Carmen Rodríguez

Carmen Rodriguez (born June 19, 1948) is a Chilean author, poet, singer and political and social activist, who fled to Canada, where she now resides, as a political refugee after the Chilean Coup of 1973. Arsenal Pulp Press states,"with the assistance of friends, Carmen, her husband, and her daughters, aged five and six, narrowly escaped with their lives." Rodriguez is known for her unique approach to writing, as she publishes most of her works in both Spanish and English. However, unlike other authors who want to translate their work, Rodriguez is set apart because she assumes responsibility for the translation between the two. According to the Writers' Union of Canada, "the short stories were then translated into English by the author. This process was then repeated many times until, as Rodriguez says in the foreword to the book: 'I felt that both tips of my tongue and my two sets of ears were satisfied with the final product.'"

Carmen Rodriguez currently lives in Vancouver, and works in the Department of Education at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, along with being an Adult Literacy Consultant. According to the "About the Author" page in the 1992 edition of Rodriguez's Guerra Prolongada/ Protracted War, Rodriguez has had her works "published in Paula Magazine,Aquelarre Magazine, Capilano Review, Fireweed, Norte-Sur, and Prison Journal". In addition, the Sociedad de Mujeres Latinoamericanas states that Rodriguez has also been a correspondent for Radio Canada International since 1990. Furthermore,Guerra Prolongada/Protracted War states that Rodriguez belongs to the Aquelarre Collective. According to the Canadian Scholar's Press Inc., she has resided in the United States, Bolivia, Argentina, and Canada.

Early life

Carmen Rodriguez was born and raised in Valdivia, Chile, where she lived until she was 25. According to the introduction to Rodriguez's novel Guerra Prolongada/Protracted War, Rodriguez "became an active member of the popular movement and, when things became too threatening, was forced to leave her homeland and family."

According to an interview with Rodriguez, her first publication was a short story submitted at an annual literary competition in Chile in 1972. Rodriguez received honorary mention, and her work was subsequently published. After her flight to Canada, it would be over a decade before she began to write seriously again, in 1988 or 1989.

Flight from Chile

Rodriguez and her six and five year old daughters and her husband fled Chile after the Chilean Coup of 1973 She first sought refuge in California, where she lived with some friends and studied while working on obtaining papers to reside in Canada, where she moved in August of 1974 for five years. When in Canada, Rodriguez had her Chilean passport seized as a result of her outspoken views regarding Chilean human rights crimes. Rodriguez was forbidden to visit countries outside of Canada until she obtained her Canadian Citizenship in 1979. Later, Rodriguez moved from Canada to Bolivia and Argentina, returning to Canada in 1984.

Rodriguez did not return to Chile until 1987, more than 15 years after she left.

Influences

One of Rodriguez's strongest influence on her writing is, as she states in many interviews, her political exile from Chile and her transition into a life in a new country. Her flight has caused her to reflect strongly on her life,her exile, living in different cultures, and speaking in different languages. Her bilingualism, with her mother tongue being Spanish and her adopted language being English, and the translation between the two, has also been a source of both difficulty and inspiration for Rodriguez. Much of this is reflected in her works. In her Foreword to the collection of short stories and a body to remember with, Rodriguez states that after having others translate her work, she "began the fascinating process of translating them myself. It only took a few attempts to realize that I had embarked on something that could no longer be called 'translation.'" She continues, stating that as she translated from one language to another, trying to find "the best English words and constructions to do justice to the initial Spanish text," her poems and stories started to have differing meanings in their respective languages. She translated her literary work more than once, until "I felt that both tips of my tongue and my two sets of ears were satisfied with the final product. [. . .] this process mirrors my hyphenated existence. I live and work on a teeter-totter, moving back and forth between two cultures and languages."

In addition, Rodriguez believes that her move to Canada affected her writing in many ways. She states that in the early days her main focus living in Canada was "survival, both economically [. . .] and emotionally".

List of works

• Rodriguez, Carmen (1992), Guerra Prolongada/Protracted War, Toronto: Women's Press, ISBN 978-0889611719
• Rodriguez, Carmen (1997), and a body to remember with, Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, ISBN 978-1551520445
• Rodriguez, Carmen (1997), De cuerpo entero, Santiago de Chile: Los Andes, ISBN 978-9567014989

References

• "Carmen Rodriguez", The Writers' Union of Canada: Members' Pages, Writers' Union of Canada, retrieved 2008-09-19.
• "Rodriguez, Carmen Laura", BC Author Bank, BC Bookworld, retrieved 2008-09-19.
• An Interview with Carmen Rodriguez, August 5, 1999, retrieved 2008-09-19{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link).
• "Carmen Rodriguez", Arsenal Pulp Press Authors, Arsenal Pulp Press, retrieved 2008-09-19.