Rubén Darío: transatlantic, transpacific and transcendent

Abstract

This article presents aspects of Darío’s poetry and of the man Darío, from the time of his arrival in Valparaíso until today. It points out the complex interaction between the unsteadiness of literary values and the ethnic and class criteria that marked his destiny. It includes the comentaries of many writers, especially from the Congress of Varadero en 1967 that marked the Centennial of Darío’s birth. The image and theory of the ruin serve as a point of departure, providing analogies about his poetry in the 21st Century and about his life experiences in earlier times. In particular, poems and essays of José Lezama Lima, José Emilio Pacheco, and Juan José Saer’s poem “Rubén en Santiago” contribute key images for telling once more Darío’s history, with his splendors and his miseries.