Reflections on word in a book of minifiction by Westphalen

Abstract

The objective of this article is to analyze the reflections on word and language developed in Máximas y mínimas de sapiencia pedestre escuchcdas al desgaire sin certificación de autenticidad (1982), a book of minifiction by the Peruvian writer Emilio Adolfo Westphalen. To do this, we focus on the texts «Ídolo», «Hojas secas» and «Error de cálculo», which more directly address the relationship of the enunciator with the words and with the created work, more specifically the poet with poetry, and from a critical look that evaluates the poetic task. In this regard, it should be noted that Westphalen, in all of his production, has poetry as the main object of thought and representation, which is why the various readings have remained on the poetic theme.

          Although Máximas y mínimas de sapiencia pedestre escuchcdas al desgaire sin certificación de autenticidad constitutes an essential moment in Westphalen’s fictional work, especially because it involved the adoption of very brief prose as the predominant scriptural form to incorporate a series of resources that verse did not allow, has not received due attention from specialized critics, mostly focused on Westphalen’s first two collections of poems. With the present approach, it is also intended to cover this gap in the studies on Westphalen’s literary production.