Download - The Role of Jazz in Julio Cortázar's Rayuela
Ariel Ariel
Volume 8 Number 1 Article 5
1992
The Role of Jazz in Julio Cortázar's The Role of Jazz in Julio Cortázar's Rayuela Rayuela
Craig Niel Bergeson University of Nevada, Reno
Follow this and additional works at: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/ariel
Part of the Spanish and Portuguese Language and Literature Commons
Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits you. Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits you.
Recommended Citation Recommended Citation Bergeson, Craig Niel (1992) "The Role of Jazz in Julio Cortázar's Rayuela," Ariel: Vol. 8 : No. 1 , Article 5. Available at: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/ariel/vol8/iss1/5
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Hispanic Studies at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Ariel by an authorized editor of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected].
THE ROLE OF JAZZ IN JULIO CORTAZAR'S RAYUELA
With his 1963 masterpiece Rayuela. Julio Cortazar revolutionized the
Latin American novel, taking it beyond its traditional boundaries by liberating
language and involving the reader in new ways, paving the way for the so
called "boom" in Latin American literature. Examples of the liberating
qualities of Rayuela are well-known: the various possible reading, the open
structure, the innovative language.
A much less recognized but no less original aspect of Rayuela--one
which also contributes to its liberating power-- is the incorporation of the
techniques of jazz in its composition. Critics have virtually ignored jazz's
essential role in Rayuela with the exception of brief articles by Amalia
Lazarte Dishman and Guillermo Nifto de Guzman. Lazarte Dishman
contributes some valuable insights to the role of jazz in Cortazar's short story
"El perseguidor," and in passing, to the rest of Cortazar's literary output.
For example, she suggests that the structure of the story resembles that of a
"take" (187), that is, one of the several interpretations of a single theme
recorded while making a record. Each take has the same basic structure,
~- but, because of the openness of jazz, each becomes a new and unique work
of art. Dishman also observes that there is a certain similarity between
several of Cortazar's works and "a sort of jam session" (188), i.e. ,
spontaneous creation by several musicians. Each musician interprets the
skeleton structure left by the composer, or perhaps together they decide on
a basic chord structure and then go from there, with very few written notes
and no set plan.
Lazarte Dishman 's study raises interesting points about the presence of
jazz not only in "El perseguidor," but in Cortazar 's longer works as well.
Nifto de Guzman also makes some valuable observations on the
influence of jazz in Cortazar's writing, including Ravuela, one of his longest
45
and most important works. He proposes that Cortazar's love for )au
manifests itself in the author 's fictional world--in both themes and technique,
that he is led to attempt to write in the same way that a musician plays his
instrument (3). Nino de Guzman's eloquent and enlightening article sets a
theoretical groundwork for more detailed studies. If one studies a few
explanations of what )au is--looking at what Cortazar and others have said
about it--and then begins to look closely at a long and complex work like
Rayuela, a fascinating pattern does begin to emerge, a pattern that ultimately
clarifies the essence and intrigue of this novel.
In an interview with Omar Prego, Julio Cortazar explains that he began
to listen to )au music during the years 1928 and 1929, discovering instantly
"ese fen6meno maravilloso que constituye su esencia: la improvizaci6n"
(162). What is this music called )au that so fascinated Cortazar? Jo Jo
Jones , )au drummer, offers one of the simplest definitions: "What is )au?
The closest I can get to answering is to say thatjau is playing what you/eel"
(HentcoJj 18). Nat Hentcoff, writer andjau critic, suggests that #Part of the
power of )au is its spontaneity, its directness... its sound of surprise" ( 47).
This element of surprise is essential to improvisation and is the key to the
nature of the take and the jam session. The artist does not simply interpret
the work created by the composer; he co-creates. Cortazar's own definition
of )au concurs:
Esta basada en el principio de la improvisaci6n. Hay una
melod(a que sirve de gu(a, una serie de acordes que van dando
Los puentes, Los cambios de la melod(a y sobre eso Los musicos de
)au construyen sus solos de pura impovisaci6n, que naturalmente
no repiten nada. (Prego 163)
This music, which/or Cortazar was very innovative, intrigued him at
that time because it was the only music which coincided with the notion of
automatic writing being proposed by the French surrealists, granting him the
equivalent of surrealism in music (Prego 163). Automatic music is also of
46
interest to the protagonists and the narrator of Rayuela. While listening to
records, some of the characters try to offer their own definition of this music
calledjau.:
El jau. es como un pajaro que migra, o emigra ... es una Jonna
arquetipo, algo de antes, de abajo, que reconcilia mexicanos con
noruegos y rusos y espaffoles. (204)
Thus, for them, jau. is a thread which unites various cultures and concepts;
it is a universal music and a universal language, connected to the origins of
thought. Indeed, the language of j<ia. is connected to Cortazar's patterns of
thought, and therefore it must manifest itself in his writing.
After reading a few chapters of this noyel, knowing that Cortazar was
a jau. enthusiast, one could presume something similar to what Bruno
observes in "El perseguidor:"
Cuando la marquesa echa a hablar uno se pregunta si el estilo
de Diz.zy [Gillespie] no se le ha pegado al idioma, pues es una
serie intenninable .. de variaciones en los registros mas inesperados. (160)
Cortazar's language resembles a Diz.zy solo because it does not consist of
mere words for the mind; it is music for the soul, a gathering and exposition
of feelings, which, according to Cortazar, was his intent in writing Ra_yuela:
He tratado de que lafrase no solamente diga lo que quiere decir,
sino que lo diga de una manera que potencie ese decir, que lo
introduce por otras vertientes, no ya en la mente sino en la
sensibilidad. (Prego 170).
A fundamental element of this universal music that infects Cortazar's
language and helps him to achieve the musicality he seeks is the rhythm
commonly used injau.: swing. Andres Amor6s, has affinned: "como buen
aficionado a la musica, Cortazar es muy sensible a los valores rltmicos y
musicales de! lenguaje" (Introduction 59). It is this swing rhythm which
pushes the music and the language onward, as if it were the heartbeat of the
47
work of art. Cortazar told Evelyn Picon Garfield that he sought for this
concept of swing in his work: "El Jazz me enseflo cierta sensibilidad de
swing, de ritmo, en mi estilo de escribir. Para mi, las jrases tienen un
swing" (Cited by Amoros, Introduction to Rayuela 565). In Rayuela.
Morelli, an author who might represent Cortazar, also talks of the relation
between swing and writing:
No tengo ideas claras, ni siquiera tengo ideas. Hay jirones,
bloques, y todo busca una Jonna, entonces entra en juego el
ritmo y yo escribo dentro de ese ritmo, escribo por el, movido
por el y no por eso que llaman pensamiento y que hace la prosa.
(565)
Chapter seven is a good example of writing with a swing to it. First of
all, there are short phrases, like "tu boca, • "me miras", and "de cerca. •
Such phrases are repeated and joined to each other and to longer phrases
which are replete with alliteration, like "una ~ola ~aliva y un ~olo ~abor"
(160). The preoccupation with rhythm creates a very musical language which
pushes the reader on to the end of the chapter, as if Cortazar were creating
with the trumpet instead of the pen. This sensation of being pushed forward,
of wanting to continue to the end without knowing why, is produced by this
swing, and it is present throughout Rayuela. Furthennore, in chapter sixteen,
where one of the •club's• listening sessions is described, the famous
Cartesian parody "I swing, therefore I am• appears, a phrase well suited to
Rayuela. since the novel's life emerges from a rhythmic swing.
Another important element of Jazz is tension, which is constantly
produced and released, through the swing rhythm, but also through dissonant
tones, jumps in pitch, and distinct melodies opposing one another and then
becoming intertwined. In Cortazar's novel, such tension accentuates in part
the differences and conflicts between Buenos Aires and Paris. The
protagonist, Oliveira, is an Argentine national who splits his time in the novel
between the two opposing cultures. These two aspects of reality which are
48
r
1
t
ft
ft
evident in Rqyuela. "no s6lo reflejan la circunstancia geografica de su
protagonista-- y de su creador-- sino que simbolizan la contradicci6n
pennanente, el sf y el no que existe en todo" (Amor6s, Introduction 31).
Ronald and Babs, two of Oliveira 's friends, observe that same tension
in the }au they enjoy, and it seems most evident when they listen to a song
that gets off to a bad stan but that becomes better once Bix and Eddie Lang
stan to play:
Dos muenos se batfan fraternalmente, Ovillandose y
desentendiendose. Bix y Eddie Lang ... jugaban con la pelota .. .
y d6nde estara ente"ado Bix, pens6 Oliveira, y d6nde Eddie
Lang, a cuantas mil/as una de otra sus dos nadas en que una
noche futura de Paris se batfan guitarra contra corneta, gin
contra mala suene. (169)
This tension and conflict characteristic of }au is conspicuous throughout
the novel: Paris against Buenos Aires, Oliveira against La Maga, reason
against instinct. By comparing these conflicts with the tension produced in
jau, one can begin to feel more of what Conazar is doing, and come to
understand his music instead of merely grasping his ideas. He is simply
attempting to explain the internal and eternal conflict with the manipulation
of language; this conflict must somehow be demonstrated sensually through
the printed symbols. Cortazar plays with the symbols, creating new words-
nonsensical words-- breaking rules of punctuation and style, liberating the
traditional fonn of the novel.
This jau-like tension is connected to the open and free structure which
characterizes the text of Rqyuela. In chapter twelve the narrator mentions
that Ronald and Babs are given over to jazz as a "modesto ejercicio de
liberaci6n • (174). Dizzy Gillespie and those who follow him, like Miles
Davis and John Coltrane, were always looking for a freedom in their music,
straining to go beyond the traditional methods of creating music. They create
a music which is essentially free, without limits and with very little discernible
49
structure. Amor6s also suggests that the ultimate attraction of.jazz is
freedom. He cites chapters twelve, seventeen, and seventy-four as evidence
of a music which permits everything (Introduction 79). For him, Rayuela
< <se bur/a de convencionalismos y ceremonias, canta apasionadamente a
la libertad en todos las ambitos--en la musica, al jazz>> (86). Concerning
this freedom of jazz, Corttizar affirms: "Par el jazz siempre salgo a lo
abierto • (La vueltaJ.
The first obvious indication of a free and innovative structure similar
to that of jazz occurs in the 7ablero de direcci6n, • and in the several
possible readings of the book which are proposed by the author. A jazz
composition also has various interpretations, according to the solos that are
included at the performers' discretion. Cortazar provides us with the
"Cap{tulos prescindibles, • which can be included at the discretion of the
reader. Concerning these chapters, Amor6s suggests:
En el conjunto de la obra, ademtis, poseen [Los HCap(tulos
prescindibles "] una .finalidad musical muy clara; son armonicos
que refuerzan--por armon(a o contraste--las melod(as btisicas. Y
de vez en cuando nos hacen sentir Ia delicia; coma el
<<solo>> de un saxo; coma la cadenza, en un concierto de
piano y orquesta. (Introduction 25)
Another expression of the open structure in a jazz performance is the
presence of various themes, or melodies, which develop simultaneously. The
presence of this technique in Rayuela is especially prevalent in chapter thirty
four, in which a novel Oliveira reads is juxtaposed with the thoughts he
entertains while reading it. The two plots, or trains of thought, intertwine,
creating a synthesis that is a third melody. It is as if a trumpet and a sax
were both "soloing" at the same time, each melody being pitted against the
other, creating a third melody.
An open and liberated structure requires more of the who participates
in the art. Injazz--this music that seems to have little structure--the musician
50
who plays a solo must complete the composition provided for him by the
composer, and at the same time, the listener imagines and creates other
possibilities. Such freedom is difficult with classical music because the
composer indicates everything he wants played, without allowing for more
creation to emerge from the central theme. In an open novel like Rayuela.
it is the reader who becomes the true creator. The possible readings are
inf{nite. Cortazar only initiates the game, like a jaz.z composer; then, the
reader, like the jaz.z artist, finishes it, completing the composition in his own
way. The guide is there, but one must produce the notes he deems necessary
and appropriate (Amoros, "Rayuela. una nueva lectura" 142). According to
what Cortazar said in an interview with Evelyn Picon Garfield, the openness
which involves the reader in the creative process is exactly what he had
hoped for:
Todo eso que tu has pensado me llena de contento, es como una
especie de recompensa para m( porque el hecho de dejar al libro
abierto y encontrar en tu caso tantas posibles opciones es
exactamente lo que busco con mis lectores. (Amoros, Rayuela
43)
Thus, like any composition by Bird or Satchmo, Cortazar expects the reader
to play those notes--those words, those ideas--which he or she feels. In this
way the novel becomes complete for that reader; it becomes one's own novel,
with one's ideas and spirit added to the basic theme. Because of this
phenomenon of an accomplice artist (or reader), Rayuela. like a jau.
composition, is never read or interpreted the same way by two different
readers; it is free and open.
The open structure of Rayuela is also related to the central theme of the
novel: the search. The protagonist is searching for another reality, and the
author is searching for another form of literature. The search also appears
very clearly as a central theme in "El perseguidor:" "A partir de Johnny
Carter, los protagonistas de sus relatos seran, todos, perseguidores,
51
buscadores de alga que de sentido a nuestra vida sabre este .mundo •
(Amor6s. Rayuela 19). In that story, and also in Rayuela. jazz is explicitly
linked with the search. Johnny has abandoned the traditional language of
Jazz and is now searching for new ways to express himself, to escape his
private sphere and participate in a distinct reality: "En $U caso e{ deseo le
exige avanzar, buscar, negando par adelantado Los encuentros fticiles del Jazz
tradicional" (Cortazar, "El perseguidor" 166). And for Johnny, music is the
instrument for his search:
La musica me sacaba del tiempo, aunque no es mas que una
manera de decirlo. Si quiero saber lo que realmente siento, yo .
creo que la musica me metfa en el tiempo > > (Corttizar, "El
Perseguidor" 147).
In Rayuela. Oliveira searches to uncover a second reality entombed -by
custom and culture beneath our present version of reality (Alazarki 33). His
instrument is the rejection of logic and dialectics, the bringing to life of the
absurd. In these two works it is evident that Corttizar is also searching for
another reality, and jazz is like a model for that search. On one occasion
when the "club• is listening to jazz, the narrator tells us the following:
Y Oliveira, un poco borracho tambien, sent{a ahora que la
verdad estaba en eso, en que Bessie y Hawkins fueran ilusiones,
porque solamente las ilusiones fueran capaces de mover a sus
fieles, las ilusiones y no las verdades. (179-80)
So is the entire search of Oliveira. He is searching for something
outside of reality, outside of what is called mere truth. When a new Jazz
artist hurdles barriers to search out another reality and carry his art to an
untouched level of expression, the traditional fans and critics often reject him
initially. A similar fate had befallen Charlie Parker and others because they
were breaking new ground. They wanted to go beyond the traditional
confines of music, to arrive at the notes without notes. In a similar manner,
it has been said that with Rayuela, Corttizar attempts to arrive at the word
52
without words (Picon Garfield 110). Johnny, Oliveira, and Cortazar propose
a dissemination of the boundaries of tradition, searching for new ways of
expression.
Rayuela reflects this liberation of expression that jazz has always
sought. The take, the jam session, and other essential elements of jazz
contribute to this novel's essential characteristics: the theme of the search,
the experimentation with and liberation of language, and the involvement of
the reader in the creative process. Rayue/a is similar to a jazz composition
in its rhythm, its production of tension, its open structure, and its relationship
to he who interprets the themes. By reading Cortazar's masterpiece as a
metaphor for a jazz perfonnance--a long jam session with various solos,
variations and innovations--one can b~tter comprehend it, because, like a jazz
performance, Rayuela speaks not only to the mind, nor to only the emotions:
it is a complete work that speaks to the complete being.
Craig Niel.._Bergeson University of Nevada, Reno
(
Work Cited
Alazarki, Jaime, Ivar Ivask, and Joaquin Marco, eds . . La is/a final. NY:
U of Oklahoma P, 1976 . .
Amoros, Andres. •Rqyuela, una nueva lectura. • La isla final.
Ed. Jaime Alazarki, Ivar Ivask, and Joaquin Marco. NY: U of
Oklahoma P, 1976. 103-58.
Introduction. Rqyuela. By Julio Conazar. 5th ed. Madrid:
Catedra, 1989.
Conazar, Julio. •El perseguidor. • Las annas secretas. Ed. Susana
Jakfalvi. Madrid: Catedra, 1989. 121-206.
La vuelta al dfa en ochenta mundos. 5th ed. Madrid: Siglo XXI, 1969.
Rqyuela. Ed. Andres Amoros. 5th ed. Madrid: Catedra, 1989.
Iientcoff, Nat. lm.z.1£. NY: Random House, 1976.
Lazarte Dishman, Amalia. "Otro enfoque a 'El perseguidor' de Julio
Conazar." Alba de America 8 (1990): 187-202.
Nilfo de Guzman, Guillermo. "Cortdzar y el jazz. Cielo Abierto 11
(1985): 3-8.
Picon Garfield, Evelyn. Julio Cortazar. NY: Fredrick Ungar
Publishing Co., 1975.
Prego, Omar. La fascinaci6n de las valabras: conversaciones con Julio
Cortazar. Barcelona: Muchnik Editores, 1985.
Ba"enchea, Ana Marla. "La estructura de Rayuela, de Julio Cortazar."
Nueva novela latinoamericana. Ed. Jorge Lafforque. Vol. 2. Buenos
Aires: Editorial Paidos, 1974. 2 vols. 222-47.
Burgos, Fernando, ed. Los ochenta mundos de Cortazar: ensayos.
Madrid: EDI-G.S.A., 1987.
Baldy, Steven. The Novels qflulio Cortazar. Cambridge: Cambridge UP,
1980.
Hovscotch. Trans. Gregory Rabassa. NY: Random House, 1966.
54
f
l
0
1
:r
,s
Giacoman, Helmy F., ed. Homenaie a Julio Cortazar. NY: L.A.
Publishing, 1972.
Goic, Cedomil. La nueva novela his_panoamericana: descubrimiento e
invencion de America. Ed. Ricardo Vergara. Valpara(so: Ediciones
Universitarias de Valpara(so, 1973.
Hodier, Andre. Jau: Its Evolution and Essence. Trans. David Noakes.
NY: Grove Press Inc., 1956.
Lastra, Pedro, ed. Julio Cortazar. Madrid: Taurus Ediciones, S.A., 1981.
Picon Garfield, Evelyn. ·Julio Cortazar. • Latin American Writers.
Ed. Carlos A. Sole and Maria Isabel Abreu. Vol. 3. NY: Charles
Scribner's Sons, 1989. 3 vols. 1177-93.