XAVIER VILLAURRUTIA: BIOGRAPHY, STYLE, WORKS AND PHRASES - LITERATURE - 2024

Xavier Villaurrutia González (1903-1950) was a Mexican writer, poet, playwright, and literary critic. He was also one of the founders of Los Contemporáneos, a group of young intellectuals who were in charge of renewing Mexican poetry.

Villaurrutia's work was characterized by clear language, in addition to presenting a constant play with words. The end of human existence was one of the writer's favorite subjects. Therefore, his work was sometimes dark, a reflection of the anguish and anxiety that the subject generated.

Xavier Villaurritua when young. Source: Xavier Villaurrutia, via Wikimedia Commons

Some of the most outstanding titles of Xavier Villaurrutia's literary work were: Reflejos, Nocturnos, Nostalgia de la muerte, Autos profanos and La mujer legitima. It is important to note that, although the writer spent his entire life on literary paths, his work was not abundant.

Biography

Birth and family

Xavier Villaurrutia was born on March 27, 1903, in Mexico City. Personal and family data on this Mexican intellectual are scarce; however, due to his abilities and training opportunities, it is believed that he came from a cultured family, and that his parents made an effort to give him quality of life, translated into a good education.

Villaurrutia Education

Villaurrutia studied in his hometown, in institutions such as the French College, and the National Preparatory School where he attended high school. Although he later began to study law, he promptly dropped out to devote himself entirely to literature.

He trained in theater in Fine Arts, and later obtained a scholarship to study drama. So in 1935 she went to the United States, to study for a year at Yale University. There she met her countryman, the writer and playwright Rodolfo Usigli.

Coat of arms of Yale University, Xavier Villaurrutia's home of studies. Source: Yale University, via Wikimedia Commons

First publications

Starting in the 1920s, when Villaurrutia was still very young, he began to make his way into literature. This is how in 1923 his first collection of poems came to light, which he entitled Eight Poets. Three years later he published Reflejos. These books showed feelings of despondency and loneliness.

Villaurrutia in the print media

Like many of his contemporaries, Xavier Villaurrutia was linked to print media such as newspapers and magazines. In 1927, together with the writer and poet Salvador Nov, he created the magazine Ulises, from which only six publications came out during a year.

Later, he was part of the magazine Los Contemporáneos, Letras de México, and El Hijo Prodigal, among others. In addition, he made several collaborations in newspapers such as El Espectador, El Universal Ilustrado, Novedades and Hoy. During most of his life his writing filled the spaces of the pages of newspapers.

Last years and death

Shield of the National Preparatory School, also Xavier Villaurrutia's study house. Source: UNAM, via Wikimedia Commons

Xavier Villaurrutia's life was short; perhaps that is why his work was not more extensive. However, the last years of its existence were spent creating and writing. He died unexpectedly at the age of forty-seven, on December 31, 1950, in Mexico City.

Style

Xavier Villaurrutia's literary work was largely influenced by the Mexican Ramón López Velarde, and also by the surrealism movement. It was characterized by the use of a clear and precise language, in addition to being loaded with a heavy and dark expressiveness.

Poetry

In Villaurrutia's poetry there are surrealism and dreamlike or hallucinatory elements, through which he expressed the anguish after the end of life. The dreams, the darkness, the shadow and the anxiety are typical of the poetic work of this Mexican writer.

Drama

His dramatic work was characterized by being immersed in the literary. In the dialogues it was rare to observe common and colloquial terms, but rather they were lyrical. Her favorite themes had to do with family and Greek legends. These creations, in particular, were deeply psychological in character.

Plays

Poetry

Some scholars of Villaurrutia's work, such as Alí Chumacero, affirmed that his poetry went through three relevant phases. In the first, the author showed his ability to catch and persuade through the dynamism and playful component of the word, in an intelligent way.

In the second phase or stage, the writer manifested his intellectual ability, without neglecting emotions; however, he expressed them reasonably. Finally, the third stage of his poetry was more emotional and sentimental. In it he applied especially intelligence and reasoning in the metric structure.

- Eight poets (1923).

- Reflections (1926).

- Two nights (1931).

- Nightlife (1931).

- Nocturnal of the angels (1936).

- Night rose (1937).

- Night sea (1937).

- Nostalgia for death (1938).

- Tenth death and other poems not collected (1941).

- Song of Spring and Other Poems (1948).

- Complete poetry and theater (1953).

Brief description of some of his works

Nostalgia for death

This work has been considered one of the most important by Xavier Villaurrutia, due to its lyrical qualities. The collection of poems dealt with the subject of greatest interest to the writer: death. The poet used a clear and expressive language, where despair was a constant emotion.

Through the different poems, Villaurrutia wanted to imply that death was something that was latent. That is to say, that by itself it had life, that you could feel through what you wanted and suddenly it was lost. The anguish that the poet suffered was also reflected in the verses of this work.

Fragment

"What proof of the existence

there will be greater than luck

of living without seeing you

and dying in your presence!

This lucid awareness

to love the never seen

and to expect the unforeseen;

this falling without reaching

is the anguish of thinking

that since I die I exist.

… I don't sleep so that when you see you

arrive slow and off, so that when listening slowly

your voice that pours silently, so that when you touch nothing…

know that I own you, feel that I die awake.

… In vain threats, death, close my mouth to my wound

and end my life

with an inert word.

What can I think of seeing you

yes in my true anguish

I had to violate waiting;

yes, in view of your delay

to fill my hope

There is no hour when I do not die! ”.

Nightly rose

This work was a kind of praise that the Mexican writer made to José Gorostiza, for whom he felt admiration. The depth of the poetry was rooted in Villaurrutia's intention to reach maximum perfection, using the rose as an analogy.

For the author, the rose was the reflection of beauty; but not of any beauty, but of the one that transcended, the one that was opposed to the natural and essential. His stance on this flower was anything but basic. In fact, he totally opposed the one used by other authors.

The theme of the night and its darkness was also very characteristic of this collection of poems.

Fragment

"I talk about the rose too.

But my rose is not the cold rose

nor the skin of a child, nor the rose that turns

so slowly that its movement

it is a mysterious form of stillness.

… It is the rose of touch in the darkness, it is the rose that advances fiery, the rose with pink nails, the pink tips of the greedy fingers,

the digital rose, the blind rose.

… It is the rose that opens the eyelids, the vigilant rose, awake, the rose of desolate insomnia.

It is the rose of smoke, the ash rose, the black coal diamond

what a silent hole the darkness

and it does not occupy a place in space ”.

Fragment of

"Spring is born

of we will never know

what secret regions

from the submissive land, of the endless sea

of the infinite sky.

… Spring rises from the sky

it is a silent and thin cloud, the palest and girl.

No one watches her rise

but she grows and rises, to the shoulders of the wind;

and it arrives, unexpected.

Because spring is a cloud!

… Because spring is above all

the first truth, the truth that looms

without noise, in a moment, the one that finally seems to us

that it will last, eternal ”.

Fragment of

“They are the angels!

Have come down to earth

by invisible scales.

They come from the sea that is the mirror of the sky, in ships of smoke and shadow, to merge and be confused with mortals…

They walk, they stop, they continue.

They exchange glances, they dare smiles.

They form unexpected pairs ”.

Fragment of

"Not your silence hard crystal hard rock, nor the cold of the hand that you hold out to me,

nor your dry words, without time or color,

not my name, not even my name, that you dictate as a naked figure of meaning…

The sea that rises mute to my lips,

the sea that saturates me

with the deadly poison that does not kill

it prolongs life and hurts more than pain.

The sea that does slow and slow work

forging in the cavern of my chest

the angry fist of my heart (…) ”.

Drama

- The ivy (1941).

- Profane Cars (1943).

- The legitimate woman (1943).

- Invitation to death (1944).

- The mulatto woman from Córdoba (1948).

- Dangerous game (1949).

- Tragedy of mistakes (1951).

Brief description of some of his dramatic works

Ivy

It was the first play by the Mexican writer. In it he reflected the myth of Phaedra and Hippolytus. It was structured in three acts, set in Mexico at the time it was released. The story was given in a circular way, more explicitly that of the protagonist, Teresa.

Throughout the three acts it was possible to observe the constant references that the author made to elements such as darkness, shadow, cold, characteristics of his literature. In addition, the title refers to the life of Teresa, who was subject to the actions and influences of other people.

Argument

In this work a triangle was woven, made up of Teresa, Hipólito and his father, who had died leaving the woman a widow, but remained present through the portraits in the house. Finally the protagonists end up separated.

Fragment

“Teresa is like ivy: she lives on what she touches, on what she embraces. Your father used to say it to me in other words: 'I feel that I am the one who gives life, warmth and fire to this creature.'

The legitimate woman

It was one of the most recognized and important dramatic works by Xavier Villaurrutia, due to the psychology of the characters. It was a story of love, death and tragedy, where the protagonists had to deal with impositions, without having much capacity for tolerance.

The play dealt with the love affair that Rafael had with Sara, as a lover. Finally, when his wife passed away, he made the decision to consolidate the relationship he had with his beloved, and took her home, without considering the feelings of his children: Angel and Marta. From that point the plot began.

Narrative

- Lady of hearts (1928).

Journals

- Ulysses (1927-1928).

- The Contemporaries (1928-1931).

Phrases

- "To love is not to sleep when in my bed you dream between my arms that surround you."

- “I hear my heart beat bleeding and always and never the same. I know who it beats like that, but I can't say why it will be ”.

- "The musicality of Mexican poetry is of great finesse and it is useless to seek symphonic latitudes in it, but rather chamber music."

- “To love is an anguish, a question, a suspense and luminous doubt; it is a desire to know everything about you and at the same time a fear of finally knowing it ”.

- "Death always takes the form of the bedroom that contains us."

- "Prisoner of you, I live looking for you in the dark cavern of my agony."

- "When the night of smoke, dust and ash envelops the city, men are suspended for a moment, because desire was born in them, with the night."

- “If together our naked lips as bodies, and our bodies together as naked lips did not form a body and a breath. It wasn't our love, it wasn't our love! ”.

- "What incredible evening light, made of the finest dust, full of mysterious warmth, announces the appearance of snow!"

- "Everything that desire smears on my lips: the dreamed sweetness of a contact, the well-known taste of saliva."

References

1. Xavier Villaurrutia. (2019). Spain: Wikipedia. Recovered from: es.wikipedia.org.
2. Tamaro, E. (2019). Xavier Villaurrutia. (N / a): Biographies and Lives. Recovered from: biografiasyvidas.com.
3. Moreno, E., Ramírez, M. and others. (2019). Xavier Villaurrutia. (N / a): Search Biographies. Recovered from: Buscabiografias.com.
4. From the hill, J. (2003). Xavier Villaurrutia. Mexico: Free Letters. Recovered from: letraslibres.com.
5. Xavier Villaurrutia. (2013). (N / a): The Executioner's Labyrinth. Recovered from: ellaberintodelverdugo.logspot.com.