Educational Corporation Leonardo Da Vinci College

Educational Corporation Leonardo da Vinci College

Introduction.

To talk about Elicura Chihuailaf poetry, we must know first of all what poetry is.

Poetry is a literary genre that is characterized by being the most refined manifestation, through the word, of the feelings, emotions and reflections that the human being can express around beauty, love, life or death. As such, it can be composed of both verse and prose. Poetry is known as the genre that beautifies words.

Formerly, poetry was written only in verses, governed by a set of standards on the composition called Metric. According to the metric, the verses were formed by a fixed number of syllables (tetrasyllable, hexasyllable, Alexandrian, etc.), a certain distribution of accents and a rhyme, which would result in a particular rhythm and type of composition: copla, string, round, quartet, etc.

Elicura Chihuailaf Nahuelpán is a Chilean writer (specifically poet), considered one of the most connoted Mapuche writers;His work is mainly bilingual, in Mapudungun and Spanish. He was born in Quechurewe, province of Cautín (75 kilometers east of Temuco) in 1952. His name translates it as a transparent stone and his last name, extended mist on a lake.

His childhood the fundamental core of his writing, lived in an area characterized by the rurality and the Mapuche worldview, as he narrates in his book Confidential Confidential to the Chileans. An intimacy around the stove, where he acquired the art of stories (Nütram) and the advice of the elderly (ngülam).

This environment permeates its work characterized by southern environments and elements of the Mapuche imaginary. This need to express its cultural, diverse wealth in its uniqueness, was configuring its "oral" condition, that is, vehicle of the oral expression of its culture.

He was titled of Obstetrics at the University of Concepción, but never exercised as such.Elicura Chihuailaf poetry, mainly speaks of Mapuche culture, its traditions. Read this, allows us to be closer and learn a little more about this original people.

One of the things that most attracts attention regarding his work is that he writes it originally in his native language and are then translated into Spanish (translates them into Spanish since he can reach more people). Some could say that translating it into Spanish is something unnecessary since the meaning of each word can be sought on the Internet but not, looking for words alone on the Internet the poem loses its meaning. This happens because words in Mapudungun have more than one meaning.

Developing.

To begin we must take into account that the poetry of Elicura Chihuailaf is mostly about its place of origin, culture and family. In his poems he tells us about something called "blue", he also makes us known how he feels part of the Mapuche culture, his relationship with nature and the importance of his ancestors for him and his beliefs.

If we analyze one by one the poems we can see that in all poems there are at least one mention of blue, nature and family, therefore it is an issue that is very present in it. Blue constitutes a fundamental element for Mapuche culture. The Mapuche poet Elicura Chihuailaf says that blue has a magical-religious connotation;It is one of the most powerful colors within the vision of the Mapuche world, it represents the force, the superior and what is sacred to them: their mountains and hondoned, their lakes, their southern forests, their sky.

When the poet begins to talk about blue, he says that the first Mapuche spirit came from there, but not any blue, but from the East blue. The poet also implies that blue for them is the place of origin and end, it is a place where everything is cyclical, that is, from there you come and there you go. You can also relate to a place where our soul rests and finds peace. Blue exists in the spirit and heart of each of the Mapuches. 

It can also be inferred that blue would be like a spirit, since at one point the poet tells us "that blue energy, continued on the western to meet the spirits of the newly deceased and together return to blue of origin,"This phrase has a very important sense for the poet since he says that this marked it, that is, this is something very important that the poet learned from his culture.

By investigating and deepening the poetry and thought of the poet, we can see how he feels proud of his roots and traditions. He defends the name of the Mapuches (badly called Araucanians) and explains everything from the point of view of this town or community. In a conversation made with a person belonging to the Mapuche people, his opinion was asked about the poet and his work. She replied that if she knew Elicura’s work and how right she was.

 In addition to this, she felt happy and even proud since he appeared with her poetry written in her idiomanatal. The latter is of great importance for the entire Mapuche community since in addition to showing the reality of the community, it did it in its language, it only translated it to reach more people and that the message was well delivered.

In an interview, the poet talks about many injustices suffered by his people, in the derogatory way in which Mapuches people are named, talks about discrimination and mythification of the Mapuche culture (they turned this almost unattainable something even for themMapuches). In the same interview, the poet refers to Neruda’s poetry sharing from his own point of view, says that Nerudin the essence of the Mapuche culture (referring to that particular verse).

In many of the poems of Elicura Chihuailaf there is talk of nature and its properties and importance within its culture. Among all his poems that stands out the most is one in which he speaks in some verses about medicinal herbs, but analyzing this is the wisdom of this community. 

Textual quote “Cold moon outbreaks (winter), greenery moon (spring) / moon of the first fruits (end of spring and beginning of summer) / moon of the abundant fruits (summer) / and moon of the ashings outbreaks (Autumn) / I go out with my mother and father to look for remedies and fungi / the mint for the stomach, the grip for the penalty / the matic for the liver and for the wounds / the coral for the kidneys ”in these verses we can see howThe Mapuche people learned from nature and adapted to it, learned how to heal pains with different plants and also realized at what time of the year it was prudent to make some plantation so that it had no problems (these verses can be found in the"Blue Dream" poem). 

In the same poem we are told about duality (something in which the Mapuches believe fervently), how one thing cannot exist without the other. An example of the latter would be that the good does not exist without the bad. On the other hand, we have another very important point of the poetry of Elicura Chihuailaf that we cannot miss, their ancestors. As is well known, the Mapuche culture believes that the spirits of their ancestors guide and protect them while they have life. In this poetry, it is clear that death is not seen as something bad, if not as a happy point in which one can see the people who died again, a point where everyone gather again. 

In the poem "blue dream" there is talk that for them there is a balsero that carries them through the river of tears to the blue country. In the poem "The key that nobody has lost" also talks about them "and poetry is the song of my ancestors". Although it is in less quantity, it can be inferred that it was their ancestors who taught him and approached poetry. In the poem "To save you, I came, the cinnamon spoke to me" it also talks about its ancestors but with a difference in relation to the other texts "but I wanted to forget the advice of the old women / and the elders / that’s why I’m sicknow ”in these verses he announced the wisdom and importance of the elderly. 

The respect and confidence in the advice of adult people were the basis of well -being, this is also reflected in a verse of the poem "blue dream" where he says "at night we hear the songs, stories and riddles on the banks of the stove / breathingThe aroma of the bread baked by my grandmother, my mother, or aunt Maria / while my father and grandfather – Lonko de la / Community – watched with attention and respect ”. It can be inferred that the ancestors instilled in the poet everything he knows regarding his culture and also love for words.

Conclusions.

Finally, we can say that for the poet it is proud to belong to the Mapuche and very enriching culture also. His poetry has a great content that brings us closer and teaches a little more about the origins of the oralor (he calls himself, not poet) and in addition to his culture. The way in which oralitor tells us about nature, ancestors, what it means to be part of the Mapuche community is very important and of great emotional value. The way he talks about his family is very sentimental, so much so that he can excite anyone who reads him with dedication.

While before a study of some poems by Elicura Chihuailaf had been carried out, making this analysis more detail was of great importance for the one who paid attention. It should be noted that there is a poem in which all important issues (nature, ancestors, blue and its origin) are encapsulated) therefore it was mentioned on several occasions. The poem has a fairly important content, more than one had to touch his heart with his references. The name of this poem is "blue dream", the most extensive poem of Elicura Chihuailaf.

In my personal opinion, this activity was very interesting and important for me since it served me to know part of the Mapuche culture. On a trip I made last week I met a Mapuche woman who helped me involuntarily to perform this analysis. After talking to the Mapuche woman, I knew something about them that was very important to me and it could be said that this marked me, and that, despite everything the Chileans have done to them (either the State or individuals)They consider us part of their people, they say that in our blood we still have a Mapuche part and that is what motivates us to get up every time we fall, the Mapuche part that we carry inside is the one that moves us to fight for what we want or need .

Bibliographic references:

• Chihuailaf, Elicura. Blue dream, in "blue dreams and dreams". University Editorial, 1995.
• Chihuailaf, Elicura. The key that nobody has lost, in "Blue dreams and against dreams". University Editorial, 1995.
• Chihuailaf, Elicura. To save you, I came, the Canelo spoke to me, in "Blue dreams and against dreams". University Editorial, 1995.