{"id":21326,"date":"2025-12-18T02:07:23","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T02:07:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/letrasenlafrontera.org\/?p=21326"},"modified":"2025-12-18T08:26:30","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T08:26:30","slug":"sobre-cabanuelas-una-novela-de-norma-cantu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/letrasenlafrontera.org\/index.php\/2025\/12\/18\/sobre-cabanuelas-una-novela-de-norma-cantu\/","title":{"rendered":"Sobre Caba\u00f1uelas, una novela de Norma Cant\u00fa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

por Rebecca Bowman

::: Desde su columna La Terraza Rebecca Bowman ofrece en versi\u00f3n biling\u00fce una esclarecedora rese\u00f1a de una novela de la escritora y profesora, originaria de Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas.<\/em>

En Caba\u00f1uelas<\/em>, el personaje principal de Norma Cant\u00fa, Nena, se va a Espa\u00f1a con una beca Fulbright para estudiar los v\u00ednculos entre las pr\u00e1cticas culturales de su ciudad natal, Laredo, y aquellas que a\u00fan se mantienen en Espa\u00f1a. Mientras est\u00e1 all\u00ed, conoce a amigos, a un nuevo amor y descubre muchas cosas sobre s\u00ed misma. Cant\u00fa comienza esta novela, que combina aspectos de la memoria, la literatura de viajes, la novela rom\u00e1ntica y la etnograf\u00eda, proporcion\u00e1ndonos un marco quiz\u00e1s poco conocido fuera de los pa\u00edses hispanos: el concepto de las caba\u00f1uelas, una pr\u00e1ctica rural basada en la observaci\u00f3n del clima que en M\u00e9xico sostiene que el primer mes del a\u00f1o predice c\u00f3mo ser\u00e1 el clima durante el resto de \u00e9l. Esto nos sit\u00faa de inmediato en una perspectiva con una larga tradici\u00f3n, y el hecho de que la novela comience all\u00ed y que ese conocimiento provenga del padre del personaje tambi\u00e9n nos da a entender que su punto de vista no ser\u00e1 el de una t\u00edpica norteamericana. Tambi\u00e9n al dedicar el comienzo del libro a contarnos no s\u00f3lo sobre el personaje principal, sino sobre su comunidad, los rituales duraderos y la historia familiar, Cant\u00fa utiliza una pr\u00e1ctica que muchos acad\u00e9micos ahora adoptan: declarar qui\u00e9nes son para que podamos entender mejor c\u00f3mo llegan a sus conclusiones. Esto ayuda a comprender m\u00e1s a su personaje, pero tambi\u00e9n nos da la misma perspectiva de una persona con un trasfondo familiar largo, con fuertes lazos comunitarios y un gran sentido de pertenencia. Esto tambi\u00e9n nos ayuda a entender la atracci\u00f3n que Laredo ejerce sobre Nena, una atracci\u00f3n que genera tensi\u00f3n a lo largo de la novela. La muerte temprana del hermano menor de Nena, Tino, en Vietnam y el vac\u00edo que esto dej\u00f3 en su familia hace que sea a\u00fan m\u00e1s dif\u00edcil para ella dejar Laredo y hace que la protagonista sea m\u00e1s vulnerable y m\u00e1s compleja.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Caba\u00f1uelas<\/em> es, de hecho, una novela de viajes, ya que en ella exploramos diferentes partes de Espa\u00f1a pero con el conocimiento de un etn\u00f3grafo capaz de establecer conexiones que ninguna otra persona podr\u00eda entre su cultura fronteriza y la de la mir\u00edada de culturas de Espa\u00f1a. Es una perspectiva fresca, pero como muchas novelas de viajes, tambi\u00e9n es una de autodescubrimiento.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

La Nena de Cant\u00fa me recuerda a la narradora de Maria Luisa Puga en Antonia<\/em> en que est\u00e1 libre de los obst\u00e1culos de tantos personajes femeninos en la literatura escrita en espa\u00f1ol, el dilema del umbral, el hecho de que se espera que las mujeres permanezcan dentro de la privacidad del hogar y no se aventuren afuera. Nos muestra, como lo hizo Puga, otra manera de ser, una en la que su trabajo es tan importante como cualquier vida amorosa, donde no hay remordimiento ni culpa. El escenario, a mediados de los a\u00f1os setenta en lugar de a finales de los sesenta como en Puga, sigue siendo similar al de Puga, pero la obra de Cant\u00fa est\u00e1 m\u00e1s desarrollada que la novela breve Antonia<\/em>. Es menos espont\u00e1nea y m\u00e1s estudiada. Y ella, como Puga, no parece estar afectada por el marianismo tan prevalente en Am\u00e9rica Latina en que, por ejemplo, el personaje nunca siente la necesidad de explicar por qu\u00e9 ha decidido no tener hijos. Todo esto resulta refrescante. Refleja una \u00e9poca en la que las mujeres a menudo apenas comenzaban a elegir otras formas de ser. Y aquellos lectores que han luchado con el tema del umbral pueden sentir la emoci\u00f3n vicaria de una aventura que las circunstancias a menudo les negaron.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

El tono de Cant\u00fa es humor\u00edstico y discreto. Esta es una novela envolvente, una especie de Bildungsroman<\/em>, salpicada por la palabra pero<\/em>, que muestra la constante ambivalencia del personaje sobre su experiencia y refleja su mente cuestionadora, activa y observadora. Cant\u00fa es poeta y h\u00e1bil en crear im\u00e1genes sensoriales\u2014 de comida, de lugar, flores en una mesa, hierbas perfumando el aire\u2014 y su conexi\u00f3n constante con su familia, su ciudad natal, sus amigos y su sensibilidad por lo colectivo es gratificante. Es una postura diferente hacia el mundo, una m\u00e1s segura que la de muchos novelistas. El libro revela una complejidad bien elaborada: est\u00e1 el hilo de una relaci\u00f3n rom\u00e1ntica que funciona para crear suspenso, la estructura proporcionada por las visitas como acad\u00e9mica antrop\u00f3loga a las muchas fiestas en toda Espa\u00f1a y luego su lento descubrimiento de las similitudes entre Laredo y esos lugares en Espa\u00f1a, as\u00ed como una identidad que la vincula a su lugar de nacimiento.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

El uso de artefactos a lo largo del libro \u2014fotograf\u00edas, cartas, ropa\u2014 nos recuerda la propia carrera de Cant\u00fa como folclorista y etn\u00f3grafa y me recuerda la novela de Zora Neale Hurston, Sus ojos miraban a Dios<\/em>, en la presencia constante a lo largo del libro de la comunidad y la aguda comprensi\u00f3n de Cant\u00fa de los impulsos colectivos. Su prosa natural, Tex-Mex o Spanglish, hace que la novela sea a\u00fan m\u00e1s interesante y subraya el hecho de que ella percibe Espa\u00f1a desde una identidad cultural que no es la anglosajona m\u00e1s dominante. Ella es m\u00e1s consciente de las dificultades que enfrentan los pobres en Espa\u00f1a y de los sentimientos religiosos que experimenta la gente. Es observadora, pero su propia participaci\u00f3n en rituales similares la ayuda a comprender.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cant\u00fa escribe sobre la conexi\u00f3n, sobre la necesidad de tener un lugar al que pertenecer, y esta observaci\u00f3n es algo que todos deber\u00edan tener en cuenta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

La distancia indicada por los datos que nos dicen que esto fue escrito despu\u00e9s de que pas\u00f3 el tiempo y el mundo cambi\u00f3 es interesante. Ya no estamos en ese auge que tuvo Espa\u00f1a tras la muerte de Franco, la movida madrile\u00f1a<\/em>, la remodelaci\u00f3n de una cultura, la apertura de libertades, el comienzo de que las naciones oprimidas dentro de Espa\u00f1a volvieran a expresar sus culturas, idiomas y sus identidades. Ahora sabemos un poco m\u00e1s sobre lo que pas\u00f3, las cosas ya no son tan inciertas. Y creo que eso le da al libro en general una calma que, por ejemplo, no se siente en Puga. Sin embargo, a veces Cant\u00fa parece estallar en canci\u00f3n, su prosa m\u00e1s po\u00e9tica, un ritmo que cautiva.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

En un momento Cant\u00fa rompe la tensi\u00f3n con la acci\u00f3n de rasgar la envoltura de una barra de chocolate Hershey y sospechamos c\u00f3mo terminar\u00e1 la novela.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cant\u00fa escribe sobre un lugar y comparte sus perspectivas sobre muchos lugares y muchos temas con una gentileza que ayuda a convencer. Este libro contrasta f\u00e1cilmente con la literatura de viajes que surgi\u00f3 de ese rito de paso, ese Gran Tour de un a\u00f1o que realizaban los hombres adinerados, que les proporcionaba un refinamiento destinado a durar el resto de sus vidas, ya que sus ojos no son los \u201cojos imperiales\u201d descritos por Mary Louise Pratt, sino ojos frescos viendo desde un lugar lleno de amor. Esta postura es bastante necesaria, y el final satisfactorio, un final realista, basado en la verdad, es a\u00fan m\u00e1s necesario al combatir esos numerosos relatos al estilo de Gidget va a Roma, Tres monedas en la fuente <\/em>o French Kiss<\/em>. Al final, este libro es todo amor y anti-cursiler\u00eda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2248<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Caba\u00f1uelas,<\/em> Norma Cant\u00fa’s main character, Nena, takes off to Spain on a Fulbright scholarship to study the ties between cultural practices in her native Laredo and those still going on in Spain. While there, she meets friends, a new love and discovers many things about herself. Cant\u00fa starts this novel, which combines aspects of the memoir, travel literature, romantic novel, and ethnography, by giving us a framework that is perhaps not well known outside of Hispanic countries, the concept of the caba\u00f1uelas,<\/em> a rural practice based on observations of the weather which in Mexico maintains that the first month of the year predicts what the weather will be like for the rest of it. This grounds us right away in a perspective with a long tradition, and the fact that the novel begins there and that that knowledge came from the character’s father also lets us know that her viewpoint won’t be that of a typical norteamericana.<\/em> Also by spending the beginning of the book telling us not only of the main character but of her community, long standing rituals and family history, Cant\u00fa uses a practice many scholars now espouse, stating who they are so that we can better understand how they come to their conclusions. This works to help us understand her character more, but it also gives us the same outlook of a person with a long familial background, with strong community ties and a great sense of belonging. This also helps us understand the pull that Laredo has on Nena, a pull which creates tension throughout the novel. The earlier death of Nena\u00b4s younger brother Tino in Vietnam and the hole this made in her family makes it even harder for her to leave Laredo and makes the character more vulnerable and more complex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Caba\u00f1uelas<\/em> is indeed a travel novel, as in it we explore different parts or Spain but with the knowledge of an ethnographer who is able to make connections that no other person could between her border culture and that of the myriad cultures of Spain. It is a fresh perspective, yet like many travel novels it is one of self-discovery too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cant\u00fa’s Nena reminds me of Maria Luisa Puga’s narrator in Antonia<\/em> in that she is free from the encumbrances of so many female characters in literature written in Spanish, the problem of the umbral,<\/em> the threshold, the fact that women are expected to stay within the privacy of one\u00b4s home and never really venture out. She shows us, as Puga did, another way to be, one where her work is as important as any love life, where there is no remorse or blame. The setting, in the mid 1970’s rather than in Puga’s late 1960’s is still similar to Puga’s, but Cant\u00fa’s work is more fleshed out than the novelette Antonia<\/em>. It is less spontaneous and more studied. And she, like Puga, doesn’t seem to be afflicted with the marianismo<\/em> so prevalent in Latin America in that, for example, the character never feels the need to explain why she has decided not to have children. All of this is refreshing. It reflects a time when women were often just beginning to choose other ways of being. \u00a0And those readers who’ve struggled with the issue of the umbral<\/em> can feel the vicarious thrill of an adventure that circumstances often denied them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cant\u00fa’s tone is humorous and low key. This is an immersive novel, a sort of Bildungsroman, punctuated by the word but<\/em> which shows the character’s constant ambivalence about her experience and reflects her questioning, active, observant mind. Cant\u00fa is a poet and adept at creating sensual images of food, of place, flowers on a table, herbs perfuming the air, and her constant connection with her family, her hometown, her friends, and her sensitivity for the collective is gratifying. It is a different stance toward the world, one more assured than that of many novelists. The book reveals a complexity that is well crafted: there is the thread of a romantic relationship that works to create suspense, the structure provided by the visits as an anthropologist scholar to the many fiestas throughout Spain and then her slow discovery of the commonalities between Laredo and those places in Spain as well as an identity that ties her to her place of birth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The use of artefacts throughout the book\u2014photographs, letters, clothing \u2014 reminds us of Cant\u00fa’s own career as a folklorist and ethnographer and reminds me of Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Are Watching God<\/em> in the presence throughout the book of community and Cant\u00fa’s keen understanding of collective impulses. Her natural prose, Tex-Mex or Spanglish, makes the novel even more interesting and underlines the fact that she is perceiving Spain from a cultural identity that is not the more prevalent Anglo one. She is more conscious of the hardships the poor of Spain face, of the religious feelings that the people are experiencing. She is an observer but her own participation in similar rituals helps her understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cant\u00fa writes of connectedness, of the need for a place to belong to, and this observance is something that should be heeded by all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The distance indicated by the bits of information that tell us this is written after time has passed and the world has changed is interesting. We are no longer in that boom Spain had after Franco’s death, la movida madrile\u00f1a,<\/em> the remaking of a culture, the opening of freedoms, the beginning of oppressed nations within Spain to again begin to express their cultures, languages, their identities. We know a little more what happened, things aren’t so uncertain. And I think that gives the overall book a calm that isn’t felt, for instance, in Puga. Yet at times Cant\u00fa seems to burst out in song, her prose more poetic, a rhythm that entrances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At one point Cant\u00fa breaks the suspense with the tearing of the wrapper of a Hershey’s bar and we suspect how the novel will end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Cant\u00fa writes of one place and shares her perspectives about many places and many issues with a gentleness that helps convince. This book readily contrasts with the travel literature that sprung from that rite of passage, that year-long Grand Tour wealthy men took, that gave them a polish meant to last the rest of their lives, in that her eyes are not the “Imperial eyes\u201d described by Mary Louise Pratt, but fresh eyes from a loving place. This stance is quite necessary, and the satisfying ending, a realistic ending, rooted in truth, is even more necessary in that it combats those many tales a la Gidget Goes to Rome, Three Coins in a Fountain, <\/em>or French Kiss. <\/em>In the end this book is all love and anti schmaltz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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