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An Analysis of the Fantastic by Sarah Haselhorst

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An Analysis of the Fantastic by Sarah Haselhorst Haselhorst !1 Sarah Haselhorst An Analysis of the Fantastic in “La migala”, “Lejana” and “Funes el memorioso” The fantastic genre has existed since antiquity in the classic myths and legends that were part of the Mesopotamian, Roman and Greek cultures. In the modern age, almost everyone is familiar with fantastic stories that capture interest while entertaining the reader with their supernatural elements. Over time, fantastic literature has developed with the influence of writers like Borges, Arreola and Cortázar who have advanced the genre with their unique writing style. However, although the genre has distinct characteristics it is most known for its ambiguity, and for this reason every reader has to use the fantastic elements to form their own conclusions about the plot. “Lejana”, “La migala” and “Funes el memorioso” are three fantastic stories by different authors that each exemplify the genre and its classic characteristics. There are many theories concerning the definition of a fantastic story and a great number of literary scholars have written studies about the genre. For the purpose of this investigation, the fantastic, according to Cynthia Duncan, is a break in everyday reality with an extraordinary event that produces a transformation in the world of the character. The event does not have a rational explanation and this element of uncertainty is extremely important in identifying the fantastic. Fantastic stories are also situated against reality, which make the fantastic event or element seem even more unreal and out of place. Additionally, the fantastic genre has certain characteristics that contribute to the plot while capturing the interest of the reader. First, all fantastic stories have an element that seems impossible, supernatural or unexplainable, and Duncan suggests that this element, “incorporates something into the narrative that may strike readers as supernatural or otherworldly, inexplicable Haselhorst !2 or impossible, something that unsettles readers and makes them hesitate or doubt the nature of what they are reading” (Duncan 2). The majority of the time this element is an event that initiates the appearance of the fantastic and the author presents it in a way that makes the reader ask if it could really happen. In this sense, the reader has to work in order to decide what is real and what is fantasy. At the same time, the reader has to follow the oscillation between different levels of reality because sometimes one level pertains to the unreal and the other pertains to the true reality. Another important element of fantastic literature is that the extraordinary events happen to characters that appear to be normal and based in the everyday world. For this reason, the reader is able to identify with the characters and their environment that is based in reality instead of a fictitious world. Duncan affirms, “In order to encode the fantastic into the text in ways that will condition the reader reaction, the writer must share the worldview and cultural norms of his readers and characters so that they conceive of reality in similar ways and will feel a similar kind of alarm when the order of their known universe is altered” (Duncan 30). This element is important because readers have a large role in the interpretation of fantastic stories and “reader response to the text is one of the defining characteristics of the genre" (Duncan 9). Since the stories are based in reality, readers are able to identify with it. This draws attention to the fantastic elements that appear even more strange and impossible. If fantastic stories were based in fictitious worlds of fantasy, the extraordinary events would not draw as much attention or have the same effect. Similar to the common role that readers play in the decoding of fantastic literature, there are common themes that are present throughout fantastic stories as well. For example, the theme Haselhorst !3 of the double is prominent and calls attention to different ways that people view themselves. Many times the double refers to an “other” that represents the opposite characteristics of a character to make a comparison. Another popular theme is the oscillation between reality and dreams that produce contrasting levels of reality within the storyline. Sometimes the levels are clear, but other times the reader has to form their own conclusions. This is because fantastic stories don’t have the intention of resolving or explaining the mystery of the extraordinary events, and there is a sense of accepting the supernatural. Duncan suggests, “In the fantastic, we still believe in cause and effect, we still believe that means and ends exist, but they are beyond our comprehension. They are blurred or contradictory, and we are never able to discover the ultimate end of our actions” (Duncan 12). For example, in another common theme that involves the perplexity of an incredible fact, the extraordinary event produces a strange occurrence that does not have a definitive explanation. The reader can create their own explanation, but fantastic stories do not clearly reveal a reason. Also, the theme of terror is an important part of the fantastic genre and the extraordinary events produce a feeling of fear. One story that exemplifies the fantastic genre is “Lejana”, one of the eight short stories in the Bestiary by Julio Cortázar. “Lejana” is the diary of Alina Reyes, a woman of the upper class who is tired of material things, her family, and the activities that she considers boring. At night, she is not able to sleep and begins to play word games in order to deal with her insomnia. Soon Alina converts the word games into an obsession and begins to feel the existence of another woman who is suffering in Budapest. To satisfy her obsession, Alina and her husband travel to Budapest for their honeymoon and one night Alina walks alone to the center of a bridge where Haselhorst !4 she confronts “la lejana”, a ragged woman. The two embrace in a hug and, at the same time, Alina closes her eyes in a state of total fusion. Alina maintains her appearance but the her soul is now in the body of the lejana, and the soul of the beggar woman is now in the body of Alina. There are many fantastic elements throughout the plot of “Lejana”. Like all fantastic stories, “Lejana” is based in reality because at the beginning everything seems normal. Alina is a normal woman who is simply tired of her boring life that is making her unhappy. The reader can relate to this reality and the fact that even though someone is able to have a good quality of life, they are still not happy. Because of this, Alina is unable to sleep at night and begins to create palindromes and anagrams. These palindromes bring Alina to her extraordinary even and the creation of her double when Alina writes, “Alina Reyes, es la reina y...” because she realizes that she is not a queen. Then, Alina continues, “A esa que es Alina Reyes pero no la reina del anagrama; que será cualquier cosa, mendiga en Budapest, pupila de mala casa en Jujuy o sirvienta en Quetzaltenango, cualquier lado lejos y no reina” (Cortázar 1). Alina wants to be anyone other than herself and the idea of beggar woman in Budapest fascinates her. From the first moment that Alina thinks of the beggar woman, or the lejana, her world changes. The extraordinary event initiates her obsession and Alina starts to know and feel the life and emotions of the lejana. Cortázar demonstrates these fantastic elements when Alina writes, “Puedo solamente aborrecer las manos que tiran al suelo y también a ella, a ella todavía más porque le pegan, porque soy yo y le pegan” (Cortázar 2). The strange fact is that all of a sudden Alina enters into another world, the world of a beggar woman in Budapest, and there is no explanation as to why or how. The beggar woman also enters into the world of Alina and completely interrupts the everyday activities of her life: for example, when Alina is dancing with Haselhorst !5 her boyfriend, Luis María, and she has to tell him that she is not feeling well because she knows that the lejana is suffering and begins to feel sick. For every good thing in the life of Alina there is something bad in the life of the beggar woman and Alina must find her double. As a result of the presence of a double, or other fantastic element, there is an oscillation between reality and dreams. At night Alina is completely consumed by the thoughts of a woman in Budapest and the story oscillates between these levels of reality. This is illustrated when Alina writes, “Anoche me dormí confabulando mensajes, puntos de reunión” (Cortázar 2). Throughout the story, Alina’s life and the life of her double mix together in the thoughts of Alina and the reader has to work in order to decide what is real and what is a dream. At the same time, the presence of an other in a far away place is a mysterious concept and forces the reader to think about whether it is possible or simply a fantasy. When Alina finally arrives in Budapest the story changes from first person to third person and the dates on the diary entries disappear. Alina finds the bridge that she knows from her thoughts of the lejana and there she encounters her double, “la harapienta mujer de pelo negro”. The two women embrace in a hug and the narrator says, “Cerró los ojos en la fusión total, rehuyendo las sensaciones de fuera, la luz crepuscular; repentinamente tan cansada, pero segura de su victoria, sin celebrarlo por tan suyo y por fin” (Cortázar 5).
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