Prieto Mimic Stratagems

PRIETO, RENE, Mimetic Stratagems: The Unreliable Narrator in Latin American Literature ,
Revista de estudios hispnicos, 19:3 (1985:oct.) p.61

RENE PRIETO
Min1etic Stratagen1s: The Unreliable Narrator
in Latin An1erican Literature
No narrator or central intelligence or observer is simply con-
vincing: he is convincingly decent or n1ean, brilliant or stupid,
inforn1ed, ignorant or n1uddled. Since there are few such quali-
ties that even the n1ost tolerant of us can observe in full neutra-
lity, we usually find our en1otional and intellectual reactions to
hin1 as a character affecting our reactions to the events he relates.
-Wayne Booth, The Rhetoric o.f Fiction
IN THE TRADITIONAL NOVEL THE AUTHOR MAKES
the reader believe in a fiction which is presented as plausible
by virtue of its portrayal as a coherent systen1 n1in1icking life.
The narrator of these novels usually introduces, develops and
often con1n1ents upon the relation of events. He n1ay well dis-
approve of the run of affairs but, traditionally, he does not
discredit it. Suggesting that the narrative events are unfounded
would, it seen1s, obliterate all verisin1ilitude, annul the minlet-
ic illusion and challenge the very concept of the novel as an
acceptable fiction. And yet, narrative contradiction as well
as the figure of a slippery narrator who brandishes irresolution
as his shibboleth proliferate in conten1porary literature. Wayne
Booth, for one, feels that the widespread n1argin of indecision
so typical of n1odern prose defines a tendency "to n1ove closer
to life itself than was ever atten1pted by earlier fiction" and
Copyright (c) 2006 ProQuest Information and Learning Company
Copyright (c) Washington University PRIETO, RENE, Mimetic Stratagems: The Unreliable Narrator in Latin American Literature ,
62 Rene Prieto
"to leave the reader to choose for hin1self, (to) force hin1 to
face each decision as the hero faces it."
1
In Latin An1erica, offering choice to the reader has becon1e
a pet device of the n1any writers who deploy the art of anlbi-
guity. In fact, three authors-Jorge Luis Borges, Juan Carlos
Onetti and Severo Sarduy- have all but codified a literary
n1ode on the basis of what could well be tern1ed narrative hes-
itancy or paradign1atic indecision.
2
Their techniques are so
subversively conceived, n1oreover, that few pause to consider
their n1ost in1n1ediate effect on reader response.
To begin with, in works such as Borges' "Ten1a del Traidor
y del Heroe,"
3
Juan Carlos Onetti's Para una tumba sin nom-
bre4 and Severo Sarduy's Cobra,
5
verisin1ilitude as well as con-
sistency (whether "ethical," chronological or spatial) have been
abrogated. In other words, in these transforn1ational works
the narrative subject is n1ultiforn1 and the strean1 of events anl-
biguous or even whin1sical.
If characters and events are not consistent with then1selves
it follows that notions of truth and n1in1esis ostensibly sen1inal
to the art of the novel are being relinquished or at best quali-
fied. In fact, to reclain1 and refurbish Coleridge's well known
expression, we "suspend our belief," as well we n1ight, in the
face of a discourse which is consistently faltering, of a narrator
who conspicuously discredits the run of events.
6
But suspen-
sion of belief should be seen, in this instance, as a liberating
experience freeing the reader fron1 the blind faith inspired by
reliable narrators of n1ore traditional literature. In place of
trust, the critical reader of faltering fiction develops a height-
ened awareness of the act of writing. This awareness is in turn
an1ply catered to by authors-such as Borges, Onetti and Sar-
duy-who portray writing as a conspicuous process and invite
new developn1ents in the dynan1ics of literary response.
Discussing this dynan1ic Norn1an Holland explains how we
relax the n1on1ent we understand that we are dealing with un-
reality in a text. It is at this n1on1ent, he argues, that we agree
"to suspend our disbelief and in a way to respond to the un-
reality as though it were real. "
7
But what Borges, Onetti and
Sarduy are doing is exactly the opposite. Their intention is
neither to lull nor to relax but rather to actively convince of
Min1etic Stratagen1s 63
the unreliable unreality of a narrative discourse which is in
every way construction, n1anipulation, artifice. And yet it ap-
pears that not despite but exactly because of their efforts to
suspend our belief we continue to be n1esn1erized by fiction
which exacts neither identification nor con1n1itn1ent but rather
fascination with the craft of writing and pleasure in the act of
reading.
Such con1plex and binding attachn1ent to texts which are
at best capricious warrants closer study and con1pels us to ex-
an1ine the dynan1ics of this type of literary response. I propose
to look at Borges' short story, Onetti's novella and Sarduy's
novel with the view of detern1ining what n1echanisn1s are used
to set up an unreliable text in which the narrative events are
either retracted, contradicted or even scoffed at by the narrator
hin1self. I don't intend this analysis to be an end unto itself,
n1oreover, but rather part of a discussion of n1ore fundan1ental
concerns. Since these three authors underscore the fact that
what we read is beguiling craft, a literary process and not a
portrait of reality, I wish, above all, to suggest reasons for the
binding fascination exerted by their n1essage.
A discussion of contradictory events in narrative discourse
n1ust focus., unavoidably., on the figure of an unreliable nar-
rator whose fallibility is responsible for the hesitancy of the
n1essage. In fiction., and by definition, the first person narrator
prevaricates while sparking off what Kate Han1burger refers
to as das Fingierte, "the feigned."
8
According to Han1burger,
"the concept of the feigned ... designates that place in the sys-
ten1 of literature where the first person narrative is to be found";
this concept., she adds., "designates son1ething pretended, in1i-
tated, son1ething inauthentic and non-genuine, whereas that
of fiction (''das Fictive") designates the n1ode of being of that
which is not real: of illusion, sen1blance, drean1, play."
9
Borges, Onetti and Sarduy all conceive their literary alche-
n1y in tern1s of such a first person narrator who highlights fron1
the beginning the fact that his tale is son1ething inauthentic,
a n1essage in which the reader should not blindly believe. For
exan1ple, the narrator of "Ten1a del Traidor y del Heroe" (a
secondary-participant narrator con1parable to Nick Carraway
in Fitzgerald's The Great GatsbJ') clain1s to "in1agine" the plot
64 Rene Prieto
of the tale-in-process: "he in1aginado este argun1ento, que es-
cribire tal vez" (p. 127). However, his knowledge is incon1plete:
"Faltan porn1enores, rectificaciones, ajustes" (p. 127). It is par-
adoxical, n1oreover, that Kilpatrick, the protagonist of this
avowedly "in1agined" tale, should be presented as a historical
figure: "Se aproxin1a la fecha del prin1er centenario de su nluer-
te" (p. 128) and that his existence should be substantiated
through an association with established docun1ents (what Bar-
thes refers to as the "Code of Literature" and the "Code of His-
tory"): Io Kilpatrick" ... cuyo non1bre ilustra los versos de Brown-
ing y de Hugo" (p. 127) and later., Kilpatrick " ... a sen1ejanza
de Moises" and, " ... tan1bien Julio Cesar ... " (p. 128). Neverthe-
less, as early as the second paragraph., the narrator discredits
the historic aspects of the tale with a studied arbitrariness: "La
acci6n transcurre en un pais oprin1ido y tenaz: Polonia, Irlan-
da, la republica de Venecia, algun estado sudan1ericano o bal-
canico ... " (p. 127). To confound n1atters even n1ore, after this
studied arbitrariness the narrative discourse reaffirn1s its ap-
pearance of reality with a present participle entered as a cor-
rection of the present indicative in the preceding sentence: "La
acci6n transcurre en un pais oprin1ido ... " the narrator then
rectifies: "Ha transcurrido., n1ejor dicho ... " {p. 127). The text
glides, once again, fron1 unconditional subjectivity to historical
conviction.
In "Ten1a del Traidor y del Heroe" history counterbalances
fiction, paradox casts doubts on historical fact and the seesaw
of an1biguity is further pron1oted with yet another type of art-
ful dodging: a shifting narrator describes a kaleidoscopic pro-
tagonist. The reader is first led to believe that the hero of the
narrative is also a traitor: "Nolan ejecut6 su tarea: anunci6
en pleno conclave que el traidor era el n1isn1o Kilpatrick" (p.
130). Subsequently, however, it is strongly suggested that the
traitor is also a hero. When conden1ned to die his only request
is that "su castigo no perjudicara a la patria" (p. 130). He not
only yearns for his own death ("un balazo anhelado entr6 en
el pecho del traidor y del heroe" (p. 131 )), but n1ay well have
conspired to bring it about in order to galvanize his people
into action.
There are no certainties in "Ten1a del Traidor y del Heroe";
Min1etic Stratagen1s
65
as we attend to narrators who clain1 they don't have all the
facts and to a tale which contradicts itself, we assist in the ela-
boration of a text-in-process, "La acci6n transcurre en un pais
oprin1ido y tenaz: Polonia, Irlanda, la republica de Venecia,
algun estado sudan1ericano o balcanico ... " (p. 127) and further,
"Digan1os (para con1odidad narrativa) Irlanda; digan1os 1824"
(p. 127). The tin1e and place of the action are established; how-
ever the criterion for establishing then1 has been "narrative
convenience."
In the traditional text, in order to preserve the appearance
of truth, authors hide the seen1ingly unn1otivated choices of
their narrative topography. Borges reveals then1 and revels in
this revelation. In fact, to reveal is as n1uch the subject of this
tale as to conceal. But we should note that what is being re-
vealed- in this instance is how the story was written (i.e., why
certain ethical, then1atic and chronological choices were n1ade).
What is being concealed, on the other hand, is what is tradi-
tionally revealed-that is to say, the enign1a of the story. The
truth is that, at the end of "Ten1a del Traidor y del Heroe,"
Kilpatrick's role is n1ore an1biguous than ever. Resolution is
sin1ply not part of Borges' schen1e.
What does play a n1ajor role in this schen1e and is undoubt-
edly the n1ost original feature of Borges' conception is the in-
terplay between verisin1ilitude and fallibility. Each narrative
segn1ent in "Ten1a del Traidor y del Heroe" is fully credible
and con1plies with the canons of n1in1etic literature. What n1il-
itates against our willingness to believe is the fact that each
segn1ent discredits (by contradicting it) the ones that precede
and follow it. The hero one n1on1ent turns out to be a traitor
the next; the action set in Poland could just as well be set in
Ireland and occur either "al pron1ediar" or then again, "al enl-
pezar el siglo XIX" (p. 141). Such artful indecision calls into
being a series of versions and, in1plicitly, gives the reader the
illusion of choice.
It is this illusion, in fact, which turns out to be the n1ost sa-
lient feature in the unreliable narration not only of Borges
but of Onetti and Sarduy as well.
For exan1ple, in Para una tumba sin nombre, the action de-
velops as a twisted (and unresolved) tangle of enign1as set forth
66 Rene Prieto
quite unlike the mystery of "Ten1a del Traidor y del Heroe."
While Borges clearly postulates (without resolving) the enign1a
of his story (i.e., is Kilpatrick a traitor or a hero?), Onetti re-
fuses to be explicit about the tin1e, place and characters of his
own for several pages; he introduces the reader to a text in n1id-
strean1 and n1akes no explanatory concessions; he avoids prop-
er nouns and clear descriptions, substitutes characters for one
another and freely sprinkles the narrative with co-ordinating
and subordinating conjunctions in order to paint a world in
which the illusion of choice is cunningly suggested. For exan1-
ple, in the first pages of Para una tumba sin nombre, the nar-
rator repeatedly uses the vaguest noun in the Spanish language,
"cosa," joined to a definite article, in order to refer to events
unknown to the reader: "Se nos ofreci6 el privilegio de ver Ia
cosa desde un principio ... " (p. 67) and, "es n1ejor, n1as arnlo-
nioso, que Ia cosa en1piece de noche ... " (p. 67). What the "thing"
alluded to in these quotes n1ight be ren1ains obscure, however.
When after a few pages the veil of an1biguity is deceptively
ren1oved, a first person narrator, "the Doctor," opens the door
to a character, Jorge Malabia, who tells his own story. Fron1
the start, the dialogic relationship between these two voices
sets the stage for the tale as a n1alleable object, available to
both. Jorge tells the Doctor: "La historia puedo contarsela
en dos o tres n1inutos y entonces usted, sobre ella, construye
su historia y tal vez ... " (p. 96). Not surprisingly, what the reader
confronts in the course of this dialogue turns out to be different
versions of one (and therefore not the san1e) tale: Rita, an ex-
nlaid in the Malabia household, walks around the train sta-
tion in Buenos Aires with a goat tied to a rope, asking pass-
ersby for n1oney to reach the house of a fictitious relative. Rita
is not sin1ply an object in the tale, n1oreover. She is an active
participant capable of forn1ulating her own version of her own
story and casting with it more than a shadow of a doubt on
Jorge's fictionalized account of the events as he sees then1, or,
n1ore exactly, as he chooses to tell then1. Each teller of tales
in Onetti's story produces his own version of Rita's adventure
while contradicting the fiction of others. All tales in Para una
tumba sin nombre, conspicuously invented, turn out to be tall
tales forn1ulated on the basis of the san1e structural elements:
67
Rita, a goat and a train station. Only the n1anner in which these
elen1ents are arranged along a syntagn1atic chain is entirely
contingent upon he who tells the story. All is relative in Onet-
ti's tale, and the protagonists are distinctly aware of this rel-
ativity as Jorge's observation n1akes an1ply evident: "Puedo
estar equivocado," he suggests, "cuando creo que n1i historia
es infinitan1ente n1as in1portante que la historia" (p. 96).
To con1plicate n1atters further, Onetti substitutes the char-
acters for one another until the reader loses all track of who
did what to whon1. For exan1ple, Jorge discredits his own story
by suggesting that the won1an in the tale he told was not Rita
but her cousin: "No era Rita," he argues., "era una pariente., una
prin1a ... otra n1ujer y casi otra historia ... Quiero decir que esta
n1ujer sin non1bre desplaz6 a Rita, se convirti6 en ella ... " (p.
121 ). Finally 1 orge hin1self, who had been one of Rita's kept
n1en, con1pletely identifies with her previous lover: "Pero el
no era otra cosa; creia ser An1brosio, estoy seguro., el hon1bre
que invent6 el chivo. Y con1o An1brosio habia vivido n1eses
explotando a Rita ... Jorge tenia que hacer lo n1isn1o, vagar y
explotar ... " (pp. 137-138).
Refurbishing events and substituting characters for one an-
other are n1erely two n1eans to an end-producing an1biguity-
which is fully executed through the use of coordinating and
subordinating conjunctions. By n1eans of then1 Rita's identity
is postulated as variable ("Si era an1ante, si nos casan1os en
secreto, si era hern1ana en1putecida" (p. 78) as her destiny: "la
dej6 desnuda en un can1ino., la tiro al rio, le dio una paliza in1-
perdonable, o sin1plen1ente desapareci6 ... " (p. 91). Such pa-
radign1atic indecision fosters the illusion that the tale we read
is son1ething in process of elaboration, an illusion furthered
when the narrator in1plies that the events being told are a last
n1inute conundrun1 which he is trying out on the reader. In
Para una tumba sin nombre one of the best exan1ples of this
type of newfledged tale evolves as the Doctor reconstructs the
events of Rita and An1brosio's life:
Entonces, en seguida o n1eses despues, apareci6 An1 brosio. El per-
feccionador entr6 en Ia vida de Ia n1ujer como un candidato, bas-
tante bueno a distancia. U san do con cautela los pocos elen1entos
68 Rene Prieto
disponibles puede ser reconstruido con1o un mozo de corta esta-
tura, robusto, lac6nico, peludo. Puede ser in1aginado n1as que la-
c6nico ... ( p. 1 05).
In this instance, the present tense ("puede ser") as well as the
coordinating conjunction ("o") work together to produce a
feeling of uncertainty and even confusion in the reader. But
the Doctor not only forn1ulates the tale fron1 the narrative bits
and pieces he has heard; in addition, and in1n1ediately after,
he casts doubts on the probity of his own discourse by n1eans
of the in1perfect subjunctive (and its connotation of what n1ight
have been): "con1o si persistiera en la afiosa tentativa de crear
un idion1a, el unico en que le seria posible expresar las ideas
que aun no se le habian ocurrido" (p. I 05).
One would think that such doubts cast on the story being
told, such confutation and cunning indecision would force
the reader if not to reject the different narrative versions, at
least to question then1 and probably to favor one an1ong then1.
But this is not the case. Think though he n1ight., the reader
cannot detern1ine the outcon1e of the tale; the narrator's choice
and our own are in fact illusions. Onetti beguiles by present-
ing alternatives as though they were available when, in fact,
the specious freedon1 in the relation of events is nothing but
wile, a series of narrative postures. Not resolving the enign1a
but actually offering the illusion of choice becon1es the sub-
ject and object of this novella. Deciphering as a n1eans of read-
erly satisfaction-the ultin1ate resolution-becon1es substi-
tuted in this instance for the ever-developing puzzle, for the
n1ultitude of alternatives presented to the reader as an invita-
tion to participate which is, after all, the n1ost prin1ary pleas-
ure of the text.
Pleasure in the process of fiction (in the n1echanics of both
writing and reading) and not n1erely pleasure in the outcon1e
of this process is undeniably one of the things Borges, Onetti
and Sarduy are n1ost concerned with. Sarduy, for one, con-
ceives Cobra as a pyran1id of words in which the story line is
lan1pooned and ultin1ately debunked in favor of the descrip-
tive craftsn1anship, the verbal ornan1ent which becon1es the
end of its own n1eans. Fron1 the beginning, this novel develops
69
as a series of vignettes pilloried by a disapproving narrator
who scoffs at the relation of events and pokes fun at any read-
er capable of believing it.
On page 17, for exan1ple, we are introduced to an Indian
n1ake-up n1an, Eustaquio, "quien iba decorando las divas con
sus arabescos teta por teta .... " But in the following section,
under the heading, "La escritura es el arte de recrear Ia reali-
dad," the Indian's description, and, by extension" the first ''fic-
tion," are discredited. "No ha llegado el artifice hin1alayo, co-
nlo se dijo, alhajadito y pestiferante" sino con un recien plan-
charlo y viril traje cruzado color cren1a" (p. 17). Yet again, in
the next section, prefaced with "No. La escritura es el arte de
restituir la Historia," the n1ake-up n1an and Hin1alayan dandy
is portrayed in a variety of guises: "habia anin1ado una escue-
la de lucha en Benares ... " (p. 19), and" "Fue contrabandista
de n1arfil en los rastros judios de Copenhague, Bruselas y Anls-
terdanl ... " (p. 20). Later still, we learn that the Senora, one
of the protagonists, "habia descubierto al indio entre los va-
pores de un bafio turco, en los suburbios de Marsella" (p. 20).
Not satisfied with n1ere indecision to confound and an1use
the reader, the narrator (and in1plied author) rends asunder
the ren1aining shreds of a rapidly waning n1in1etic illusion to
insult the one character who scoffs at his whin1sicality. "Yo
(que estoy en el publico): Callese o la sa co del capitulo" (p.
26), he tells the Senora before proceeding to unriddle the iden-
tity of the Indian n1ake-up n1an:
El indio tiene que ser con1o en su prin1era version. Y de hecho asi
es. iS61o un tarado pudo tragarse la a todas luces ap6crifa histo-
rieta del pugilista que, de buenas a prin1eras, aparece en un cua-
dro flan1enco y renuncia a su fuerza de n1acho de pelo en pecho
nada n1enos que para encasquetarse un bonete verde y ponerse a
traficar florines! i Van1os hon1bre! (pp. 26-27).
Instead of casting doubts on all relations of events as do
Borges and Onetti, Sarduy openly approves and sustains one
version of the n1any offered to the reader: "El indio tiene que
ser con1o en su prin1era version. Y de hecho asi es." However,
different though their approach n1ay be in this instance, their
narrative ain1 turns out to be one and the san1e. All three au-
70 Rene Prieto
thors offer a series of in1plied options-later to be disparaged
or denied-which con1e to stand on their own as verbal orna-
nlent, as decoration for its own sake. It is not their concern
to reach a conclusion which enlightens the reader. What nlat-
ters is to skillfully weave the n1eans to an end which is never
a clarification. The edifice of words which in and of itself holds
the attention of the reader becon1es a substitute for the exe-
gesis; the fan of faltering fiction learns to live without answers
and thrive on the questions.
Sarduy, n1ore than any other writer in Latin An1erica, wields
a seen1ingly gratuitous verbal display which bestows in turn
its n1esn1erizing effect upon the suspecting reader. He n1akes
adjectives out of proper nouns ("Benvenistina," "Lacaniana"),
coins words, agglutinates then1 and ladders then1 down the
page in lists which in no way seen1 to further the then1atic de-
velopnlent of his novel.
11
To the circun1spect reader, however, even such a seen1ingly
gratuitous display can reveal the keystone of Sarduy's work.
All of Cobra is conceived on the basis of contradictions (such
as "life/ death"; "yin/ yang") fron1 which growth unrenlitting-
ly results. The fact that contradiction results in evolution ex-
plains why neither characters nor events have uniforn1ity. In-
stead, the entire narrative developn1ent is conceived as a con-
tinum mobile and all protagonists are portrayed in perpetual
transforn1ation. Not that this evolution brings with it a nega-
tion of the previous personae, however. Sarduy transforn1s
without discarding and all incarnations coexist in the pages
of his novel.
Cobra, the protagonist, is a transvestite., a castrato, n1ale,
fen1ale, and square root of itself (Pup). She, he, it is portrayed
as the star of the Theatre of Living Puppets., as the fifth wheel
in a n1otorcycle gang, as a living doll, a corpse., a religious neo-
phyte. Taking its inspiration fron1 what Sarduy hin1self has
described as "una India de pacotilla," forn1 in this novel illus-
trates notions of n1utability and in1pern1anence characteristic
of Hindu philosophy. In Cobra even the linguistic sign is in
continuous transforn1ation., as the nan1e of the Indian nlake-
up n1an, Eustaquio, clearly indicates. The Senora had seen
hin1 first in a Turkish bath house in Marseilles. She had been
n1ost in1pressed by his overwheln1ing proportions, which n1ade
her think of Ganesha, the elephant god. The sen1antic network
being what it is in Sarduy's systen1, the well-endowed charn1s
of the Indian protagonist are soon after referred to as a "una
tron1pa." And when the entire court of the Theatre of Living
Puppets literally succun1bs to his charn1s, the Sefiora exclain1s
in despair: "Dios n1io-a esta casa la ha perdido Ia tron1pa
de Eustaquio."
Sen1antic an1bivalence typifies not only the narrative events
in Cobra but also and above all, the protagonist's own nan1e.
(En1ir Rodriguez Monegal has shown how "Cobra" contains
-when seen as an anagran1-a long list of signifieds which
include "Copenhague, Brussels, An1sterdan1, the sacred snake
of India, a Dutch school of painting and the Spanish verb co-
brar.")12 But the path Sarduy follows to an1bivalence is very
different fron1 the one taken by Borges and Onetti.
In Borges's story the ostensibly on1niscient narrator dis-
credits the narrative events as he forn1ulates a story which he
describes as incon1plete. The events then1selves (nan1ely Kil-
patrick's behavior) at tin1es corroborate and at tin1es contra-
dict the narrator's belief that the hero is really a traitor. If Bor-
ges offers two ways to perceive narrative events, Onetti one
ups hin1 by presenting three versions of one t l e ~ furthern1ore,
neither fiction is sustained and no efforts are n1ade to convince
the reader. Finally, in Cobra, equivocation and an1bivalence
result fron1 the plurivalence of words and the Protean nature
of the characters. The narrator in Sarduy's novel does n1ake
choices (as in the case of Eustaquio's identity, for exan1ple)
but these are shown to be as durable as Cobra's perpetually
evolving sex. In fact, as we reach the conclusion of this novel,
the protagonist has evolved through so n1any n1ishaps and
transforn1ations that Sarduy has n1ore than n1ade his point:
reading is an ongoing process and the pleasure it provides is
not only contingent upon enlightenn1ent or clarification but
also, and just as n1uch, on fluctuation and variety. As untried
as this narrative principle n1ay seen1 to son1e, it should be noted
that the notion of transforn1ation which is the traden1ark of
Sarduy's novels hinges on the very elen1ents of revelation and
surprise which readers expect fron1 the conclusion of n1ore
72 Rene Prieto
traditional fiction. The difference is that in n1ore conventional
works revelation is used to clarify whereas Sarduy en1ploys
it to startle and an1use. It is a fact, nonetheless, that works of
both types fran1e their appeal and shape their response on the
basis of the san1e n1echanisn1s, differently deployed. Sarduy.,
Borges and Onetti are also aware that, today, what is being
told is not half as in1portant as the n1anner in which it is writ-
ten: the n1ediun1 is the n1essage and the ongoing indecision of
theirs engages the reader in a dynan1ic process in which being
startled throughout takes the place of a revelatory finale.
Clearly, unreliable narration does not signal the den1ise of
the conclusion as revelation. It does offer an alternative which,
by virtue of its originality, den1ands different attitudes fron1
the reader. Borges, Onetti and Sarduy open our eyes to the
process of fiction without ever disclosing the nature of their
n1ystery as they parcel out throughout the text the elen1ent
of surprise conventionally reserved for the ending. Instead
of gullible consun1ers, their readers are artfully transforn1ed
into critical participants., given the illusion of choice, taught
to question and becon1e., in every way, n1inisters of their own
inspiration.
Southern Methodist University
Dallas, Texas
NOTES
1. Wayne C. Booth, The Rhetoric of Fiction (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago
Press, 1961 ), p. 293.
2. Throughout this article I use "paradign1atic" in the sense Hjeln1slev
gives to the tern1, that is, belonging to the axis of selection rather than to
that of con1bination, the syntagn1atic axis.
3. Jorge Luis Borges, "Ten1a del traidor y del heroe" in Ficciones (Bue-
nos Aires: En1ece Editores, 1956). All subsequent parenthetical page refer-
ences are to this edition.
4. Juan Carlos Onetti, Para una tumba sin nombre (Barcelona: Edi-
torial Seix Barral, S.A., 1980). All subsequent parenthetical page references
are to this edition.
5. Severo Sarduy, Cobra (Buenos Aires: Editorial Sudan1ericana, 1972).
All subsequent parenthetical page nun1bers are to this edition.
6. I an1 referring here to Coleridge's observation about the "willing sus-
pension of disbelief' experienced by any reader of fiction. One of the critics
to discuss it, N orn1an Holland, argues that we do not "reality-test" in fic-
tion as we do in everyday life because "we have ceased to feel we are sepa-
rate fron1 external reality" and, ''to son1e extent, we fuse with the literary
work." Norn1an N. Holland, The Dynamics o.f Literary Response (New
York: W.W. Norton and Con1pany. Inc .. 1975), p. 80.
7. Holland, p. 68.
8. Kate Han1burger, The Logic o.f Literature, trans. Marilyn J. Rose
(Bloon1ington: Indiana University Press. 1973). p. 313.
9. Han1burger, p. 313.
10. These are two of the cultural codes which Barthes includes under
the heading "V oix de la Science" and uses to elucidate the narrative con1-
plexity of Balzac's short story, "Sarrasine." Roland Barthes, S / Z (Paris:
Editions du Seuil, 1970).
11. On pages 48-9, for exan1ple.
12. En1ir Rodriguez MonegaL "Las n1etan1orfosis del texto" in Severo
Sarduy (Madrid: Editorial Fundan1entos. 1976).
Copyright (c) Washington University

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PRIETO, RENE, Mimetic Stratagems: The Unreliable Narrator in Latin American Literature ,

Revista de estudios hispnicos, 19:3 (1985:oct.) p.61

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