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Cartographies: Meditations on Travel
On the impulse behind Cartographies, Marjorie Agosín writes, "I have always wanted to understand the meaning of displacement and the quest or longing for home." In these lyrical meditations in prose and poetry, Agosín evokes the many places on four continents she has visited or called home. Recording personal and spiritual voyages, the author opens herself to follow the ambiguous, secret map of her memory, which "does not betray."
Agosín's journey begins in Chile, where she spent her childhood before her family left in the early days of the Pinochet dictatorship. Of Santiago Agosín writes, "Day and night I think about my city. I dream the dream of all exiles." Agosín also travels to Prague and Vienna, ancestral homes of her grandparents, and to Valparaíso in Chile, which received them as immigrants. Kneeling among the yellow mounds at the Terezin concentration camp, where twenty-two of her relatives died, Agosín places "small stones, shrubs, the stuff of life on graves I did not recognize."
And then on through the Middle East, the Mediterranean, Europe, and the Americas . . . Everywhere, she is drawn to women in whose devotion and creativity she sees a deep vein of hope―from Julia, keeper of the synagogue at Rhodes, to the women potters in the Chilean town of Pomaire.
Agosín writes of diaspora, exile, and oppression, yet only to highlight the dignity and valor of those who find refuge in their humanity and their art, in community and tradition. Cartographies shows us what can be found when we journey with openness, as approachable to strangers as we are to ourselves.
Agosín's journey begins in Chile, where she spent her childhood before her family left in the early days of the Pinochet dictatorship. Of Santiago Agosín writes, "Day and night I think about my city. I dream the dream of all exiles." Agosín also travels to Prague and Vienna, ancestral homes of her grandparents, and to Valparaíso in Chile, which received them as immigrants. Kneeling among the yellow mounds at the Terezin concentration camp, where twenty-two of her relatives died, Agosín places "small stones, shrubs, the stuff of life on graves I did not recognize."
And then on through the Middle East, the Mediterranean, Europe, and the Americas . . . Everywhere, she is drawn to women in whose devotion and creativity she sees a deep vein of hope―from Julia, keeper of the synagogue at Rhodes, to the women potters in the Chilean town of Pomaire.
Agosín writes of diaspora, exile, and oppression, yet only to highlight the dignity and valor of those who find refuge in their humanity and their art, in community and tradition. Cartographies shows us what can be found when we journey with openness, as approachable to strangers as we are to ourselves.
160 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2004
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About the author
Marjorie Agosín
126 books75 followersMarjorie Agosín was born in Maryland and raised in Chile. She and her parents, Moises and Frida Agosín, moved to the United States due to the overthrow of the Chilean government by General Pinochet's military coup. Coming from a South American country and being Jewish, Agosín's writings demonstrate a unique blending of these cultures.
Agosín is well known as a poet, critic, and human activist. She is also a well-known spokesperson for the plight and priorities of women in Third World countries. Her deep social concerns and accomplishments have earned her many awards and recognitions, and she has gained an international reputation among contemporary women of color.
Agosín, a passionate writer, has received critical acclaim for her poetry collections, her close reflections on her parents and family, and her multi-layered stories. Within every novel, story, or poem, she captures the very essence of Jewish women at their best. Agosín's works reveal the experiences of pain and anguish of Jewish refugees. She writes about the Holocaust as well as anti-Semitic events that occurred in her native land.
Agosín has many fascinating works and is recognized in both North and South America as one of the most versatile and provocative Latin American writers. Agosín became a writer to make a difference: "I wanted to change the world through peace and beauty," she said. Today she is not only a writer, but also a Spanish professor at Wellesley College.
Agosín is well known as a poet, critic, and human activist. She is also a well-known spokesperson for the plight and priorities of women in Third World countries. Her deep social concerns and accomplishments have earned her many awards and recognitions, and she has gained an international reputation among contemporary women of color.
Agosín, a passionate writer, has received critical acclaim for her poetry collections, her close reflections on her parents and family, and her multi-layered stories. Within every novel, story, or poem, she captures the very essence of Jewish women at their best. Agosín's works reveal the experiences of pain and anguish of Jewish refugees. She writes about the Holocaust as well as anti-Semitic events that occurred in her native land.
Agosín has many fascinating works and is recognized in both North and South America as one of the most versatile and provocative Latin American writers. Agosín became a writer to make a difference: "I wanted to change the world through peace and beauty," she said. Today she is not only a writer, but also a Spanish professor at Wellesley College.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 7, 2017
prose flew so poetically that poetry seemed stuttering.
October 20, 2024
A chilean-Jewish poet and activist, Marjorie Agosín originally wrote these vignettes in Spanish - and they're so beautiful I am tempted to buy it in Spanish just to learn the words and say them, and see how it's even more beautiful in the original.
Each reflection is about a page (some less, some more), on memory, travel, individual cities, mothers and daughters, the Holocaust, the power of women, all infused with melancholy, insight, and achingly pretty prose. But this book is also important. I'll leave you with an excerpt from "Budapest"-
"Rarely free of the residue of bullets, the buildings of Budapest have tamed a perennial and drowsy sadness, and her walls have kept no secrets. They have revealed all so that no one can say that war and those who love war are somehow virtuous".
Each reflection is about a page (some less, some more), on memory, travel, individual cities, mothers and daughters, the Holocaust, the power of women, all infused with melancholy, insight, and achingly pretty prose. But this book is also important. I'll leave you with an excerpt from "Budapest"-
"Rarely free of the residue of bullets, the buildings of Budapest have tamed a perennial and drowsy sadness, and her walls have kept no secrets. They have revealed all so that no one can say that war and those who love war are somehow virtuous".
May 5, 2007
Agosin is a more of a poet than a traveler. I guess her argument is that a poet is a traveler. I know for a fact that this is not always the case.
She wants to take us through the dirt roads of a Chilean village to spy on Neruda or along the canals of Venice to the old ghetto. Her language is always trying to illuminate not only places but their history.
She ends up reminding me of Annie Lennox in a certain Eurythmics video where she wanders around the riverside with a gigantic lantern and gets rained on in bed.
Agosin holds her lantern to absolutely everything. Obliterating borders and street names with its light. The book is either luminous or unbearable. Probably both.
She wants to take us through the dirt roads of a Chilean village to spy on Neruda or along the canals of Venice to the old ghetto. Her language is always trying to illuminate not only places but their history.
She ends up reminding me of Annie Lennox in a certain Eurythmics video where she wanders around the riverside with a gigantic lantern and gets rained on in bed.
Agosin holds her lantern to absolutely everything. Obliterating borders and street names with its light. The book is either luminous or unbearable. Probably both.
August 14, 2012
i would really give this 3.5 stars. i like a lot of the imagery and language, but sometimes it seems to get lost in itself and forget to have an audience. i would really like to read this in the original spanish because it's unclear whether the flatness of some of these poems is inherent in the original or introduced in translation. overall, solid with some truly beautiful moments. (this is not facing-page translation, so i can't really compare the two based on this edition.)
November 1, 2009
I liked the way Agosin wove her personal experiences with the cultural experiences of the Jews.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews