Carmen Rodríguez
Encyclopedia
Carmen Rodríguez is a Chile
an-Canadian author, poet, educator, political social activist, and a founding member of Aquelarre Magazine. Along with her husband and daughters, she fled to Canada
after the Chilean Coup of 1973
and where she now resides as a political refugee. Rodríguez is known for her unique approach to writing, publishing most of her work in both Spanish
and English
. The translations of Rodríguez's work are done by her alone, a trend not commonly followed among other multilingual authors. Rodríguez translates her work until "[she feels] that both tips of [her] tongue and [her] two sets of ears were satisfied with the final product.'" Rodríguez's major works are and a body to remember with, a collection of short stories, and Guerra Prolongada/Protracted War, a collection of poems in both English and Spanish
Rodríguez's first publication was a short story submitted for an annual literary competition in Chile in 1972, for which she received an honorable mention. In Canada, Rodríguez has had her works published in Paula Magazine, Aquelarre Magazine, Capilano Review, Fireweed, Norte-Sur and Prison Journal.
Carmen Rodríguez was born and raised in a lower-middle class family in Valdivia
, Chile
, where she lived until she was 25. Both her parents were teachers: her father taught in a school, while her mother home schooled Rodríguez and her two older brothers. Rodríguez's generation was the first in her family to attend a university. While attending the University of Chile, Rodríguez married her first husband at 18. The following year, she had her first daughter, Carmen, at 19, followed by her second, Alejandra, at 20; she raised her daughters while going to university. Later on, Rodríguez taught at the University of Chile in Santiago
as a professor of English in the Faculty of Philosophy and Education.
Rodríguez describes Chile prior to the Chilean coup of 1973
, as "a place of hope, a place where a peaceful road to socialism could have become a model for social justice around the world. It was not to be. Lost profits and the threat of diminished power spoke loudly and acted relentlessly". At the time of coup, which occurred on September 11, Rodríguez was teaching at the University of Austral in the south of Chile. On that day, the President of the Chilean government was overthrown by the military. Although she did not belong to any official political parties at the time, she did express support for the socialist
project, which resulted in the addition of her name to Augusto Pinochet
's military blacklist
of "people required to turn themselves in". This list contained the names of those who supported ideologies to which the government of Chile was opposed. Consequently, her house was raided and her two young daughters were forced against a wall with guns against their backs (Silvera 210). Some of her friends and neighbors were killed in the ensuing political turmoil. These events led to her decision to leave Chile with her family.
Rodríguez fled Chile on December 15, 1973, with her husband and two daughters, ages six and five. Rodríguez later wrote of the coup: "If justice truly existed, all of those responsible for these crimes against humanity would be tried and prosecuted. But we live in a world where economic interests are valued well above human life, a world where millions starve while a select group prospers". Her experiences of fleeing Chile, being forced into exile, and being torn between two cultures, have played a central role in Rodríguez's writing.
, where they boarded with friends, and Rodríguez studied while working on obtaining papers to reside in Canada
. The family moved to Vancouver
, on August 7, 1974, and lived there for five years. Upon their arrival, Rodríguez enrolled in graduate school at the University of British Columbia
in order to study literature. While in Canada, one of Rodríguez's older brothers who was also in exile died. Rodríguez describes her initial experience as an immigrant this way: "Canada: for the first few years I didn't really live here. I lived here, but I was Chilean. I lived in function of my quick return. I lived so that I could tell people here about what had happened there. I lived making sure that my daughters would not forget Chile, would not forget their mother tongue." (Silvera 210).
While living in Canada, Rodríguez became very active in the Chilean resistance to the Pinochet regime. When in Vancouver, Rodríguez had her Chilean passport seized as a result of her outspoken views on crimes against Chilean human rights
. Thus, Rodríguez was forbidden to visit countries outside Canada until she obtained her Canadian citizenship in 1979. That year, Rodríguez, along with her daughters and Bob, her Canadian partner, traveled to Argentina and Bolivia to "collaborate with the armed resistances organization, the Movement for the Revolutionary Left
(MIR)", a socialist party. Rodríguez has yet to reveal the details of her underground work there.
After returning to Canada, Rodríguez became very active in her community. She was the chair of the Writers' Union of Canada
's Union Racial Minority Writers Committee and Social Justice Taskforce, as well as being a founding member of the Aquelarre Collective, a feminist group responsible for the production of Aquelarre Magazine. The purpose of this magazine was to provide a voice to the community of exiled Chileans. In 1997, she published the book and a body to remember with
in Vancouver, and in the same year published in Chile the Spanish version of the book De Cuerpo Entero. She has continued teaching as she did when she was in Chile, conducting courses at Langara College
, the University College of the Fraser Valley
, and, beginning in January 2009, as an adjunct professor of Spanish and writer in residence at the University of British Columbia. Recently, she worked at the Department of Education at Simon Fraser University
in Vancouver, along with being an Adult Literacy Consultant, working with the First Nations
people of Canada. Rodríguez has been a correspondent for Radio Canada International since 1990, discussing cultural, social, political and economic news in Canada on a show entitled "Canadá en las Américas".
Rodríguez believes that translation requires "reincarnating the soul of a piece". Often, her works are composed in Spanish, and then reworked in English, or vice versa, "involving a process of back and forth" between the two languages. This can be a slow process, but it reflects her life in both cultures. Rodríguez suggests that this translation enhances her awareness of the nuances between the languages and the "two worlds that [she] lives in". Ultimately, her aim is to create two works that "share the same soul". Her choice to publish her works bilingually was encouraged "by her desire to acknowledge the existence of Canadians in a bilingual world, forced by the hand of the dominance of English".
After experimenting with others translating her work, Rodríguez "began the fascinating process of translating them [her]self. It only took a few attempts to realize that [she] had embarked on something that could no longer be called 'translation.'" As she translates from one language to another, she tries to find the appropriate wording and context in English that would correspond to the Spanish. However, her poems and stories started to have different meanings in their respective languages. She translates her literary work more than once, until "I felt that both tips of my tongue and my two sets of ears were satisfied with the final product....this process mirrors my hyphenated existence. I live and work on a teeter-totter, moving back and forth between two cultures and languages."
Rodríguez was instrumental in the magazine's foundation. She helped organize an art exhibit in Vancouver in 1987, attended by many Chilean women, one of whom stayed with Rodríguez. This woman "suggested that the exiled Chileans create a magazine to share their accomplishments with other women, in and outside of Canada". It was important to Rodríguez that the magazine be bilingual so that it would be accessible to women both in Canada and Latin America.
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
an-Canadian author, poet, educator, political social activist, and a founding member of Aquelarre Magazine. Along with her husband and daughters, she fled to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
after the Chilean Coup of 1973
Chilean coup of 1973
The 1973 Chilean coup d'état was a watershed event of the Cold War and the history of Chile. Following an extended period of political unrest between the conservative-dominated Congress of Chile and the socialist-leaning President Salvador Allende, discontent culminated in the latter's downfall in...
and where she now resides as a political refugee. Rodríguez is known for her unique approach to writing, publishing most of her work in both Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
. The translations of Rodríguez's work are done by her alone, a trend not commonly followed among other multilingual authors. Rodríguez translates her work until "[she feels] that both tips of [her] tongue and [her] two sets of ears were satisfied with the final product.'" Rodríguez's major works are and a body to remember with, a collection of short stories, and Guerra Prolongada/Protracted War, a collection of poems in both English and Spanish
Rodríguez's first publication was a short story submitted for an annual literary competition in Chile in 1972, for which she received an honorable mention. In Canada, Rodríguez has had her works published in Paula Magazine, Aquelarre Magazine, Capilano Review, Fireweed, Norte-Sur and Prison Journal.
Chile: 1948–73
Valdivia, Chile
Valdivia is a city and commune in southern Chile administered by the Municipality of Valdivia. The city is named after its founder Pedro de Valdivia and is located at the confluence of the Calle-Calle, Valdivia and Cau-Cau Rivers, approximately east of the coastal towns of Corral and Niebla...
, Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, where she lived until she was 25. Both her parents were teachers: her father taught in a school, while her mother home schooled Rodríguez and her two older brothers. Rodríguez's generation was the first in her family to attend a university. While attending the University of Chile, Rodríguez married her first husband at 18. The following year, she had her first daughter, Carmen, at 19, followed by her second, Alejandra, at 20; she raised her daughters while going to university. Later on, Rodríguez taught at the University of Chile in Santiago
Santiago, Chile
Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...
as a professor of English in the Faculty of Philosophy and Education.
Rodríguez describes Chile prior to the Chilean coup of 1973
Chilean coup of 1973
The 1973 Chilean coup d'état was a watershed event of the Cold War and the history of Chile. Following an extended period of political unrest between the conservative-dominated Congress of Chile and the socialist-leaning President Salvador Allende, discontent culminated in the latter's downfall in...
, as "a place of hope, a place where a peaceful road to socialism could have become a model for social justice around the world. It was not to be. Lost profits and the threat of diminished power spoke loudly and acted relentlessly". At the time of coup, which occurred on September 11, Rodríguez was teaching at the University of Austral in the south of Chile. On that day, the President of the Chilean government was overthrown by the military. Although she did not belong to any official political parties at the time, she did express support for the socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
project, which resulted in the addition of her name to Augusto Pinochet
Augusto Pinochet
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte, more commonly known as Augusto Pinochet , was a Chilean army general and dictator who assumed power in a coup d'état on 11 September 1973...
's military blacklist
Blacklist
A blacklist is a list or register of entities who, for one reason or another, are being denied a particular privilege, service, mobility, access or recognition. As a verb, to blacklist can mean to deny someone work in a particular field, or to ostracize a person from a certain social circle...
of "people required to turn themselves in". This list contained the names of those who supported ideologies to which the government of Chile was opposed. Consequently, her house was raided and her two young daughters were forced against a wall with guns against their backs (Silvera 210). Some of her friends and neighbors were killed in the ensuing political turmoil. These events led to her decision to leave Chile with her family.
Rodríguez fled Chile on December 15, 1973, with her husband and two daughters, ages six and five. Rodríguez later wrote of the coup: "If justice truly existed, all of those responsible for these crimes against humanity would be tried and prosecuted. But we live in a world where economic interests are valued well above human life, a world where millions starve while a select group prospers". Her experiences of fleeing Chile, being forced into exile, and being torn between two cultures, have played a central role in Rodríguez's writing.
Immigration and revolutionary politics: 1974–84
Carmen Rodríguez and her family first sought refuge in CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, where they boarded with friends, and Rodríguez studied while working on obtaining papers to reside in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. The family moved to Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, on August 7, 1974, and lived there for five years. Upon their arrival, Rodríguez enrolled in graduate school at the University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
in order to study literature. While in Canada, one of Rodríguez's older brothers who was also in exile died. Rodríguez describes her initial experience as an immigrant this way: "Canada: for the first few years I didn't really live here. I lived here, but I was Chilean. I lived in function of my quick return. I lived so that I could tell people here about what had happened there. I lived making sure that my daughters would not forget Chile, would not forget their mother tongue." (Silvera 210).
While living in Canada, Rodríguez became very active in the Chilean resistance to the Pinochet regime. When in Vancouver, Rodríguez had her Chilean passport seized as a result of her outspoken views on crimes against Chilean human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
. Thus, Rodríguez was forbidden to visit countries outside Canada until she obtained her Canadian citizenship in 1979. That year, Rodríguez, along with her daughters and Bob, her Canadian partner, traveled to Argentina and Bolivia to "collaborate with the armed resistances organization, the Movement for the Revolutionary Left
Revolutionary Left Movement (Bolivia)
The Revolutionary Left Movement - New Majority is a social democratic political party in Bolivia...
(MIR)", a socialist party. Rodríguez has yet to reveal the details of her underground work there.
Canada: 1984–present
Rodríguez and her family returned to Vancouver in 1984, where they currently reside. She then divorced her husband whom she married in Chile, and started a relationship with a Canadian man named Bob, who is now deceased. She has since remarried, and also has a son. Rodríguez did not return to Chile until 1987, more than 15 years after she left. Commenting on Chile after the coup, she said, "to this day Chileans are suffering from collective amnesia. The country is now a model of how things can change and they don't want to remember how it happened. They don't want any rocking of the boat".After returning to Canada, Rodríguez became very active in her community. She was the chair of the Writers' Union of Canada
Writers' Union of Canada
The Writers' Union of Canada , founded in 1973, describes itself as supporting "the country's authors by advocating for their rights, freedoms, and economic well-being." Its members are professional writers who must have published at least one book through a commercial publisher.The Union addresses...
's Union Racial Minority Writers Committee and Social Justice Taskforce, as well as being a founding member of the Aquelarre Collective, a feminist group responsible for the production of Aquelarre Magazine. The purpose of this magazine was to provide a voice to the community of exiled Chileans. In 1997, she published the book and a body to remember with
And a body to remember with
and a body to remember with is a book of short stories by the Chilean-Canadian writer Carmen Rodriguez....
in Vancouver, and in the same year published in Chile the Spanish version of the book De Cuerpo Entero. She has continued teaching as she did when she was in Chile, conducting courses at Langara College
Langara College
Langara College is a public degree-granting college in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada which serves approximately 20,000 students annually through its university, career, and continuing studies programs...
, the University College of the Fraser Valley
University College of the Fraser Valley
The University of the Fraser Valley , is a Canadian public university with campuses in Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Mission and Hope, British Columbia...
, and, beginning in January 2009, as an adjunct professor of Spanish and writer in residence at the University of British Columbia. Recently, she worked at the Department of Education at Simon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University is a Canadian public research university in British Columbia with its main campus on Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby, and satellite campuses in Vancouver and Surrey. The main campus in Burnaby, located from downtown Vancouver, was established in 1965 and has more than 34,000...
in Vancouver, along with being an Adult Literacy Consultant, working with the First Nations
First Nations
First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...
people of Canada. Rodríguez has been a correspondent for Radio Canada International since 1990, discussing cultural, social, political and economic news in Canada on a show entitled "Canadá en las Américas".
Influences
Rodríguez has been most influenced by her political exile from Chile and her transition into life in a foreign country. Her flight caused her to reflect on exile, living in different cultures, and speaking different languages. Her bilingualism, and the translation between two languages, has also been a source of both difficulty and inspiration for Rodríguez. As a result of her experiences and life torn between two nations, Rodríguez does not identify as solely Canadian, nor as solely Chilean (Silvera 209). Rather, she defines herself as Chilean-Canadian (Silvera 209).Translation
| "I felt that both tips of my tongue and my two sets of ears were satisfied with the final product. [. . .] this process mirrors my hyphenated existence. I live and work on a teeter-totter, moving back and forth between two cultures and languages." |
| — Carmen Rodríguez |
Rodríguez believes that translation requires "reincarnating the soul of a piece". Often, her works are composed in Spanish, and then reworked in English, or vice versa, "involving a process of back and forth" between the two languages. This can be a slow process, but it reflects her life in both cultures. Rodríguez suggests that this translation enhances her awareness of the nuances between the languages and the "two worlds that [she] lives in". Ultimately, her aim is to create two works that "share the same soul". Her choice to publish her works bilingually was encouraged "by her desire to acknowledge the existence of Canadians in a bilingual world, forced by the hand of the dominance of English".
After experimenting with others translating her work, Rodríguez "began the fascinating process of translating them [her]self. It only took a few attempts to realize that [she] had embarked on something that could no longer be called 'translation.'" As she translates from one language to another, she tries to find the appropriate wording and context in English that would correspond to the Spanish. However, her poems and stories started to have different meanings in their respective languages. She translates her literary work more than once, until "I felt that both tips of my tongue and my two sets of ears were satisfied with the final product....this process mirrors my hyphenated existence. I live and work on a teeter-totter, moving back and forth between two cultures and languages."
Aquelarre magazine
The Aquelarre magazine, subtitled "a Magazine for Latin American Women/Revista de la Mujer International", was the main project of a group of exiled Chilean feminists in Vancouver who called themselves the Aquelarre Collective. The Collective had a common view of the future with "room for life" and hoped for a future without oppression. Two members, Irene Policzer and a friend, both exiled Chileans, were inspired to create the magazine after attending the Fifth Feminist Conference of Latin America and the Caribbean. The common themes of the magazine were "women, feminism and strength" and it was meant to empower women in both Canada and South America. It was produced by volunteers who, like Rodríguez, also often had families and full-time jobs. Much of the time was spent raising funds, in addition to editing and producing content for the magazine. Twenty-one issues of the magazine were produced, with the first in July 1989. Although the numbers of contributors and volunteers varied with each issue, there were "about twelve core members and fifteen volunteers, both men and women" that contributed regularly. Aquelarre eventually gained popularity, achieving an international audience.Rodríguez was instrumental in the magazine's foundation. She helped organize an art exhibit in Vancouver in 1987, attended by many Chilean women, one of whom stayed with Rodríguez. This woman "suggested that the exiled Chileans create a magazine to share their accomplishments with other women, in and outside of Canada". It was important to Rodríguez that the magazine be bilingual so that it would be accessible to women both in Canada and Latin America.
Major works
The stories and poems of Carmen Rodríguez "...not only create community out of traumatic memories, but also in solidarity with the persecuted and in the acknowledgment of being a part of a chain of memories and presences." (Montes 75).and a body to remember with
Rodríguez's and a body to remember with, a collection of short stories, has been described as an exploration of "how hard it can be to re-root oneself" during exile. The Spanish version of the book is entitled De cuerpo entero and was, like the English version, also published in 1997, though the works are subtly different; as Rodríguez seeks to evoke feelings in the reader that are relevant to each culture. This text explores life in exile, and how "forgetting [a tragic event] is not an option". It delves into the difficulties an immigrant or displaced person experiences, whether they affect the person directly or indirectly. Rodríguez's book, in both languages, focuses on the experiences of migration and immigration of women, making sure to assess the physical and emotional adjustments that must be made, adding another woman's perspective and experience to the book through each narrative. The book's main characters are all women, and with each story Rodríguez's use of the body, "the fullness of the body, its terrible fragmentation, or the body as a void" is used to express the experiences of the characters. Rodríguez often purposely defragments the voices and bodies of her protagonists to give a sense of urgency.Guerra Prolongada/Protracted War
Guerra Prolongada/Protracted War is a collection of poems composed and translated by Carmen Rodríguez which serves as a historical account of the 1973 Chilean coup. Rodríguez's poetry has been praised for "her insistence on conveying real rather than merely imagined experience". The topics cover the "revolution and the murder of Chilean revolutionaries" as well as "her identity as a woman and lover". Her book has a strong feminist component, but Rodríguez also includes other social issues in her writing. Her poetry is drawn from events in her life, such as phone conversations with her dying mother, including aspects of her daily life. Consequently, her style as a poet is consistently concerned with appropriately conveying reality. Moreover, Rodríguez is aware that her audience may not be familiar with Chile. As a result of this, she procures her poems from real experience.Awards and recognition
- Premio Municipal de Literatura, Mencion Honrosa, Santiago, Chile, 1998
- Mencion-Revista Paula short story competition for the story "Acuarela", Santiago, 1973
- Runner-up, Vancouver Book Award, for short story collection De Cuerpo Entero, 1998
- Finalist, 10th Annual City of Vancouver Book Awards, for ...and a body to remember with
- Was elected part of the English-language non-fiction jury for the Canadian 2003 Governor General's Literary Awards, by the Canada Council for the Arts