Vargas Llosa’s relationship to French letters: the journey of the Peruvian author of Alejandro Dumas to become “immortal”

The income of the Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa wing French Academy made him the first foreign author to join the club of “Immortalsand the first writer to join the ranks of the institution founded by Cardinal Richelieu without writing in French. The celebrations of his entry began last February 8 (2023), with the initial entrance ritual, in which he received the mythical sword with which his access was formalized, a weapon made by the armorer Antonio Arellano made of Toledo steel with etched decorations using the ancient and almost lost forging technique

during the ceremony Helene Carrere d’Encausse reminded the audience that “some complained that you didn’t write in French”; However, In his career and personal history, the author has many connections with Francefrom his first encounters with French literature, to becoming “immortal”.

From his first steps in writing, his prose and his vocation were influenced by Parismaking French culture and literature a fundamental element of his literary work, his heart and his head, to the point that in 2008 he was distinguished by the decoration of the Order of Arts and Letters to the degree of Commander of France.

“Without Flaubert, I would never have been the writer that I am, nor written what I wrote, nor how I did it. Flaubert, whom I have read and re-read time and time again, with infinite gratitude, is responsible for having me here today, for which I am of course very grateful.” Mario Vargas Llosa In his induction speech to the French Academy.

The Nobel Prize for Literature in 2010 has never hidden his taste for French literature, in particular for Victor-Hugo or his literary teacher, Gustave Flaubertto whom he later dedicated the splendid essay “The Perpetual Orgy”. The Peruvian author has also published “The Temptation of the Impossible”in regards to Victor-Hugothere “Heaven in the other corner“, in regards to Flora Tristan and Paul Gauguin.

Your relationship with France it could be called many things, less casual. Vargas Llosa Throughout his academic, literary and intellectual training, he nourished his prose with texts and readings by French authors such as Alexandre Dumas, jean paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Ms. Bovaire, Albert Camus, André Malraux there Jean-Francois Revel, to name a few. Understood Delicate he became his direct reference and his first model as a writer.

One of his first contacts with the literature of France happened when he was studying at Leoncio Prado Schoolbetween 1950 and 1951. An institute in which he was confined by his father with the aim of “Forge it like a man.” In the library, a young man mario he dedicated himself to devouring titles like “The three Musketeers”, “Count Monte Cristo” there “Wretched”.

Another of the surprises he found at school was the arrival of the French teacher, none other than the poet Cesar Moro, who wrote directly in the language of Victor Hugo. French literature continues to haunt his life, at the age of 16, in Piura, appeared to him flauberyou Ms. Bovaire.

His second meeting with the author of Bovary was in San Marcoswhen a tribute was paid for the centenary of this publication, during which he met “The Legend of Saint Julian”another book by the French author, translated by Manuel Beltroy. During his studies in this province, with his friends Raúl Porras Barrenechea, Luis Loayza there Abelardo OquendoThey formed a group of friends ready to debate, conversations in which Vargas Llosa insisted on defending Sartrereason why he received the nickname “Courageous little Sarret”.

for the summer of 1958Vargas Llosa finally arrives in Paris and stays at the Hotel “Napoleon”. For the young writer, being in this city he had read so much about was a dream come true. One of his greatest hopes on this trip was a date with Sartre, this did not happen, but he was able to exchange a few words with Albert Camus. A year later he came back and the first thing he did was buy the novel. Ms. Bovaire in its original language.

Sand installed in Paris and undertook to become at all costs a confirmed writer, he made his own the latin quarter of paris and, to survive in such an expensive metropolis, he worked at everything, alongside his wife. He was a bag loader, until he got a job in the Berlitz School and in the France Media Agency. Between trips from Barcelona to Paris, he would later meet Julio Cortazar, Garcia Marquez and other authors, but that’s another story.

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