The Weighted Literary Islands of Virgilio Piñera

doi:10.1017/9781009168359.022

21 - The Weighted Literary Islands of Virgilio Piñera

from Part III - Literary and Intellectual Culture in the Twentieth-Century Republic

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 August 2024

Thomas F. Anderson

Edited by

Vicky Unruh and

Jacqueline Loss

Show author details

Vicky Unruh: Affiliation:
University of Kansas
Jacqueline Loss: Affiliation:
University of Connecticut

Book contents

Get access

Summary

Following the chronological contours of Virgilio Piñera’s biography, this chapter explores his initial involvement with the Grupo Orígenes writers and his subsequent rejection of the group’s esthetics; his poetry, particularly his inventive long poem La isla en peso; his pioneering satirical and absurdist plays; the acerbic humor, nonconformist characters, and existential despair characterizing his short stories; the convention-shattering treatment of sexuality and homoeroticism in his novels; and his literary-journalistic writing. Noting Piñera’s enthusiastic initial embrace of the revolution and engagement in its artistic projects, the chapter also details his subsequent arrest, ostracism by the state, and censorship of his work until his death in 1979; the official Cuban resurrection of his legacy beginning in the 1980s; and international recognition of his work into the twenty-first century.

Keywords

Virgilio Piñera (1912–1979)Piñera and Grupo Orígenes Piñera’s poetry and La isla en peso Piñera’s absurdist theater Piñera’s acerbic short fiction homoeroticism in Piñera’s novels Piñera’s journalism Piñera’s shifting critical fortunes

Type: Chapter
Information: The Cambridge History of Cuban Literature , pp. 336 - 350

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009168359.022 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2024

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Works Cited

Aguirre, Mirta. “Electra Garrigó.” Noticias de Hoy, 26 Oct. 1948, p.10.Google Scholar

Amado Blanco, Luis. “Electra Garrigó.” Información, 26 Oct. 1948, p.6.Google Scholar

Amado Blanco, Luis . “Los intocables.” Noticias de Hoy, 15 Dec. 1948, p.10.Google Scholar

Arrufat, Antón. “La muerte en vida.” Diario de poesía, vol. 13, no. 5, Spring 1999, p.28.Google Scholar

Arrufat, Antón . “Un poco de Piñera.” Introduction to Cuentos completos, by Virgilio Piñera, Alfaguara, 1999, pp. 11–31.Google Scholar

Ávila, Leopoldo [Luis Pavón Tamayo]. “Dos viejos pánicos.” Verde Olivo, 28 Oct. 1969, p.19.Google Scholar

Castro, Fidel. “Words to the Intellectuals” 1961. Latin American Network Information Center, University of Texas: Castro Speech Database, http://lanic.utexas.edu/project/castro/db/1961/19610630.html.Google Scholar

Piñera, Virgilio. Aire frío. Pagrán, 1959.Google Scholar

Piñera, Virgilio . La carne de René. Siglo Veinte, 1952.Google Scholar

Piñera, Virgilio . “Clamor en el penal.”Albur, vol. 3, no. 5, 1990, pp. lxxxvi–cxxiv.Google Scholar

Piñera, Virgilio . Cold Tales. Translated by Mark Schafer, Eridanos, 1988.Google Scholar

Piñera, Virgilio . El conflicto. Ediciones Espuela de Plata, 1942.Google Scholar

Piñera, Virgilio . Cuentos fríos. Losada, 1956.Google Scholar

Piñera, Virgilio . Dos viejos pánicos. Casa de las Américas, 1968.Google Scholar

Piñera, Virgilio . “Electra Garrigó” [1941.] Teatro completo, Ediciones R, 1960, pp. 34–84.Google Scholar

Piñera, Virgilio . “Falsa alarma.”Orígenes, vol. 6, no. 21, 1949, pp. 29–35; vol. 6, no. 22, 1949, pp. 35–41.Google Scholar

Piñera, Virgilio . Las furias. Ediciones Espuela de Plata, 1941.Google Scholar

Piñera, Virgilio . La isla en peso. n.p., 1943.Google Scholar

Piñera, Virgilio . “Jesús” [1950.] Teatro completo, Ediciones R, 1960, pp. 88–134.Google Scholar

Piñera, Virgilio . “Mis 25 años de vida literaria.” Revolución, 3 Feb. 1961, p. 3.Google Scholar

Piñera, Virgilio . El no. [1965.] Vuelta, 1994.Google Scholar

Piñera, Virgilio . “¡Ojo con el crítico …!” Prometeo, vol. 2, no. 11, Nov. 1948, pp. 2–4.Google Scholar

Piñera, Virgilio . “El país del Arte.” Orígenes, vol. 4, no. 16, 1947, pp. 34–38.Google Scholar

Piñera, Virgilio . Pequeñas Maniobras. Ediciones R, 1963.Google Scholar

Piñera, Virgilio . Poesía y prosa. Serafín García, 1944.Google Scholar

Piñera, Virgilio . René’s Flesh. Translated by Mark Schafer, Eridanos, 1989.Google Scholar

Piñera, Virgilio . “Terribilia Meditans I.” Poeta, vol. 1, no. 1, May 1942, p.1.Google Scholar

Piñera, Virgilio . La vida entera. Unión, 1969.Google Scholar

Piñera, Virgilio . Virgilio Piñera de vuelta a vuelta: Correspondencia 1932–1978. Edited by Simedey Rodríguez, Patricia , Unión, 2011.Google Scholar

Piñera, Virgilio . The Weight of the Island: Selected Poems of Virgilio Piñera. Translated by Pablo Medina, Diálogos, 2015.Google Scholar

Townsend, Sarah. “Electra Garrigó.” Stages of Conflict, edited by Taylor, Diana and Townsend, Sarah, U Michigan P, 2008, pp. 173–179.Google Scholar