THE AVATAR IN PANAMA - Theses - Flinders University

3.2 Double Whammy: Mixed Doubles The Avatar in Panamacontacto diario con las alumnas habrá influido en su distanciamiento”.His profession is further brought to the forefront when he states: “Yotrabajo con el cerebro […] No tengo por qué perder el tiempo lavandoplatos ni yendo de compras contigo. Para eso estás tú, ¿no?” (101). In“La alumna” (I) Alejandro is the teacher of his pregnant student loverPaula Rodríguez. In “¿Cuándo?” there are several references: “lamisma monotonía del deber imponiendo cursos, codiciando diplomas”,“informes rostros de estudiantes” (63). In “Nereida”, the former studentis now working in an office but she is remembering her schooldays andher affair with her teacher. She states that during some of this time herlover is absent: “él ni siquiera está en el país” (136), as he is again in“La tarde del encuentro”: “Anayansi no volvió a escribir en los cincomeses que permanecí fuera. […] Me dio mucho gusto que me hubiesereconocido después del año de ausencia […] nos ausentamos con elfin de realizar estudios de postgrado en el exterior” (44). Nereida alsoworries that another woman may be enjoying his affections “en quiénsabe qué lugar de ese remoto país” (137). The corpse narrator of“Bautismo ausente” refers to the return trip to Panama, and toauthenticating academic documents, deeds that evoke the constantcharacter of a teacher or academic abroad or at least outside ofPanama.One of the most common and autobiographical characters isthat of the professional or amateur writer who, with the exception of “Ellector” in which the artist is a woman, usually falls into other classes ofcharacter as lover, academic or older man. The familiar link of thecreation of literature is one of Jaramillo Levi's most powerful andexperimental. It often manipulates the absorption of material from theexterior to the interior of the artist which is then rechannelled to theexterior in the form of writing (sublimation). In virtually all of these‘writing’ stories, the author of the work produced is confused anddazzled by his surroundings to the point where he becomes immersedin his art and the boundaries of reality and fantasy are no longerdelineated. These stories include among others, “Síntesis corregida yaumentada”, “Escribiendo a máquina”, “El lector”, “El reto” (LTG) inwhich the writer-protagonist attempts to live that which he has created. 35Connected to the issue of age is that of recurring psychologicalor physical disability which appears in several stories. In “Domingo delluvia” the young wife admits her husband is a, “hombre mayor y pocopropenso ya a las urgencies de la carne […] Cosas de la edad”, shesupposes (44). Aside from the impairments of ageing, which thenarrator suffers in “El vecino”, the disabled or invalid male narrator is ascommon as the unstable female narrator is. If not confined to awheelchair, the character is bed-ridden. “La figura”, “El olor”, “Luminoso35 This particular characterisation and theme of creation of literature is examinedfurther in 3.3 Fused Fiction and Reality, 253.192