LUISA JOSEFINA HERNÁNDEZ: BIOGRAPHY, STYLE, WORKS, PHRASES - LITERATURE - 2025

Luisa Josefina Hernández y Lavalle (1928) is a Mexican writer, novelist, essayist, playwright and translator, considered one of the most important intellectuals of the 20th century. Her literary work continues in force due to its quality and intelligence to develop it.

Hernández spanned various literary genres, including the novel, the theater, and the essay. His work is characterized by the use of clear, precise and expressive language, loaded with a dose of humor and sarcasm. In her writings the influence of the classics of literature and modern innovations is notorious.

Portrait of Luisa Josefina Hernández. Source: mexicana.cultura.gob.mx.

This Mexican author has more than twenty novels and sixty plays to her credit, to which are added several essays and translations by authors such as William Shakespeare and Arthur Miller. Some of her most outstanding works are Cane brandy, The place where the grass grows, The deserted cholera, The wedding and The great dead.

Biography

Birth and family

Luisa Josefina was born on November 2, 1928 in Mexico City, into a cultured family with a good social position. Her parents were originally from Campeche and their names were Santiago Hernández Maldonado and Faustina Lavalle Berrón. She was the only daughter of the marriage and grew up listening to her mother's stories about that town.

Studies

Hernández attended his primary, secondary and high school studies at institutions in his hometown. From an early age he showed interest in literature and writing. So when he finished high school in 1946 he began to study philosophy and letters at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).

Shield of the UNAM, place of studies of Hernández. Source: Both, the shield and the motto, José Vasconcelos Calderón, via Wikimedia Commons

Later he specialized in dramatic art and completed a master's degree in letters at UNAM. During those university years she made her debut as a playwright, with works such as Aguardiente de caña, Agonía and La corona del angel. The writer was awarded a scholarship in 1952 by the Centro Mexicano de Escritores to expand her literary work.

Literary growth

Luisa Josefina began to grow in the literary area in her early twenties. In 1954 the Centro Mexicano de Escritores gave her a grant for the second time and as a result she wrote the play Botica Modelo and published the novel The place where the grass falls.

In the mid-fifties, Hernández managed to graduate in drama, and did so with the play Los Fruits Caídos. The writer also made her way as a teacher; She began teaching theory and dramatic composition at UNAM -a work she performed for forty years-, and theater at the National Institute of Fine Arts.

Period of wide production

Luisa Josefina Hernández was one of those intellectuals who did not stop in the production of her narrative and theatrical work. Its growth was rapid and notorious, in less than a decade it had already developed more than a dozen literary works.

However, the writer had one of the most fruitful stages of her career in the sixties. At that time she managed to publish five novels, which were The Deserted Palaces, The Secret Cholera, The Valley We Choose, The Memory of Amadís and The Cavalcade, exactly between 1963 and 1969.

Awards and honours

Hernández's literary career has been praised by the public and critics. His extensive work has been worthy of several awards, some of the most relevant are mentioned below:

Recognition of the Spring Festival Contest in 1951, for the work Aguardiente de caña.

- Prize from the newspaper El Nacional in 1954, for Botica Modelo.

- Magda Donato Award in 1971, for the narrative work Nostalgia de Troya.

- Xavier Villaurrutia Award in 1982, for the novel Apocalipsis cum figuris.

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

Last years

The last years of Luisa Josefina Hernández's life have been dedicated to her great passion: literature. Despite her advanced age, the writer continues to develop novels and plays. Her latest publications include The Great Dead, A Reading from Yerma by Federico García Lorca and A Night for Bruno.

On the other hand, this Mexican intellectual continued to receive awards in the last two decades of her career. In 2000 she was the winner of the Juan Ruiz de Alarcón Dramaturgy Prize, and two years later she was recognized with the National of Sciences and Arts. In 2018 the Baja California Fine Arts Award in dramaturgy was named after her.

Style

Commemorative poster for celebrating the 90 years of Luisa Josefina Hernández. Source: Inba.gob.mx.

Luisa Josefina Ramírez's literary style is characterized by the use of well-developed, cultured and precise language. In her works the presence of intelligent dialogues, full of sarcasm and humor, is common. In both novels and plays there is dynamism and psychological complexity in the characters.

Theater

Hernández's plays were characterized primarily by being profound and possessing intense psychological dynamics. The main themes were related to the evolution of women within Mexican society and the real problems of families.

Novel

Hernández developed novels with realistic content, whose stories were told through clear and uninhibited language. Good humor and irony were not lacking in his stories, and at the same time he criticized the society of the time. The author wrote about Mexican families, especially the domestic role of women.

Plays

- The cavalcade (1969). Novel.

- Nostalgia for Troy (1970). Novel.

- The dance of the multiple grouse (1971).

- Apostasy (1978). Novel.

- Certain Things (1980).

- Apocalypse cum figuris (1982).

- The order of the factors (1983).

- Jerusalem, Damascus (1985).

- The secret friend (1986).

- "Underwater navigation chart" (1987).

- Almeida Danzón (1989).

- There will be poetry (1990).

- Weddings (1993).

- Temperate zone (1993).

- Beckett. Sense and method of two works (1997).

- The great dead (1999-2001).

- A reading of Yerma by Federico García Lorca (2006). Test.

- One night for Bruno (2007).

Brief description of some of his works

The fallen fruits

It is considered one of the best-known plays by the Mexican playwright. The popularity of this work has been due to the originality and quality with which the author described the events of the story. Hernández knew how to combine Mexican customs with social reality.

The writer developed the work based on real characters, with characteristics that allowed the public to identify themselves. It was a plot set in a town and what the author wanted was to highlight deep-rooted and old-fashioned ideas that did not allow the advancement of society.

The main characters are:

- Celia: her character represented a young woman, mother of two children and frowned upon by her family for having divorced and marrying another man.

- Fernando: Celia's paternal uncle. With this character Hernández represented vice and family disloyalty. He was a middle-aged man, alcoholic and disrespectful.

- Magdalena: Fernando's wife and victim of domestic violence.

- Dora: adopted daughter of Fernando and Magdalena. Born into a very poor family, she was welcomed by the couple when she was seventeen years old.

- Francisco: 22-year-old young man and Celia's partner.

- Paloma: Celia's aunt (sister of her paternal grandfather), was seventy-five years old. She was a woman who was abused and discriminated against by her relatives.

Fragment:

"Magdalena: -Because I was ashamed; When a woman leaves her husband early in her marriage, people always say that it is her fault.

Celia: -It's true. And then?

Magdalena: -Then I couldn't, because I thought that if I left it, I wouldn't have anything left. Good or bad, what I had was mine, what I had chosen. There are times when you realize that the life you lead is your life. The one that one chose and that cannot be denied because it is like saying: 'Magdalena, you no longer live'.

Celia: -Do you think there is someone who chooses his life?

Magdalena: -I suppose so, I decided to marry Fernando, and once it was done…

Celia: -It's over, there's no hope left.

Magdalena: -Those who are like you… Celia. We are equal to those who are like you. Only there are trees that release fruit at the first shake, and others that need two ”.

Phrases

- "When I write I don't think about genres."

- “The job of writers consists of relating, almost automatically, actions with the character of the person who carries them out. In other words, there are things that people would not do if their character and circumstances did not give them reason… ”.

- “When you write, you write. When you finish writing, you think about problems… ”.

- “The theater has its own freedom. You have to know how to find it ”.

- “I think that in general Mexicans are not very gifted to do theater. It is a question of character. We are good poets and good painters… This implies that theater is not one of the national vocations… ”.

- “… When I feel like saying something realistically in a realistic way, I say it, and if it seems to me that that way doesn't work for me, I use another way as an instrument. I feel not committed to technique, not committed to style, but committed to truth and beauty ”.

- "I think that the public has already learned to go to the theater… when theater is done in places that are poor neighborhoods and neighborhoods, people run to the theater, people without training, but who know they can have fun there."

References

1. Luisa Josefina Hernández. (2019). Spain: Wikipedia. Recovered from: es.wikipedia.org.
2. Leñero, E. (2018). Luisa Josefina Hernández. Mexico: Process. Recovered from: proces.com.mx.
3. Martínez, A. (2014). "When I write I don't think about genres": ´Luisa Josefina Hernández. Mexico: Millennium. Recovered from: milenio.com.
4. Luisa Josefina Hernández. (2019). Mexico: Encyclopedia of Literature in Mexico. Recovered from: elem.mx.
5. Naranjo, J. (2018). Fallen fruits. (N / a): Chronicle of Power. Recovered from: cronicadelpodder.com.