Sáenz, Jaime (1921–1986)

Jaime Sáenz (b. 8 October 1921; d. 1986), Bolivian poet and novelist. Sáenz is one of the most original poets of contemporary Bolivia. Oblivious to common sense, his works reject the construction of clear and well-defined meanings. Syllogistic, closer to concept than to image, Sáenz's poetry is made up of syntactic torsions, paradoxes, and tautologies. From El escalpelo (1955), Muerte por el tacto (1957), Aniversario de una visión (1960), and Visitante profundo (1963) to El frío (1967), Recorrer esta distancia (1973), and Bruckner: Las tinieblas (1978), this poetic universe follows a spiral movement, in search of the unity of being. This search, which places Sáenz within the tradition of German romanticism, is markedly subjective. For Sáenz, the human body, the corporeal, is merely an "instrument of living" with little influence on the routines of everyday life. This eccentric view of the world is also present in his novel, Felipe Delgado (1979), a challenging exploration of the modern grotesque.

See alsoLiterature: Spanish America .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The most comprehensive analysis of Sáenz's poetry is Blanca Wiethüchter, "Las estructuras de lo imaginario en la obra poética de Jaime Sáenz," in Obra poética de Jaime Sáenz (1975). Two other major contributions are Luis H. Antezana, "Hacer y cuidar" in Ensayos y lecturas (1986), and Eduardo Mitre, El árbol y la piedra: Poetas contemporáneos de Bolivia (1988). In English, see Javier Sanjinés C., "Jaime Sáenz," in Dictionary of Literary Biography: Modern Latin American Fiction Writers, edited by William Luis and Ann González (1993).

Additional Bibliography

Blanco Mamani, Elías. Jaime Sáenz, el ángel solitario y jubiloso de la noche: Apuntes para una historia de vida. La Paz, Bolivia: Casa de la Cultura "Franz Tamayo," 1998.

Monasterios Pérez, Elizabeth. Dilemas de la poesía de fin de siglo: José Emilio Pacheco y Jaime Saenz. La Paz, Bolivia: Plural Editores: Carrera de Literatura, Facultad de Humanidades, Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, 2001.

                                              Javier SanjinÉs C.