semana 9

For this weeks seminar, we went into more detail about the whole novel. First we discussed the importance of the process of the novel, namely how the protagonist grows more angry throughout the book. I found it useful to speak of the religious symbolism within the novel, as I found this to be the fundamental issue of the story i.e., how the protagonist relates to God, and how his beliefs about this lead to his temptation to carry out immoral actions. Some of the religious symbolism, such as the story of the 12 gold chicks, was very complex. I found it useful to discuss ideas around this because I think it is arguably the most important scene in the novel, because this is when the protagonist has an epiphany, which leads to the transition of the rest of the novel: he stops carrying out immoral actions.

finally we discussed the narrative perspective (3rd person narration, but with much internal monologue) and how this is important as it allows the reader to understand the psyche of the protagonist while also seeing, in some scenes, the perspective of other characters when necessary. This helped me to form my essay question which relates to the psychological perspective of the protagonist, which I believe to be more fundamental than the inter-character relations or social issues within the story,

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Semana 8

This week we dicsussed ‘las estrellas son negras’. I found the novel interesting. it was complex for us to read because the storyline is based from the point of view of the protagonist, mostly formed as an internal monologue. the use of Colombian slang and accents made it a tough read too. In the seminar we discussed the use of such language complexities and worked through a few examples which I found to be helpful for the reading of the following two chapters. We spoke of the afro descendant population in Colombia, and how such racial themes and concepts relate to the story. We spoke about symbolism, such as the physical feeling of hunger which the protagonist experiences, and how it leads to other impulses such as a thirst for murder and sex. This was useful as it shaped our understanding of the deeper interconnections within the novel, such as the experience of the protagonist (poverty, racial discrimination), and how it relates to his feelings and behaviours (anger). I found the first two chapters to be a very interesting insight into the deep psychological structure: thoughts, beliefs, and behaviours, of the protagonist which connects to wider society: how poverty and social neglect can affect peoples mentality.

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