The Obscene Bird of Night
Encyclopedia
The Obscene Bird of Night (El obsceno pájaro de la noche, 1970) is the most acclaimed novel by the Chile
an writer José Donoso
(1924-1996). Donoso was a member of the Latin American literary boom
and the literary movement known as magical realism.
The novel explores the cyclical nature of life and death, in that our fears and fantasies of childhood resurface in adulthood and old age. It is about the deconstruction of self – to the extreme of trying ‘to live’ in non-existence.
The Imbunche
myth is a major theme in the novel. It symbolises the process of implosion of the physical and/or intellectual self, turning the living being into a thing or object incapable of interacting with the outside world, and depriving it of its individuality and even of its name. This can either be self-inflicted or forced upon by others.
The myth comes from the oral tradition of Chiloé Island
, an island of the southern coast of Chile
. In its physical manifestation it is a grotesquely disfigured being that has been sutured, tied, bound and wrapped from birth. In this way, its orifices are sown shut, its tongue is removed or split, its extremities and sexual organ bound and immobilised. It is then kept as a guardian to a cave. It is the product of magic
and witchcraft
. It is the incarnation of the very realistic fears we feel as children, when monsters, magic and imaginings all seem real – they are the deeply rooted fears that, despite rationalisation, remain present (albeit dormant) in the recesses of the subconscious
.
In the novel, the intellectual/spatial manifestation of the Imbunche is the self-imposed alienation
from the outside world, i.e. an adoption of the ideal of the physical Imbunche in terms of space, with the purpose of taking away the power that others have over the individual and choosing a life of non-existence
. This auto-segregation
is achieved by fortifying one’s living space, i.e. sealing off all the entrances (like the Imbunche’s, metaphorically speaking). This seclusion from the outside world is a form of self-preservation from an oppressive and anti-individualistic society. Later on in the novel, a reversal from the state of Imbunche begins, with the recuperation of one’s own name – the word that represents the concept of an individual. Ironically, the re-discovery of the self here depends on being acknowledged by the outside world, to be named by others.
In The Obscene Bird of Night, the narrator
and protagonist
, Humberto Peñaloza, goes through the different stages of the deconstruction of his personality. He not only becomes El Mudito (The Mute or The Mutey), he eventually transforms into the monstrous Imbunche. This mutation also affects the characters in other ways, as in the case of Doctor Azula and the endless pregnancy of Iris the Orphan, and the regeneration process of Humberto himself. Even the identity of the characters becomes ambiguous or distorted sometimes, as for instance when Humberto says that Iris was developing a substantial clientele in the neighbourhood and then proceeds to say that he would hide inside the Ford car to watch her make love... to himself, as if it were an out-of-body experience.
In this way Humberto provides the possibility of duplicity of narrative voices
within the same character, and thus two subjective
perspective
s of the same reality
: on the one hand, the narrative can be interpreted simply and realistically in terms of its context, in which Humberto Peñaloza, a middle-class law student and writer, is trying to make his way though the ranks of the contemporary Chilean society, which was strictly divided according to class; on the other hand, the narrative can be interpreted in terms of its ambiguous and amorphous nature, in which identity itself is not defined, history is the result of myth and the boundaries between the material and psychological world are broken and in flux, therefore opposing the solidity and immutability of the physical world and established society, where individuals are forced to lose part of their identity and freedom
in order to acquire a role in society and thus not be otherwise marginalised.
Ultimately the novel postulates and explores an existential
paradox
: the struggle between being vs. non-being, internal vs. external, interaction vs. separation, and society vs. individuality.
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 writer José Donoso
José Donoso
José Donoso Yáñez was a Chilean writer. He lived most of his life in Chile, although he spent many years in self-imposed exile in Mexico, the United States and mainly Spain. Although he had left his country in the sixties for personal reasons, after 1973 he claimed his exile was also a form of...
(1924-1996). Donoso was a member of the Latin American literary boom
Latin American Boom
The Latin American Boom was a literary movement of the 1960s and 1970s when the work of a group of relatively young Latin American novelists became widely circulated in Europe and throughout the world...
and the literary movement known as magical realism.
The novel explores the cyclical nature of life and death, in that our fears and fantasies of childhood resurface in adulthood and old age. It is about the deconstruction of self – to the extreme of trying ‘to live’ in non-existence.
The Imbunche
Invunche
In the Chilote folklore and Chilote mythology of the Chiloé Island in southern Chile, the imbunche or invunche is a legendary monster that protects the entrance to a warlock's cave.-Legend:...
myth is a major theme in the novel. It symbolises the process of implosion of the physical and/or intellectual self, turning the living being into a thing or object incapable of interacting with the outside world, and depriving it of its individuality and even of its name. This can either be self-inflicted or forced upon by others.
The myth comes from the oral tradition of Chiloé Island
Chiloé Island
Chiloé Island , also known as Greater Island of Chiloé , is the largest island of the Chiloé Archipelago off the coast of Chile, in the Pacific Ocean...
, an island of the southern coast of 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...
. In its physical manifestation it is a grotesquely disfigured being that has been sutured, tied, bound and wrapped from birth. In this way, its orifices are sown shut, its tongue is removed or split, its extremities and sexual organ bound and immobilised. It is then kept as a guardian to a cave. It is the product of magic
Magic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
and witchcraft
Witchcraft
Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
. It is the incarnation of the very realistic fears we feel as children, when monsters, magic and imaginings all seem real – they are the deeply rooted fears that, despite rationalisation, remain present (albeit dormant) in the recesses of the subconscious
Subconscious
The term subconscious is used in many different contexts and has no single or precise definition. This greatly limits its significance as a definition-bearing concept, and in consequence the word tends to be avoided in academic and scientific settings....
.
In the novel, the intellectual/spatial manifestation of the Imbunche is the self-imposed alienation
Social alienation
The term social alienation has many discipline-specific uses; Roberts notes how even within the social sciences, it “is used to refer both to a personal psychological state and to a type of social relationship”...
from the outside world, i.e. an adoption of the ideal of the physical Imbunche in terms of space, with the purpose of taking away the power that others have over the individual and choosing a life of non-existence
Existence
In common usage, existence is the world we are aware of through our senses, and that persists independently without them. In academic philosophy the word has a more specialized meaning, being contrasted with essence, which specifies different forms of existence as well as different identity...
. This auto-segregation
Auto-segregation
Auto-segregation is the separation of a religious or ethnic group from the rest of society in a state by the group itself. Through auto-segregation, the members of the separate group can establish their own services, and maintain their own traditions and customs.For example, some world tribes have...
is achieved by fortifying one’s living space, i.e. sealing off all the entrances (like the Imbunche’s, metaphorically speaking). This seclusion from the outside world is a form of self-preservation from an oppressive and anti-individualistic society. Later on in the novel, a reversal from the state of Imbunche begins, with the recuperation of one’s own name – the word that represents the concept of an individual. Ironically, the re-discovery of the self here depends on being acknowledged by the outside world, to be named by others.
In The Obscene Bird of Night, the narrator
Narrator
A narrator is, within any story , the fictional or non-fictional, personal or impersonal entity who tells the story to the audience. When the narrator is also a character within the story, he or she is sometimes known as the viewpoint character. The narrator is one of three entities responsible for...
and protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
, Humberto Peñaloza, goes through the different stages of the deconstruction of his personality. He not only becomes El Mudito (The Mute or The Mutey), he eventually transforms into the monstrous Imbunche. This mutation also affects the characters in other ways, as in the case of Doctor Azula and the endless pregnancy of Iris the Orphan, and the regeneration process of Humberto himself. Even the identity of the characters becomes ambiguous or distorted sometimes, as for instance when Humberto says that Iris was developing a substantial clientele in the neighbourhood and then proceeds to say that he would hide inside the Ford car to watch her make love... to himself, as if it were an out-of-body experience.
In this way Humberto provides the possibility of duplicity of narrative voices
Narrator
A narrator is, within any story , the fictional or non-fictional, personal or impersonal entity who tells the story to the audience. When the narrator is also a character within the story, he or she is sometimes known as the viewpoint character. The narrator is one of three entities responsible for...
within the same character, and thus two subjective
Subjectivity
Subjectivity refers to the subject and his or her perspective, feelings, beliefs, and desires. In philosophy, the term is usually contrasted with objectivity.-Qualia:...
perspective
Perspective (cognitive)
Perspective in theory of cognition is the choice of a context or a reference from which to sense, categorize, measure or codify experience, cohesively forming a coherent belief, typically for comparing with another...
s of the same reality
Reality
In philosophy, reality is the state of things as they actually exist, rather than as they may appear or might be imagined. In a wider definition, reality includes everything that is and has been, whether or not it is observable or comprehensible...
: on the one hand, the narrative can be interpreted simply and realistically in terms of its context, in which Humberto Peñaloza, a middle-class law student and writer, is trying to make his way though the ranks of the contemporary Chilean society, which was strictly divided according to class; on the other hand, the narrative can be interpreted in terms of its ambiguous and amorphous nature, in which identity itself is not defined, history is the result of myth and the boundaries between the material and psychological world are broken and in flux, therefore opposing the solidity and immutability of the physical world and established society, where individuals are forced to lose part of their identity and freedom
Freedom (political)
Political freedom is a central philosophy in Western history and political thought, and one of the most important features of democratic societies...
in order to acquire a role in society and thus not be otherwise marginalised.
Ultimately the novel postulates and explores an existential
Existentialism
Existentialism is a term applied to a school of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual...
paradox
Paradox
Similar to Circular reasoning, A paradox is a seemingly true statement or group of statements that lead to a contradiction or a situation which seems to defy logic or intuition...
: the struggle between being vs. non-being, internal vs. external, interaction vs. separation, and society vs. individuality.