SPACE

 

     

Image from:  http://venganzatoxica.blogspot.com/2007/08/espacio-revelacin.html?showComment=1188889500000

 

 

*Internal:

 

In this section we will make an analysis of the internal space of the hypertext The Monkeys from different concrete and personal perspectives.

 

The narrator of the hypertext places the action in several areas along the history. Taken together, all the characters live in one place, a place which Benedetti referred to us as “an ancient kingdom”.
It is curious, and it is worth mentioning that the author of the hypertext does not give a specific name to any of the places and spaces where the story takes place.

This is surprising, but it is nothing new. Many other authors of tales such as the Brothers Grimm have done this before Benedetti and, in general, the fairy tales about princesses, witches and others tend to overlook these details, starting in the same way with "Once upon a time, in an ancient kingdom ..."
In this way we assume that the author has placed the story in an ancient kingdom not for anything in particular, but simply on the basis of the start of the tales of a lifetime, following the tradition.

Also, placing the story in this kingdom of ancient tales and starting in this way the author can have a clear intention: he wants that at the beginnig of the story  the reader thinks that is a common tale, based on old stereotypes, like the typical stories of princes and princesses or villagers terrorized by wild beasts. Well, once it has begun with the words "Once upon a time...," the reader believes that this is the typical fairy tale, but later is surprised to find that the story is written from a modern perspective,that has much differences from any other ancient tales and uses words from the XX and XXI centuries that not usually appears in the stories:

 

Abatreia´s voice rose with hysteria. “Dark martial arts, you say. Doy you mean, ninjitsu?”

 

Both, dark martial arts and ninjitsu are words of the current era. This makes the story modern and different.

The next space where the action takes place is in the room of one little village without a name. Again, we can see that the author is not interested in the mention of the name of the village where lives some of the characters.
This may be because the author does not consider important the names of the kingdom or the village of the history because they are not relevant or have influence throughout the narration. The story is not as long as for having to put the characters in a place with a name in concrete.
Therefore, the village in the story is not pretty or rich, is the opposite. The room where women met to talk is old and smells like pee.

 

“Ours is not a fertile village, agriculturally or parturitively. If one of these lads is a monkey this year...” – Adriatica.

 

This makes us reflect on the fact that the author has written the story from a social-marginal perspective in which the poor are crushed by the richest, in this case the king.
This aspect keeps a strong symbolism with the real world.
As I have appreciated reading other stories in the Fairy Tales of Benedetti, his stories are focused on the form of social criticism from several aspects.
Perhaps the author intended to represent the poor society of nowadays facing an absurd but hamful situation, as often occurs in real life.

The third area in which Benedetti placed the action of his hypertext is the castle of the king.
There is no specific description of how the castle is decorated (if has pictures or furnitures, etc).
This lack of description of the space could be because the author no needs to mention the wealth that has the king,  because as king he has power and most people think he lived surrounded by wealth.
They also may not have described the castle probably because it considers most important  the behavior of the king that their possessions. Benedetti is a man who focuses on the actions of the characters and not in their descriptions.

It's like say: What matter if the king is rich and is surrounded by riches if it's a stupid? Only cares about himself and not for improving the lives of his subjects.
The castle represents the greatness in the smallness.
It could be another social criticism that would suggest that those who have more power and money are the less able to do good things.

That the author puts the action in several areas ( the village and the castle) may have a specific symbolism. He want to say that in  the story,  two opposing sides fitght face to face, two oppositte sides that nowadays are in conflict yet. We are talking about the poor and the rich people. The village would represent the poor and oppressed who struggle to improve their situation and the castle represents the powerful and tyrant man subjecting those around them, like the men who works at the multinationals.

If the action had been localized in one area it is possible that this difference was not so visible.
In general this is a story with social character which presents scenarios such as those of medieval folk tales, mixed with contemporary terms.

 

 

 

RETURN TO SECOND PAPER

 

 

 

Introduction

 Plot

 Characters

Internal Space

 External Space        

 Conclusion        

 

 

 

 

Academic year 2008/2009
© a.r.e.a./Dr.Vicente Forés López
©Marta Soler Gamero /marsoga@alumni.uv.es
Universitat de València Press