ERACLIO ZEPEDA: BIOGRAPHY, STYLE AND WORKS - ARTE - 2024

Eraclio Zepeda Ramos (1937-2015) was a Mexican writer, short story writer, and poet who also served as a politician. He was a member of the Mexican Socialist Party (PMS) with which he held various public positions, in addition to being a deputy on several occasions.

His literary work spanned genres such as theater, novels, short stories, and poetry. It was characterized by being easy to understand through the use of simple and clear language. Zepeda received several awards and recognitions for his practice as a writer.

Eraclio Zepeda at a conference. Source via:

The author began to develop his literary career in his youth, and at the age of twenty-two he published his first story entitled: Benzulul. Later he published more outstanding works such as Los pálpitos del colonel, Hours of flight, Occupation of the word and The great rains.

Biography

Birth

Eraclio Zepeda was born on March 24, 1937 in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, in the state of Chiapas. Informative data in relation to his parents and relatives is scarce, but it is believed that he came from a conservative and traditional provincial family, typical of those years.

Zepeda Studies

The years of primary education were attended in his hometown. Then he complemented them at the secondary institution of the Latin American Militarized University where he studied high school. Around that time he was attracted to socialism and took part in Marxist debates.

shield of the Veracruzana University, place of studies of Eraclio Zepeda. Source: Universidad Veracruzana, via Wikimedia Commons When he finished high school, Zepeda decided to study anthropology and entered the Universidad Veracruzana. Those university years promoted his leanings for left-wing politics, whose experiences and knowledge he captured in many of his writings.

First tasks

Zepeda began working as a teacher and professor in his younger years. Towards 1957 he gave classes at the San Cristóbal de las Casas Preparatory School and a year later he imparted knowledge at the Veracruzana University, specifically at the law school.

In 1959 he materialized his taste for literature and writing with the publication of his first book of short stories entitled Benzulul. The following year she left for Cuba to participate in the First Latin American Youth Congress. It was in 1960 when he published the poetic work La espiga mutinada.

Stay in Cuba

Aula Magna of the University of Havana. Source: Demontaud, via Wikimedia Commons Once in Cuba, Eraclio Zepeda had the opportunity to be a professor first at the Universidad de Oriente and then at the University of Havana. During his time on the Caribbean island, he also participated as a soldier when the Bay of Pigs invasion began.

Intervention in CONASUPO

Zepeda showed interest in the less favored, especially the inhabitants of rural areas. Thus, in 1967 he formed a group to guide the peasants who made up CONASUPO, the well-known National Company of Popular Subsistence.

At that time he carried out a theatrical project focused on the workers of the land. Then the Peasant Orientation Theater was born, where San Martín de la Piedra started a radio soap opera. Similarly, it gave them the opportunity to express themselves through the newspaper El Correo Campesino.

Zepeda in politics

Eraclio Zepeda's leftist ideology in politics led him to early participation in Mexican social events. In 1958 he joined the Peasant Workers Party, where he stayed for a year. Then he was a member of the Mexican Communist Party for more than a decade, from 1969 to 1979, being an active member of this party.

He became one of the creators of the main board of the Unified Socialist of Mexico and the Mexican Socialist parties. The writer ran for senator from Chiapas, and ran as a pre-candidate for the presidency.

Political breadth

Eraclio served as federal deputy for the Unified Socialist Party of Mexico. At the end of the eighties he joined the Party of the Democratic Revolution, after forming the Guarantees Commission. He was secretary of the government of his native state between 1994 and 1997.

Death

The last years of the writer's life were spent between politics and literature. His latest works include: Hours of flight, The great rains and Touching the fire. Eraclio Zepeda died on September 17, 2015 in the city where he was born, due to a chronic respiratory condition.

Awards and honours

- Medal of the National Indigenous Institute, 1980.

- Xavier Villaurrutia Award in 1982.

- Member of the National System of Art Creators since 1994.

- Belisario Domínguez Medal in 2014.

- National Prize of Sciences and Arts in 2014.

- Doctor Honoris Causa by the Intercultural University of Chiapas and by the University of Sciences and Arts of Chiapas in 2015.

Style

Eraclio Zepeda's writings were characterized by being simple, clear and precise. At the same time they enjoyed rhythm, feeling and vitality to give more dynamism to the texts. The themes he developed were linked to peasant life, indigenous people, and politics.

Plays

Stories

Poems

Theater

- Time and water (1960).

Brief description of some of his works

Benzulul

It was one of the main works of the Mexican writer, this book of stories consisted of eight stories. The main theme was related to the indigenous people of Chiapas, with their traditions, culture, thoughts and the way in which they were linked with the government and other races. The titles of the stories that made up the work were:

- "Benzulul".

- "The mute".

- "The glen of the beginning".

- "Don't be surprised, Sergeant."

- "El Caguamo".

- "Wind".

- "Who says the truth."

- "Tipá Sponsorship".

Fragment

«In these hills there is everything. Everything is a witness to something. Since I was this size, these sides were already known to occur. The same walk…

"In that tree they hung Martín Tzotzoc so that he would not eat the anxiety, and he would begin to tell how it was that the Salvatierra stole that large bull, fine stallion, property of the ejido…".

References

1. Eraclio Zepeda. (2019). Spain: Wikipedia. Recovered from: es.wikipedia.org.
2. Hernández, N. (2015). Benzulul, the indigenous vision of Eraclio Zepeda. Venezuela: Letralia Land of Letters. Recovered from: letralia.com.
3. Eraclio Zepeda. (2018). Mexico: Encyclopedia of Literature in Mexico. Recovered from: elem.mx.
4. Eraclio Zepeda, great writer and short story writer. (2016). Mexico: The Aguascalientes Day. Recovered from: lja.mx.
5. Eraclio Zepeda. (2017). Spain: Fund for Economic Culture. Recovered from: fcede.es.