Zurita’s Purgatory is an attempt to artistically record the political unrest perpetrated against the Chilean people during Augusto Pinochet’s military regime, as well as an attempt to protest it. Zurita employs various literary as well as artistic techniques in order to convey his message, including using photographs, drawings, and hand-written passages. In his foreword, Zurita explains his intentions for the book: “I feel that Purgatory represents a certain image of what pain can generate, of its desperation, but also, I hope, of its beauty.”
The piece begins with a section entitled "In the Middle of the Road." We are presented with a photograph of scared looking Zurita on one page and on the other, a hand-written statement by a speaker who calls herself Rachel: "I'm in the / middle of my life. / I lost my way." Across the bottom of both pages, block printed in all caps, runs the Biblical phrase "EGO SUM QUI SUM." Zurita presents this book immediately as an exploration of his own suffering, of a broken sense of self which will be laid bare on the page.
The woman’s voice continues and she bares her soul to the reader through the first section:
“All made-up face against the glass
I called myself this enlightened woman tell me it’s not so
The Super Star of Chile
I touched myself in the shadows I kissed my legs
I’ve hated myself so much these years (pg 15)”
Interestingly, Zurita embodies first and foremost a female persona, as though suffering is only best represented through the female gender. “The middle road” which Zurita wishes to explore is best seen through a woman’s eyes, and the choice, in my opinion, is a successful one, as viewing a woman as a victim breeds a different, almost more pure type of empathy (politically correct or not, the sentiment is undeniable).
Having explored the “Middle Road”, Zurita moves us to the Atacama desert. The movement to the desert evokes religious undertones, calling forth visions of Jesus and Moses and their trials through thr desert. It is unclear if the voice is still female, as it transfers focus from itself onto its surroundings, a wasteland which seems to constantly transition between a harsh environment and a haven for the downtrodden: a contemplative oasis. The narrator loses himself (or herself) in the vastness of the landscape.
Here another document is inserted into the work: a letter from a psychologist, dated May 4, 1974, confirming a diagnosis of "epileptic psychosis." The patient's name, Raúl Zurita, is crossed out and overwritten four times: "Violeta / Dulce Beatriz / Rosamunda / Manuela." Along the bottom of the page, overrunning the margin, is printed "OVE YOU I LOVE YOU INFINITELY I L." Zurita is unashamed in exposing his total suffering, and it is revealed that the female voice hear before is stemming directly from within him. Rather than a voice being invoked it is a voice that cannot be quieted and is forcing itself upon the page.
In the next section, "Green Areas," the desert abruptly gives way to the surrounding pampas and "THE IMMENSE REPOSE OF THE COW / below the stars." The poet now embodies the cow, the beauty of the animal, elevating it to a lyrical quality which directly opposes the previous section which explored the desert.
Zurita’s style is almost biblical, achieved through repetition of both teams and certain words, as well as the trilogic structure of his work. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and found it especially enlightening to have the Spanish and English translation side by side whilst reading. The exploration of the similarities and dualities of the two languages added a different dimension to the work.