ADOLESCENCE IN THE STORIES OF JULIO CORTÁZAR.

This article examines the depiction of adolescence in the stories written by Julio Cortázar. One of the most persistently persuasive sides of Cortázar is his ability to slough off, or at least to subvert, the conventional behavior of adults, portraying it as little more than a set of received routin...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Modern Language Review Vol. 82; no. 3; pp. 638 - 648
Main Author: Standish, Peter
Format: Literary Criticism
Published: Modern Humanities Research Association Jul1987
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
fields @attributes:
  recordID: 1
pdfLink:
plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=17602395&site=ehost-live
header:
  @attributes:
    shortDbName: hlh
    uiTerm: 17602395
    longDbName: Humanities International Complete
    uiTag: AN
  controlInfo:
    bkinfo:
    jinfo:
      jid:
        00267937
        MLV
      jtl: Modern Language Review
      issn: 00267937
      maglogo: N
    pubinfo:
      dt: Jul1987
      vid: 82
      iid: 3
      pid: 264
      pub: Modern Humanities Research Association
    artinfo:
      ui:
        17602395
        10.2307/3730422
      ppf: 638
      ppct: 10
      formats:
        fmt:
          @attributes:
            type: P
            size: 682KB
      tig:
        atl: ADOLESCENCE IN THE STORIES OF JULIO CORTÁZAR.
      aug:
        au: Standish, Peter
        affil: University of Stirling
      su:
        Adolescence in literature
        Cortázar, Julio, 1914-1984
        Octaedro (Book)
        Adolescent psychology
        Todos los fuegos, el fuego (Short story)
        Las fases de Severo (Short story)
      sug:
        subj:
          Adolescence in literature
          Cortázar, Julio, 1914-1984
          Octaedro (Book)
          Adolescent psychology
          Todos los fuegos, el fuego (Short story)
          Las fases de Severo (Short story)
      ab: This article examines the depiction of adolescence in the stories written by Julio Cortázar. One of the most persistently persuasive sides of Cortázar is his ability to slough off, or at least to subvert, the conventional behavior of adults, portraying it as little more than a set of received routines whose features, in themselves no better or worse than others that might have been, are simply arbitrary sometimes preposterous, frequently inhibiting. Arguably, a key example of this world-view is to be found in the story Las fases de Severo in the book, Octaedro. Many of Cortázar's stories cast doubt on the idea that our world can be accounted for in terms of reason, of cause and effect. The theme of adolescence related to sexual and emotional maturity becomes apparent in Cortázar's story Deshoras, where he traces the beginnings of love. Overall, there seems to be an evolution of style, the product of a persistent quest for a narrative which will prove adequate for the subject in hand. Las babas del diablo begins with the narrator pondering how he might approach the task of telling, whether by using the first or second person or the third-person plural, or by inventing some new device which might fail. When Cortázar takes up the topic of adolescence again, in Todos los fuegos, el fuego, it has by then become the central thematic focus of a story noticeably and unusually free of fantasy, concerned above all with psychology.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Literary Criticism
      src: R
    language: English
    refInfo:
    copyright:
      @attributes:
        flag: Y
      custom: Copyright of Modern Language Review is the property of Modern Humanities Research Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
      item: Modern Language Review
      holder: Modern Humanities Research Association
      dt:
        @attributes:
          year: 1987
    holdings:
      @attributes:
        islocal: N