“Beyond the Volcano” is the name of the tour in the Bay Area by Manlio Argueta, one of the great Salvadoran writers. It is a reason for those of us from El Salvador to dust off our memories to confront and take on those pending tasks to search for our hidden or abandoned recollections on the literary history of the great little country dearly called “Pulgarcito” or “Thumbling.”
In the past, there have been two major legal and uncensored hobbies in El Salvador: soccer and migration. Reading, writing, researching and thinking about the country’s history have been considered tasks that are “subversive” and punished with death.
At the same time, an idolatry has been fostered over the years towards crass U.S. pop culture and Mexican soap operas, which are also legal and enjoy admiration, respect and demand across the country.
Those who dared look beyond the Bible and make real the promises of God, here in our lifetime on Earth, were reported as evil, insane or criminals. As a result, many had to flee the country. Argueta was a prime example.
In an interview made in Germany in 1992 Argueta discussed the impact that caused the massacres in El Salvador that took place in 1932:
“The year 1932 is one of the landmarks in determining the heartbreak that our cultural development suffered, but all this comes from earlier – the struggle for land in the late nineteenth century, the legalization of forced expropriations of communal lands and ‘ejidos’ (…) But 1932 was even more important because there was a bloody historical gash, ever so much bloodier, that stopped the momentum for the normal development of our country. Then there was another military coup in ‘44, then in ‘61 and ‘79, that hit our history. The culmination was a crisis that was the fratricidal civil war of ‘81-’92. Thus, 1932 starts our truncated life; we were badly injured, but by a miracle this did not lead to the death of the country.”
Generalized terror and fear were the two ingredients present in the everyday life of El Salvador, and there’s not an ordinary Salvadoran known who has not suffered at least one of the two. But despite everything, love for life is still present and ironically, is the most defended and naturally present feature in this mini-homeland of blue and white (whoever thinks otherwise deserves a machetazo).
Argueta continues: “Even wounded by several cuts, the ordinary civility continues – throbbing hearts and blood – something similar to what happens with the centipede (…) that you cut it in two but each piece remains alive. The legend goes that if you let alone those pieces, then they come together again to rebuild its body. We were cut in two in 1932, in 1944 in another two, in ‘60 and ‘80 more cuts or cut into pieces. (…) But life continues to show in all those pieces we got cut into. And so other fatal injuries happenned. We are the centipede slashed with a machete and then we derive into a cannibal serpent who eats itself from its tail.”
Salvadoran Literature
Thus, without wishing to do an exhaustive analysis, there are several milestones in Salvadoran literature accompanying the illustrious figure of Manlio Argueta.
Alberto Masferrer wrote “Dinero maldito” (1927), a detailed description of the damage caused by alcohol consumption among the peasants, leading to domestic violence, poverty and death.
Alfredo Espino wrote “Jícaras tristes,” published after his tragic death in 1928. His beautiful modernist poems extol nature and are read by all Salvadoran children in schools.
Rivas Alberto Bonilla wrote “Andanzas y malandanzas” (1936), an inventive and caustic allegory with a the tone of a fable that follows the life of a street dog abused by everyone.
Salvador Efrain Salazar Arrué, also known as Salarrué, wrote “Cuentos de cipotes” (1943), a book that shows the richness of the Salvadoran vernacular, which is beautiful to read and is a treasure of the Salvadoran cultural heritage.
Roque Dalton wrote his seminal work “Las historias prohibidas de Pulgarcito” (1974), a mosaic of genres that deconstructs the wrenching social and historical reality in El Salvador, with an avant-garde and revealing style. Plus, it has lots of poetry.
Already at the end of the century, Horacio Castellanos Moya wrote “El asco” (1997), a first-person account of the boredom and disgust that a person feels about his race – an existential self-loathing.
Manlio Argueta was born in San Miguel, El Salvador, in 1935. He began writing poems when he was just 13 and in 1956, he received the National Poetry Award. As he became more involved in the literary community in El Salvador, he joined a group called the Committed Geneartion, and worked next to the famous Roque Dalton and authors such as Alvaro Menen Unfair, Waldo Chavez Velasco, Irma Spears, Orlando Fresedo and Mercedes Durand. After being exiled to Costa Rica in 1972 for political reasons, he would not return to his country until the ‘90s. Currently he is the director of the National Library.
Our fellow countryman will give a series of lectures organized by the local group “Talleres de poesía.” On Monday, May 9, he will be at UC Davis at 3:30 p.m. May 10 he will be at UC Santa Cruz at 4 p.m. On Wednesday, May 11 from 6-9 p.m., he will be at the Piñata Art Gallery (4268 Mission Street). And on Saturday, May 14, he will be at the Mission Presbyterian Church (3261 23rd St.) at 4 p.m. Manlio Argueta will present his latest book “Ángel en llamas” published by Luna Press, with illustrations by the great Salvadoran local painter Victor Cartagena.