Infrarealism

Infrarealism (Spanish: Infrarrealismo) is a poetic movement founded in Mexico City in 1975 by a group of twenty young poets, including Roberto Bolaño, Mario Santiago Papasquiaro, José Vicente Anaya, es:Rubén Medina, es:José Rosas Ribeyro, Guadalupe Ochoa, Vera and Mara Larrosa, es:Claudia Kerik, es:Darío Galicia and José Peguero.

The Infrarealists, also known as "infras", took for their motto a phrase from the Chilean painter Roberto Matta: "Blow the brains out of the cultural establishment".[1] Rather than a defined style, the movement was characterised by the pursuit of a free and personal poetry, representative of its members' attitude towards life on the fringes of conventional society, in a similar manner to the Beat Generation of the 1950s.[2][3][4]

The origin of the phrase is French. The intellectual Emmanuel Berl attributes it to one of the founders of Surrealism, the writer and political activist Philippe Soupault (1897-1990), who was also one of the driving forces behind Dadaism.[5] According to Bolaño, however, the name was originally coined in the 1940s by Roberto Matta, after André Breton expelled him from the Surrealists. Cast out, Matta became an "Infrarealist", and the only one up until the term's rebirth as a literary movement.[6][7] A third account for the name's origin can be traced back to Russian writer Georgy Gurevich's sci-fi novella Infra Dragonis, originally published in 1959, and mentioned by Bolaño in the first Infrarealist manifesto.[8]

The initial phase of Infrarealism, its most important, lasted until the departure of Papasquiaro and Bolaño to Europe in 1977, who were the initiators and primary leaders of the movement.[9] However, on Papasquiario's return to Mexico City in 1979, the movement continued once more under his leadership until his death in 1998. At present, the movement is maintained by a mix of new and original members.[10]

  1. ^ Astorga, Antonio. "Volarle la tapa de los sesos a la cultura oficial es medida ciertamente saludable". ABC.es. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  2. ^ Madariaga, Monserrat (2010). Bolaño infra: 1975-1977. Los años que inspiraron 'Los detectives salvajes'. Santiago, Chile: RIL Editores. pp. 47–63. ISBN 978-956-284-763-6.
  3. ^ Madariaga, Monserrat (2010). Bolaño infra: 1975-1977. Los años que inspiraron 'Los detectives salvajes'. Santiago, Chile: RIL Editores. pp. 83–100. ISBN 978-956-284-763-6.
  4. ^ Madariaga, Monserrat (2010). Bolaño infra: 1975-1977. Los años que inspiraron 'Los detectives salvajes'. Santiago, Chile: RIL Editores. pp. 29–44. ISBN 978-956-284-763-6.
  5. ^ Herralde, Jorge. "Para Roberto Bolaño". Archived from the original on 25 May 2012. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  6. ^ "María Teresa Cárdenas y Erwin Díaz: Revista de Libros de El Mercurio". Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  7. ^ Castañeda, Eva. "El infrarrealismo, subversión como propuesta estética". Archived from the original on 19 November 2019. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  8. ^ Ruiz, Felipe. "Infrarrealistas en Ciudad de México. Un recorrido: Bolaño y el país de los soles negros". Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  9. ^ "María Teresa Cárdenas y Erwin Díaz: Revista de Libros de El Mercurio". Archived from the original on 28 July 2011. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  10. ^ Madariaga, Monserrat (2010). Bolaño infra: 1975-1977. Los años que inspiraron 'Los detectives salvajes'. Santiago, Chile: RIL Editores. pp. 125–134. ISBN 978-956-284-763-6.