María Luisa Bombal, The Shrouded Woman

The Shrouded Woman is my favourite book I have read in this course so far. I usually find myself as a reader drawn to stories about romance and heartbreak. I was waiting for a book like this to be read during this course, and I was not disappointed. María Luisa Bombal gave an interesting first-person narrator of a dead woman, Ana María. I found the book easier to follow than the last two texts despite the narrator being dead, the story was smooth as people came to see her and to see the significance each individual had on her. 

I was drawn to Ana and Ricardo's relationship. In the beginning, it seemed like the stereotypical first love. She was drawn to him even though she was intimidated by him. He was a type of "fascination" to her (160). Her love for Ricardo was a drug. No matter how many different men like Fernando and Antonio came into her life, nothing felt the same as Ricardo. She was chasing for a love that only Ricardo could fulfill. 

Ana is shown as helpless to the act of love. Her first love Ricardo did not want anything to do with her after his trip from Europe. She also watched everyone in her family lose their chance for love. She could not have Ricardo, her brother was in love with Elena but married to someone else, and her father lost her mother and was now alone. Loneliness is a strong emotion felt throughout the text, which no one in the family could deal with. Ana carries on continuing to be alone and ends up as a sideline character in her own life.

I found it very upsetting and powerful in the story when Anna says, "why must a women's nature be such that a man has always to be the pivot of her life? Men succeed in directing their passions to other things. But the fate of so many women seems to be to turn over and over in their heart some love sorrow while sitting in a neatly ordered house, facing an unfinished tapestry"(226). I have seen many women including myself grow up with a perfect fairy-tale idea of love. It made me sympathize with Ana that she has spent her entire life finding validity in men. Given the time, I don't blame her. Women were seen as incomplete without a man. Even when Ana was not happy with her relationship status with Antonio and went to see a lawyer, she was shut down because "Antonio is the father of [their] children; that there is steps a lady cannot take without lowering herself" (228). She was trapped and had no way out without reflecting it poorly on her societal status. It makes me feel more fortunate to be a part of a time where women don't give into gender stereotypes and are not seen as incomplete without a man.

My question for the class is: Do you agree with the lengths and sacrifices Ana went through for love?

Louis Aragon, Paris Peasant

For this week's readings, Paris Peasant by Louis Aragon, I found myself at the start a bit confused because I first approached this novel with an annalistic point of view. I caught myself trying to analyze every detail to discover more about the narrative, plot, back story etc. However, as I read more and watched the introduction video about the novel, I became aware of Argon's intention that it was a "kind of novel that would break all traditional rules governing fiction, one that would be neither a narrative nor a character study." So, I had to re-read the pages to take in the book in the way it was meant to.

The imagery and detail throughout this novel painted a clear picture of the different areas of Paris. This book captured his day-to-day doings. Personally, I am a very observant person myself, especially when walking around campus or anywhere else. I pay close attention to the environment and the people in it. I enjoyed being a part of the narrator’s thoughts and scenarios as he walked around about the architecture and the people he passed by. I found the passage about women very interesting. It explains women with great detail and resembles them as flashes of light. He explains, "after passing an infinity of these desirable shimmering, without having attempted to take possessions of a single one of these lives... I ask myself disgustedly what I'm doing in the world" (8). I picture the narrator being caught up in his unconscious mind. I thought that the change in the narrator’s environment and the increase of modernization was a cause of stress for him. Also, the fact that he is constantly thinking about the philosophy of his surroundings could be to compensate for his quiet behaviour and his anxiety around his changing community that is making him question his life choices.

This book is known for surrealism. I was not aware of surrealism until reading this book. I searched up surrealism because I wanted to understand the story more. Argon did a fantastic job projecting surrealism and allowing the narrative to focus and allow the unconscious mind to express itself. I enjoyed following him along throughout Paris and understanding his interpretations of the cafe menu, monuments, newspaper clipping, and the people of Paris. The narrator was so detailed it was like being in the thoughts of someone’s mind. My question for this reading is How do you think the narrator felt about the increase in modernization? Overall, this story was nothing close to what I have ever read and it gave me an open mind to surrealism.

Marcel Proust, “Combray"

As I began reading "Combray" I had to reread the first few pages. The sentences were long, and the narrator kept switching from his unconscious and consciousness. The length of the sentences were descriptive, and detailed making it easy for me to visualize the setting, but there was a lot that was unknown. Throughout the book, I made assumptions about the narrator and his life. Questions kept popping in my head about the narrators past and what led to his actions. I caught myself relating with the narrator like how I previously said the detailed sentences were making it easier to visualize myself in the book, and that was similar to the narrator as he also gets captivated with the books he reads as imagines himself as "what the book was talking about"(3). 

His insomnia was heavily highlighted throughout part one. I view the narrator as a person with severe anxiety. His thoughts are constantly jumping from one to another. His anxiety comes to light mostly at the thought of his mom not being able to give him a goodnight kiss. I wonder if his anxiety is brought from childhood trauma because his dreams always escape to his childhood. The narrator expressed his "childish terror" (4) with the memory of his great uncle pulling him by his curls. He also seems afraid of his father. This is shown when the father does not allow his mother to give him a kiss goodnight. In the scene where the narrator waits for his mom above the staircase to say goodnight, his mother seems afraid of what his father might say to their son as she tells him in a panic to go back to his room. His mom seems to be aware of his fathers resentment to his son's actions. 

His childhood experiences seem to be the cause of what his personality is today. His mind always wanders back to his childhood. His father's negative opinions of his son's night time ritual could have impacted the narrator's pressure to grow up and cause an unhealthy attachment to his mother. His mother is the only one who accepts his needs.This makes me question how much does childhood trauma and the pressure of maturity affect an individual?

Overall, “Combray" part one was a confusing read for me. I was left with so many unanswered questions. I wish the author had given us more insight into the narrator's past before these events.

Hi!

Hi everyone!

This is my blog for my Romance Studies 202 class, where I will be sharing my views and opinions on the course readings.

Now a little about myself. My name is Diya. I am a first-year student at the University of British Columbia. I plan on majoring in psychology. I enjoy reading in my spare time and am excited to expand my bookshelf. I took this class to fulfill my literature requirement but was happy to hear about the immense number of books we will read!

My expectations for this course is to read as many books as possible and try different books from different areas of the world. And be able to see similarities and differences between the novels. The course structure is quite refreshing. I am ready to test my abilities in producing blog posts. Also, I am happy with the freedom we have on how many and which books we can choose from.

In the course introduction, I was intrigued to find out that there is no set location of where the romance world exists. I am excited to read novels from all over the world and visit their literature setting of the romance world. Throughout this course, I am interested in comparing how each language's literature is similar based on their Latin origin and how they contrast on their differences in geographical, social, and historical context. I am ready to read, understand, and create connections to further develop my learning in romance studies. I am excited to share my thoughts on my blog and looking forward to your comments!