Características térmicas de las Olas de Frío

The narrator, identical to the implied author, of the epistolary novel Vëtrnik resents the 'grotesque' label which critics have applied to his works. The narrator justifies his wilful decision to 'destroy' the barracks shielding the windmill from wind by invoking his reputation for grotesquerie: 'Mohu je odkliditi se svëdomim tim lehdim, 2e jsem se ondyno doCetl, 2e mam realism i naturalism u2 za sebou, a 2e tou dobou pëstuju vyhradnë grotesku. Ta je pak pravym opakem skuteCnosti a proto2!'.^ As if to mock the critics, the narrator declares his intention to top his previous efforts: 'Mâm-li toti2 zhotoviti grotesku, zvlâstë pak, ma-li tato groteska bÿti v mém dile posledni, musi bÿti samozfejmë nejen grotesknl, ale co nejgrotesknëjsl.

Although, one is wary of identifying dapek-Chod automatically with the narrator of Vëtrnlk, the author suggests that such an identification is valid; in 'Jak pisu sve knihy?' he writes :

Stalo se j 12 jednou, 2e jsem byl dotâzân velmi roztomilou damou, jak to asi vypada v me tak zv. dusevni dilnë, a jâ s vënovânim spanilé tazatelce pokusil se o vyliCeni fedené dilny romanem-essaiem

^Ibid., p. 130.

”k. M. dapek-Chod, Vëtrnlk [1923], Prague, 1927, pp. 17-18. The narrator refers to a polemic with Saida; see: K. M. dapek- Chod, 'F. X. Saida, panegyrik a pamfletik', Cesta, 3 (1920-21), 49, pp. 763-4.

^dapek-Chod, Vëtrnlk, p. 43. %Tbid, p. 61.

'Vëtrnlk', autoanalysou své metody spisovatelské tak ?lkajlc od suroviny a2 k hotovému vyrobku

As the narrator constitutes a representation of the author, analysis of this 'most grotesque' novel may suggest the author's conception of the grotesque aspects of his prose, even if these are parodied. The Vëtrnlk devices and themes are characteristic of grotesque literature and have been present in Ôapek-Chod's writing from his first collection of short stories: self- referential narration; characters with deformities; the incongruous pairing of characters; the conflation of the high (spiritual) with the low (physical) ; the comic treatment of death; an emphasis on the body as the source of emotions and motivator of actions; the depiction of human delusions, the importance of chance, the 'cruel jokes' of Nature, and the indifference of the 'world' to individual suffering.

The novel has two main narrative levels: the narrator's explanation to the addressee of his artistic method; and the story which demonstrates the method, the account of the hunchback KaCenka's disillusion with love. The 'author's' footnotes directed at critics indicate a third level on which the novel functions: as a polemic with contemporaneous critics. Vëtrnlk can be regarded as a grotesque story within a grotesque frame. The novel's frame, that is, the first narrative level, is grotesque in that its premise is paradoxical, consisting of seven letters addressed by the narrator to a woman whom he identifies as his fictional creation. When she objects to the publication of their conversation, the narrator asserts, 'Vy sama pfedobfe vite, Be raCite bÿt pouhou mou fikci a Be tudlB pospas vefejnosti nemâ pro Vas Bâdného nebezpeëi. Characteristically playful, however, the narrator then warns her that even fiction will not save her from putting on weight. The structure of the novel destabilizes the presentation of reality. The narrator reveals himself as creator of the text, yet characters appear and disappear.

M. ëapek-Chod, 'Jak pisu sve knihy?', Cesta, 10 (1927- 28), 6-7, p. 100. This brief article was published posthumously, accompanied by a drawing of two nudes by the author.

criticize and make demands on the narrator, oscillate between 'real' (independent) and 'fictional' (created) status, not only according to his will but sometimes arbitrarily. For example, the narrator seems surprised to discover a dwarf cobbler living in the windmill. He excuses himself for not relating the dialogue which occurs between them with the explanation that the cobbler is partially deaf. He even refers to the cobbler by a pseudonym, to protect his i d e n t i t y Y e t he expels the 'paradoxical' man from the windmill when he no longer suits the narrator's developing s t o r y . T h e reader cannot trust any presentation of reality in the text, as is exemplified by the series of endings the narrator offers for his story about Kadenka.^ One is reminded of the variety of endings offered by the narrator of Diderot's Jacques le fataliste (1796).

That the two main characters in the story are physically deformed might suggest a relation to grotesque literature and art, but that is only superficial; in art criticism, characters with deformities were referred to as 'grotesques' following the application of the term to Callot's engravings in the early seventeenth century/" Kadenka and Josef Pulpit, however, cannot be considered grotesque simply because they are physically abnormal. Kadenka's character is built on incongruities; she typifies the paradoxical individual, whose gifts derive from her defects and whose dreams and desires are undermined by her own nature. The narrator depicts the contrast between her beautiful face and hunchback's body as a cruel irony.^ Her angelic voice contrasts with her deformed body, that of a 'fallen angel'.^

^*Ibid. , p. 39. ^^Ibid. , p. 45.

60,_{See the discussion of parabasis in Albert, 'Understanding} Irony; Three essais on Friedrich Schlegel', pp. 841-2.

61

Barasch, The Grotesque, A Study in Meanings, pp. 78-81. ^^Pobufujlci vtip osudu na ni spâchanÿ vëzel v tom, 2e na jeji znetvofenou hrud' vstavena hlava tak honosnë klasické krâsy'. ëapek-Chod, Vètrnik, p. 51.

63

Yet, the narrator states, the quality of her voice derives from her build; 'Zpravidla hrud' mnohem sirs! ne2 vyssi pfiskrcuje hlas, tomuto naopak dodavala nesmirné r e s o n a n c e . H e r longing for a kindred spirit, the narrator suggests, will never be fulfilled because her appearance precludes the possibility that her love will be requited. Thomas Mann similarly uses a deformed character in 'Little Herr Friedemann' ('Der kleine Herr Friedemann', 1897) to dramatize sexual awakening and frustration.

The unlikely pairing of the diminutive and misshapen KaCenka with the ugly giant Josef may be regarded as bizarre, considering the incongruity in their sizes. Josef's face, however, is described as so extremely repulsive as to render her attraction to him grotesque. Josef's appearance, moreover, is presented in such a way as to emphasize the 'unruly' nature of the body. KaCenka first sees him, dressed in fake leopard-skin, performing for a travelling waxworks; he is a barker who gathers a crowd and cajoles the audience into visiting the show. When he summons people, shouting with powerful lungs, his throat opens 'nestoudnë'. His facial features suggest uninhibited growth, the body extending beyond its borders:

Brunâtnâ jeho tvâf s siroce rozplesklÿm nosem a vyvalenë pyskatymi ûsty, hustym ëernÿm knirem, jemu2 daleko vyvstalé oboëi mâlo zadalo, mêla tak divoce svefepe vzezfenl, 2e mohlo sleënë Spuntlkové snadno kukâtko z rukou vypadnouti, kdy% si ji skly pfibllBila.^

During his act, Josef shocks the crowd by rolling back his eyelids to reveal their bloody underside. The narrator comments:

'Badna lidska tvaf nebyla schopna tak zoufale Baluplneho vyrazu, jakÿ jevila nyni grimasa vyvolâvaëova [...] Û2as byl tim vëtsi, 2e nikdo nebyl s to, aby si vysvëtlil, kterak si ten dryâCnik nasadil najednou tvaf, docela jinou a2 k nepoznani!'^ When the owner of the show urges him to show a more friendly face to the crowd, the strongman tears off his (fake) moustache and bares his

"ibid.

"Capek-Chod, Vëtrnlk, p. 88. "Ibid., p. 89.

long white teeth to the public. A caricature of his face, with mouth wide open, is painted on his bald crown, provoking the laughter of the crowd whenever he bends over. He represents the grotesque body, as Bakhtin has defined it: open to, rather than separate from, the world, outgrowing itself, transgressing its limits.^

As an embodiment of unruly material vitality, Josef may contrast with stunted Kadenka. The capricious force which fuels Josef's antics, however, is also manifest in the unusual proportions of Kadenka's body, her long legs and short torso.^ On the one hand, KaCenka does not represent spirituality, or the psyche, as opposed to Josef's materiality. On the other, to claim that her dreams can be reduced to the impulses and needs of the body would be an oversimplification. Ôapek-Chod strongly objected to critics' interpretation of his works as demonstrating the victory of sensuality over the psyche.^ KaCenka's longing for love and for a spiritual companion, however, does seem to manifest itself as sexual desire. This is suggested in the description of her improvisation on the harmonium, during which she imagines ascending to another realm, in which she marries her kindred spirit, who is, the narrator emphasizes, of the male sex.^ Her marriage-improvisation is interrupted by the noise of the hurdy-gurdy played by Josef. The vulgarity and animality of the hurdy-gurdy sounds, in such immediate juxtaposition to Kafienka's playing, may ironize her longing as self-delusion, as well as suggest that her psyche can never escape its material confines:

Stâdo vepfû nedovede svefepëji chrochtat a kviCet, kdy% je jim z jich vlastniho hnusu nejlabu2nëji, jako

^^Bakhtin, Rabelais and His World, pp. 317, 355.

^*Ibid. , p. 52. She seems almost a parody of Tynda, who walks with a similar long stride. See: Capek-Chod, Turbina [1916], 2nd edition, Prague, 1920, pp. 191-2.

^See, for example, his reply to Vodak's review of Vilém Rozkoà: K. M. Capek-Chod, 'Autorovo minëni. (Studie epikriticka)', Cesta, 6 (1923-24), 35, pp. 507-9.

takovâ ohromnâ bedna, z nl2 otrykotënÿ silâk setrvaônlkem vytâôî hotové peklo chraptivého a huhftavého râmusu nejsprostsl harmonie.^

The narrator leaves no doubt that KaCenka, like most artistic or intellectual characters in Sapek-Chod's works, deceives herself. After describing her grief over the lost harmonium, which she sells to pay for a surgeon to tend Josef's broken leg, the narrator comments: 'Nebyla to pravda ûplnâ, nëco si nalhâvala po svém zvyku, sebe samu podvâdëti. Za 2ivÿ svët by si nebyla doznala, proë vlastnë a doopravdy plâëe.'^ It is clear that she suffers because the man she loves is engaged to another woman. Her attempt thus to protect herself reminds the reader of the tailor Josef's attempt at cynicism in 'Na valech'. Even if KaCenka is deceived about her desires, it does not necessarily follow that they are sexual in origin. The narrator may be suggesting that her predicament, and that of the individual in general, is all the more paradoxical because her immaterial longing seeks fulfilment in material form, which it will never achieve. The 'world' carries on indifferent to her frustrated desires and bitterness, as is indicated by the narrator's closing description of the windmill's sails gaily turning. Considered within the surrounding frame of the novel, the paradoxical nature of KaCenka's predicament is further heightened in that it is only a story, a construction of chance elements, which might have ended otherwise.

Analysis of this 'most grotesque' of novels suggests a view of human existence, characteristic of Capek-Chod's works, as defined by paradoxes: the individual's ambitions and desires are frustrated by his or her own nature, limitations of personality or of body; suffering, joy or virtuous actions, despite their significance to the individual, do not affect the world or the course of life nearly as much as chance or trivial incidents. The material world and the demands of the body are inescapable: emotions and decisions have a material source or manifestation; the individual is subject to the cycles of the material world.

^^Ibid. , p. 85. ^Ibid., p. 111.

alternating between destruction and regeneration. From such a perspective, morality may seem irrelevant and free will unthinkable. Ôapek-Chod, however, portrays the individual as responsible for his or her actions even if they are determined; he indicates that there is a morality towards which the

individual should aspire, even though he or she is practically incapable of distinguishing a virtuous from a foolish or destructive action.

The following chapter will treat devices used to convey this view, focusing in particular on self-referential narration but also treating; characters embodying an incongruity; trickster characters; grotesque situations and role reversals.