Caperucita en la Zona Roja

by Manlio Argueta

“Caperucita en la Zona Roja” son: el enfoque del anticomunismo de la cúpula en el poder; la combatividad tradicional del gremio de ferrocarrileros y panaderos; y los frecuentes golpes de estado en El Salvador y el predominio de un autoritarismo sin tregua.

Genres: Fiction, Retellings, Latin American, Fairy Tales

202 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Argueta was born in San Miguel (El Salvador) on November 24, 1935. Argueta has stated that his exposure to “poetic sounds” began during his childhood and that his foundation in poetry stemmed from his childhood imagination. Argueta’s interest in literature was strongly influenced by the world literature he read as a teenager. Argueta began his writing career by the age of 13 as a poet. He cites Pablo Neruda and García Lorca as some of his early poetic influences. Although he was relatively unknown at the time, Argueta won a national prize for his poetry around 1956, which gained him some recognition among Salvadoran and Central American poets. As he became more involved with the literary community of El Salvador, Argueta became a member of the "Committed Generation". Because of his writings criticizing the government, Argueta was exiled to Costa Rica in 1972 and was not able to return to El Salvador until the 1990s. Argueta currently lives in El Salvador where he holds the position of Director of the National Public Library.

He belonged to a literary group by the name of Generación Comprometida (Committed Generation, referring to political and social commitment), also known as Círculo Literario Universitario (University Literary Circle), created by Italo López Vallecillos (1932-1986). Other members of the group included Roque Dalton (1935-1975), Alvaro Menen Desleal (1931-2000), Waldo Chávez Velasco (1932), Irma Lanzas (1933), Orlando Fresedo (1932), Mercedes Durand (1932-1998), Ricardo Bogrand (1932), and Mauricio de la Selva. Members of the group were revolutionary in both their writing and their political views, though some members claim that "Generación Comprometida" and "Círculo Literario Universitario" were two different groups, it's been said that "Generación Comprometida" would be formed three or four years after the "50's Generation", a group which would be formed by those writers whom started publishing between 1950 and 1952 and had been members of the “Cenáculo de Iniciación Literaria” such as Mercedes Durand, Irma Lanzas, Orlando Fresedo, Italo López Vallecillos, Waldo Chávez Velasco, Álvaro Menéndez Leal, Mauricio de la Selva and Ricardo Bogrand. The group sought to create social change in terms of the treatment of the lower class. But they also initiated rediscovery of cultural heritage to a certain extent. Manlio Argueta and his Committed Generation were heavily influenced by the French philosopher Jean Paul Sartre and his existentialist ideas. Existentialism is an outlook on life that emphasizes the existence, freedom, and actions of the individual. This perspective tends to be atheistic and stress human freedom and experience as a definition of existence as opposed to scientific definitions. Existentialists also do not believe in the existence of objective moral values.

Some of Argueta’s works include El valle de las Hamacas (Editorial Ariel, Buenos Aires, 1977), Un hombre por la patria (poetry, Editorial Universitaria, San Salvador, 1968), En el costado de la luz (poetry, EU, San Salvador, 1968), Caperucita en la zona roja / Little Red Riding Hood in the Red Light District (Casa de las Américas Prize 1977, various editions), Un día en la vida / One Day of Life (1980), Cuzcatlán, donde bate la mar del sur / Cuzcatlán, Where the Southern Sea Beats (1986), Milagro de la Paz / A Place Called Milagro de la Paz (San Salvador, Istmo Editores, 1995) Siglo de O(G)ro (San Salvador, DPI, 1997). A characteristic of Argueta’s writing style present in the majority of his works is the use of Salvadoran Spanish vernacular and slang. Argueta considers this a way to express and preserve some of El Salvador’s cultural identity.

Argueta is best known for his book One Day of Life, which has been translated into over 12 languages. The book takes the reader through one day of the life of Lupe, the main character. Lupe is a grandmother in a small vi

Reviews

[Karla Majano]

3.75 es la nota apropiada. Lo que me gusta de el libro es la naturalidad con que se se logra el correcto tono de los personajes. Cada personaje es convincente, el tono, el lenguaje y su discurso. También me gusta mucho cómo describe sucesos como la matanza de estudiantes, en ese momento me sentí en medio de la escena, estaba totalmente capturada por el momento. Me gusta que se nota la influencia poética en la prosa. Hay figuras verdaderamente preciosas como hablar de una noche boca abajo, entre otras muchas más. Lo que no me gusta mucho es que sentí confusa la historia y me costó ubicarme en los tiempos. Se nota la influencia de la Rayuela de Cortazar, pero en algunos momentos de la historia sentí muy forzado el estilo.

[Mario Vargas Torres]

El libro trata sobre Alfonse/al, un joven que se une a la guerrilla con ideales revolucionarios, y su relación con Horm, también llamada Caperucita, quien representa a la sociedad civil que continúa con su vida a pesar de la violencia que la rodea.
La narración es dura y compleja desde el inicio. Argueta no guía al lector: lo arrastra a su mundo mental, como si se estuvieran leyendo pensamientos fragmentados, obligando a nadar entre ideas para encontrar sentido.
La novela retrata la realidad convulsa de los años setenta y ochenta en El Salvador, donde la injusticia social llevó a muchos jóvenes a sacrificar familia y amistades por la causa. En medio de la muerte constante, siempre queda espacio para el amor.
Caperucita en la zona roja es, al final, la historia de jóvenes casi niños viviendo en una realidad sangrienta y dura.

[Liz Murray]

I don't feel I had all the references necessary to appreciate this book. I read it in English and in the Spanish Argueta employs much slang and local dialect that must be tricky to translate. I would recommend it to someone more knowledgeable about that time in El Salvador's history as I feel there are many layers to this book.

[Alisha]

-When I was in the Latino Cafe I knew you would arrive, but I acted like I was waiting for you, in order to play the part of the run-of-the-mill person and not a desperate individual.

-if indeed we did exist before this night that is so real.

-Tell me if I should forget about your shadow. If I should erase it from my bed, if I should remove it so that someone else, who has the courage, will come sleep with me.

-You're my country and that's why I traverse you from your head to your toes, passing through ravines and depressions, through vines and fields of wild flowers.

[isidora]

2.5

[Kara]

There was a lot going on in this story (I think?) that was just going over my head. This is the kind of book needed to be read in a literature books, with supplementary worksheets and reference guides. As a leisurely read it was incredibly hard to follow and engaging. The style of writing as a stream of consciousness, jumping between characters (and time maybe?) did not allow me to form a context without a knowledge of the political environment the story takes place in. Two of the characters are referred to as Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf, but besides that I did not follow any allegorical structure. It was hard to tell if there were any more connections to be made between the characters or the plot, because of the undefined time jumps. I know a neighborhood was called "The Forest" but what that means in terms of the work as a whole I couldn't tell you.

If you are familiar with this portion of El Salvador history, maybe you'll get more out of it than I did. If you don't, it's not really worth the trouble.

[Lauren]

This gives a look into the lives of two lovers in El Salvador in the late 1970's just as things were getting more volatile. At times it was difficult to understand as the story is not alwyas told in a linear timespan and sometimes changes narrarators (and you don't figure out who for a couple of paragraphs or more). Overall though, I enjoyed reading it and its good preparation for my trip!

[Melissa]

This book is for high school students. This is a love story that focuses more on sex than anything else, as the title suggests. The story is about a student named Alfonso who decides to date his own "Little Red Riding Hood". She becomes pregnant and Alfonso leaves her in the barrio where he lives to fend for herself. I very difficult story to read, but contains some powerful lessons.

[The Fairy Godmother]

Based on Little Red Riding Hood.

[Ernesto López]

Dedicatoria personal:
En este libro estamentos las razones penosamente digo: Cape...