Of Earth and Sea
176 pages, 5 1/2 x 8 1/2
Paperback
Release Date:06 Dec 2008
ISBN:9780816526666
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Of Earth and Sea

A Chilean Memoir

SERIES:
The University of Arizona Press
The Chilean coup d'état of 1973 was a watershed event in the history of Chile. It was also a defining moment in the life of writer Marjorie Agosín.

This collection of prose vignettes and free verse draws upon her experiences as a child in Chile, an expatriate abroad, and a minority Jew—even in the land she calls home—to create a striking portrait of a life of exile. The tone of the book varies as it lyrically explores the geography of Chile and weaves into it the themes of exile and oppression. At times the words become hymns to the physical beauty of her country, evoking the grandeur of this land extending to the southernmost tip of the world. At times they are intimate and melancholy, exploring personal and familial history through miniature portraits that reveal the pain of being different. Finally the tone becomes angry as she denounces the injustices committed against her friends and against the families of the disappeared during the seventeen-year dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.

Combining themes of memory, childhood, minority issues, Judaism, and political oppression, this collection contains some of Agosín’s strongest work. Of Earth and Sea is a poetic autobiography that explores the world of Chile with eyes that see both despair and hope.
Translator’s Preface
Of Earth and Sea: A Chilean Memoir
I. The Early Years of Childhood: 1960s
Prelude I: My Country
In Osorno, My Mother’s City
My Mother
The House at the Southern Tip of the World
Ramírez Street
Jewish New Year in the South of the World
Chanukah in Osorno
Churches
Port Octay
Snow at the Southern Tip of the World
Gracefulness
Carmen Carrasco, My Nanny
The Servant Girls
Gypsies
Wool
Refugees
The Salamanders
A Sash of Smoke
Pomaire
Wine Country
Summer in Isla Negra
Fog
The Flower Carvers of Pucón
Words
My Dictionary
Words II
The Apron of Dreams
Naming
The Victrola
Teatime
Inside My House
Little Souls
Words III
Languages of Home
My Cello
My Father
Violeta Parra
Words IV
Night
Part II. The Times of Darkness
Prelude II: Santiago 1970, a Joyful Morning
The Night before the Coup
Ordinary Women
The Death of Salvador Allende
The Disappeared
Victor Jara
Charles Horman
“Tonight I Can Write the Saddest Verses”:
The Funeral of Pablo Neruda, September 1973
Musings on Don Pablo
Patio 29: Unnamed Graves
Women in the Frost
November 1, The Day of the Dead
The First Poppies of Summer
The Students
The Silence of the Humiliated
Calendars of Uncertain Times
Torture
Laughter in the Palace of Madness
Traveling Light
Red Carnations
The Burning of Books
Embroidering Hope: The Chilean Arpilleras
Calama
A Note in an Open Book
Cartagena
Women in My Mind
Part III. Exile and Return
Prelude III: The Beginning of Exile
The Footsteps of Clamor
Nights of Exile
My Own September 11th
Violeta Morales
The Body
Homeland
Frida Haase
I Did Not Recognize Rain in Other Languages
Imagining Thresholds
A House beside the Sea
The Big Island of Chiloé
Gabriela Mistral
Delia Domínguez, Friend and Poet
Houses
The German School in Osorno
Patagonia
The Ambiguous Signs of Sand
I Imagine Returns
And Finally, Returning
Valparaíso
My Grandmother
Dresses
Blouses Stuffed with Cotton
London
Osorno, January 2002
Port Octay, December 2002
Happy Birthday, Pablo
Clouded Mirrors
Transitory Spaces
Histories
As in a Murmur
Prague and Chile
Nostalgia
The Houses of Exile
Saying Goodbye
The Illusion of a Firefly
Chile
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