Oscar Wao

While reading “The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao”, I’m finding that, although I’m enjoying the storyline, I’m having a difficult time identifying with the cultural references and spanish language. In class we’ve discussed the possibility that students may not catch all of the anime, manga, video game, or comic book references, which is definitely true for me, but personally I don’t struggle with that so much. I can glance over the name “Galactus” without worrying that I’m missing an essential part of Oscar’s identity, because I can assume that it has to do with his interest in “The Genres”. However, when dialogue is placed in the book in spanish, like it is on almost every page, I feel that I’m missing a really big part of the storyline. This is especially the case when reading about Beli, because the whole reason for including her story is to get to learn why Oscar and Lola’s mother is so strange and harsh. Its important to learn her narrative intimately, so I feel as though I’m missing something important every time I see a word that I don’t recognize.

This makes me wonder why I can effortlessly gloss over the constant references to super heros and anime characters, which obviously provide a new dimension of identity and better understanding of the characters, but feel frustrated every time I see a word or phrase I can’t understand. It’s a different kind of reference, but probably just as important. I easily disregard and ignore one, and feel frustrated at the other. I’m really not sure why that is, but thats the reaction this book is causing.

1 comment

  1. That’s an interesting distinction you’re noticing in your reaction to the inaccessible parts of the narrative. It’s excellent that you’ve noticed you have a different tolerance for the Spanish than the Genre references. I wonder if it’s because the language is a more visual (when read) signifier of difference or Otherness, whereas the other sci-fi/fantasy references are easily filed into a neat drawer labeled “Geek Culture.”

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