THE AVATAR IN PANAMA - Theses - Flinders University

Introducing the Double:The Seductive Paradoxthe doppelganger emerges. It was here that the double enjoyed thegreater part of its success and controversy partly due to the spread ofpsychoanalysis and the changes in artistic and social milieux. Since itstranscontinental passage the double appears to have kept anexceptionally low profile, so much so that in the initial stages of thisresearch it appeared challenging to find much Latin American fictiondealing with it. However, contemporary Panamanian author EnriqueJaramillo Levi, recognised as one of the most innovative and prolificwriters in Central America, was to become synonymous with theconcept of the double in part due to his much celebrated short storycollection Duplicaciones. While there is no denying that other authorshave treated the subject matter, with the exception of Jorge Luis Borgesand Julio Cortázar, they appear to have dabbled sporadically in thedouble in one or two stories; conversely with Jaramillo Levi, the themeis pivotal to the understanding of his entire narrative collection.Duplicaciones is unique in that most of its contents and even its coverare linked to the theme of the double and showcase diverse facets ofdoubling. 2 Doubles and associated sub-themes like identity and thesearch for the other are so prolific, and not only in Duplicaciones, thatone might use the term idée fixe in describing Jaramillo Levi’s chosenleitmotif. 3 A theme is truly universal when one can find parallels in worldfiction, written in various languages, and spanning different centuries.Thus, to find a Panamanian writer today who produces work dealingwith the timeless theme of the double, which is comparable to the workof European and American writers in the eighteenth and nineteenthcenturies, really is a testament to the popularity of the device and acredit to its Central American manipulator. Irrespective of JaramilloLevi’s precedence, his literary categorisation and the direct comparisonof his work with that of these classic practitioners of double literature ishigh praise indeed.2 Duplicaciones has enjoyed four editions: México, 1973; México, 1982; Madrid, 1990;Barcelona, 2001. The cover of the fourth features a drawing by Luis Cruz-Azacetacalled Alter-Ego3 When asked why he used the theme of the double in Duplicaciones, Jaramillo Levistates: “Porque la idea de duplicidad, en sus muchas variantes, es un elemento vitalen mi concepción del mundo, a partir de mi propia experiencia. Somos nosotrosmismos y, a la vez, somos otros. Vivimos simultáneamente vidas paralelas,contradictorias a menudo. La realidad que experimentamos de manera cotidiana y losestados de ensueño en que realizamos otro tipo de experiencia, son caras distintasde una misma moneda. Hay sutiles circunstancias en que los hechos se repiten, secopian, se metamorfosean conservando su esencia original” (356). Oscar Wong,“Habla Jaramillo Levi. La creación literaria: Acto gozoso y doloroso a la vez”,Referencias cruzadas: Entrevistas al escritor panameño Enrique Jaramillo Levi, eds.Elba D Birmingham-Pokorny, Clementina R. Adams, (San José, Costa Rica: PerroAzul, 1999) 355-364.2