was just a step from the imperfect to the perfect".
- "For us Indians, it is the infinite time to be silent".
- “One generation succeeds the other, and each one repeats the steps of the previous one. Just a moment before dying, they discovered that it was possible to dream and draw the world in their own way, and then wake up and start a different drawing ".
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