Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

La piratería textual : un estudio hipertextual de Son vacas, somos puercos y El médico de los piratas de Carmen Boullosa

Forné, Anna LU (2001) In Études Romanes de Lund 63.
Abstract
The aim of this study is to examine the rewriting of the memoirs of the former pirate Alexander Olivier Exquemelin, Los Piratas de América, originally published in Amsterdam in 1678, which the Mexican writer Carmen Boullosa carries out in two recent novels: Son vacas, somos puercos and El médico de los piratas. In the light of Gérard Genette’s theory of hypertextuality this study deals with the formal as well as the thematic aspects of this rewriting. In order to situate the two novels in the context of contemporary Latin American literature, this study includes an introductory chapter on the “new” Latin American historical novel, preceded by a more general introduction to Carmen Boullosa’s narrative. In the first chapter a discussion is... (More)
The aim of this study is to examine the rewriting of the memoirs of the former pirate Alexander Olivier Exquemelin, Los Piratas de América, originally published in Amsterdam in 1678, which the Mexican writer Carmen Boullosa carries out in two recent novels: Son vacas, somos puercos and El médico de los piratas. In the light of Gérard Genette’s theory of hypertextuality this study deals with the formal as well as the thematic aspects of this rewriting. In order to situate the two novels in the context of contemporary Latin American literature, this study includes an introductory chapter on the “new” Latin American historical novel, preceded by a more general introduction to Carmen Boullosa’s narrative. In the first chapter a discussion is also maintained with former critics of Son vacas, somos puercos, with the intention of placing this study in a critical context, particularly in a confrontation with the postmodernist interpretations of the novel that generally have read it as a parodic subversion of its hypotext (intertext). In the second chapter Genette’s theory of hypertextuality is surveyed and a series of problems that this theory raises are addressed. The third chapter contains a survey of the textual history of Exquemelin’s memoirs as well a short look at the “estilization” of Boullosa’s language in comparison to that of Exquemelin. Finally, the fourth and fifth chapters are dedicated to the analysis of the two novels. Relevant aspects in the analysis are the textual amplificaction, the narrator’s attitude, and the thematic transformations. The dissertation concludes with the suggestion that Son vacas, somos puercos presents a hypertextual unfolding of the ideology of the pirate’s brotherhood; that the greater subjective presence of the narrator-protagonist in the rewriting highlights the temporal discrepancy between the narration and the history, and consequently also implies a greater emphasis on the disagreement between the experiences of the protagonist in the past and the present knowledge of the narrator. Furthermore it is suggested that the diegesis originally described in Exquemelin’s memoirs is nuanced by the inclusion or activation of women, African slaves and Indians. The idea that in Son vacas, somos puercos, the image of the pirate is “transvalorized” in constructive terms is also put forward. Finally it is underscored that Boullosa’s first rewriting of Los Piratas de América does not present a subversive nor an alternative version, but a complementary one. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
supervisor
opponent
  • Prof. Fell, Claude, Sorbonne nouvelle, Paris III
organization
publishing date
type
Thesis
publication status
published
subject
keywords
pirate novels, postmodernism, rewriting, parody, “new” Latin American historical novel, “transposition”, intertextuality, hypertextuality, transtextuality, Gérard Genette, Carmen Boullosa, “amplification”, Alexander Olivier Exquemelin, Latinsk litteratur, General and comparative literature, literature criticism, literary theory, Latin literature, narrative attitude, Allmän och jämförande litteratur, litteraturkritik, litteraturteori
in
Études Romanes de Lund
volume
63
pages
177 pages
publisher
Lunds universitet, Romanska institutionen
defense location
Carolinasalen, Kungshuset 10.15-12.00
defense date
2001-04-28 10:15:00
ISSN
0347-0822
ISBN
91-973886-1-0
language
Spanish
LU publication?
yes
id
dc398f48-a67e-45dd-931b-9fcdd0141945 (old id 20334)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 16:32:12
date last changed
2019-05-21 13:53:24
@phdthesis{dc398f48-a67e-45dd-931b-9fcdd0141945,
  abstract     = {{The aim of this study is to examine the rewriting of the memoirs of the former pirate Alexander Olivier Exquemelin, Los Piratas de América, originally published in Amsterdam in 1678, which the Mexican writer Carmen Boullosa carries out in two recent novels: Son vacas, somos puercos and El médico de los piratas. In the light of Gérard Genette’s theory of hypertextuality this study deals with the formal as well as the thematic aspects of this rewriting. In order to situate the two novels in the context of contemporary Latin American literature, this study includes an introductory chapter on the “new” Latin American historical novel, preceded by a more general introduction to Carmen Boullosa’s narrative. In the first chapter a discussion is also maintained with former critics of Son vacas, somos puercos, with the intention of placing this study in a critical context, particularly in a confrontation with the postmodernist interpretations of the novel that generally have read it as a parodic subversion of its hypotext (intertext). In the second chapter Genette’s theory of hypertextuality is surveyed and a series of problems that this theory raises are addressed. The third chapter contains a survey of the textual history of Exquemelin’s memoirs as well a short look at the “estilization” of Boullosa’s language in comparison to that of Exquemelin. Finally, the fourth and fifth chapters are dedicated to the analysis of the two novels. Relevant aspects in the analysis are the textual amplificaction, the narrator’s attitude, and the thematic transformations. The dissertation concludes with the suggestion that Son vacas, somos puercos presents a hypertextual unfolding of the ideology of the pirate’s brotherhood; that the greater subjective presence of the narrator-protagonist in the rewriting highlights the temporal discrepancy between the narration and the history, and consequently also implies a greater emphasis on the disagreement between the experiences of the protagonist in the past and the present knowledge of the narrator. Furthermore it is suggested that the diegesis originally described in Exquemelin’s memoirs is nuanced by the inclusion or activation of women, African slaves and Indians. The idea that in Son vacas, somos puercos, the image of the pirate is “transvalorized” in constructive terms is also put forward. Finally it is underscored that Boullosa’s first rewriting of Los Piratas de América does not present a subversive nor an alternative version, but a complementary one.}},
  author       = {{Forné, Anna}},
  isbn         = {{91-973886-1-0}},
  issn         = {{0347-0822}},
  keywords     = {{pirate novels; postmodernism; rewriting; parody; “new” Latin American historical novel; “transposition”; intertextuality; hypertextuality; transtextuality; Gérard Genette; Carmen Boullosa; “amplification”; Alexander Olivier Exquemelin; Latinsk litteratur; General and comparative literature; literature criticism; literary theory; Latin literature; narrative attitude; Allmän och jämförande litteratur; litteraturkritik; litteraturteori}},
  language     = {{spa}},
  publisher    = {{Lunds universitet, Romanska institutionen}},
  school       = {{Lund University}},
  series       = {{Études Romanes de Lund}},
  title        = {{La piratería textual : un estudio hipertextual de Son vacas, somos puercos y El médico de los piratas de Carmen Boullosa}},
  volume       = {{63}},
  year         = {{2001}},
}