S eúl, São Paulo was originally published at the end of 2019, at a time when Bolivia was going through a major political crisis as a result of the fall of the government of Evo Morales. Although Gabriel Mamani Magne (La Paz, 1987) only wanted to narrate the story of two teenagers, the novel was received by critics and the public almost as a political manifesto. In the same year of its publication, the work received the national prize and is now published in Spain thanks to Periférica. Gabriel Mamani Magne is one of the authors who this year has been invited to the KM America Latin American literature festival held this weekend in Barcelona.
Seúl, São Paulo is Mamani Magne’s first novel. The book stars two seventeen-year-old cousins, the Pacsi: Tayson, born in Brazil and son of Bolivians; and the unnamed narrator of the story. The plot narrates his experiences in the midst of personal development and growth and takes place between Bolivia and Brazil.
The story develops from Tayson’s return to his country of origin, Bolivia, which forces him to assimilate his identity. “In writing I am very interested in talking about the stage of adolescence and youth because there is an awakening and evolution of questions regarding identity, sexuality, the future… These are themes that always haunt us, but new at the moment and, for me, it’s important to talk about it. It is from here that the other topics have been appearing”.
The story arises from the author’s own experience, who in 2016 had to emigrate to Brazil to pursue his studies. There, in the midst of a cultural and traditional mix, is where this need arises to question what it is to be Bolivian. Although the book is born from my own experiences and is written in the first person, it starts from fiction: “I am often asked if I am telling my story, but I try not to be autobiographical even if I write in the first person for convenience”.
With clear, direct and uncomplicated writing, Mamani Magne manages to bring the Latin American reality closer to the reader. The story, apparently simple, is full of the dilemmas and difficulties of living in a patriotic, sexist and racist society. The voices of the characters and the way they deal with situations portray the environment in which the author grew up, who confesses to having experienced some of the scenes in the story. The plot moves quickly, with small twists and decisions of the characters that show the passage of time to the reader. Dilemmas about life goals and how to chart the future appear constantly and further reinforce a troubled society. It transmits a love-hate relationship for a rich country that does not know how to manage it. “The moment we understand that we have this base and this important native past, we will be able to be completely free.”
The mix of languages ??(Spanish, Aymara, Portuguese, Anglicisms…) is constant and they never appear in italics or in quotation marks to differentiate them from each other. “As Andrés Neuman said, I don’t like to think that the pages are like customs that mark what is from here and what is not, I prefer that they all coexist in freedom of conditions”. All in all, the author manages to put an end to the concept that a country is a single idea.
The resources that Mamani uses to overcome the difficulty of defining both the characters and Bolivia is what captivates the reader and makes the work such a faithful portrait of reality. “I wanted the narrator to have no name to also represent this impossibility of defining Bolivia. It is very complicated to limit yourself to a country, to something, even to a name. A name is one of the cornerstones of someone’s identity. Since Bolivia is very diverse, it was difficult for me to choose a name of my own. I also liked to think that the protagonist doesn’t have anyone to call him by his name.”
