Enigma as Narrative Determinant in the Novels of Juan Benet

Author(s): David K. Herzberger

Source: Hispanic Review, Vol. 47, No. 2 (Spring, 1979), pp. 149-157
Published by: University of Pennsylvania Press
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ENIGMA AS NARRATIVE DETERMINANT

IN THE NOVELS OF JUAN BENET
THE
first reading of a novel by Juan Benet is generally a disquieting activity. As the novel progresses and events and characters do not come into clear focus, one begins to suspect that he
has not been reading carefully enough, that something important
has been overlooked or misunderstood. Thus a second and perhaps
subsequent readings are undertaken for the purpose of tying together loose threads and completing the complex design that Benet
has created in his work. However, though subsequent readings
yield new insights into the novel, the design remains incomplete,
and the mysterious elements that were to be understood continue
to be as enigmatic as before. That the work remains partially incoherent and never fully comprehended by the reader is perhaps
the fundamental premise in the formulation of Benet's novels.
Indeed, Benet values elusiveness and ambiguity more than the accurate representation of observable reality or the conveyance of a
social thesis. Enigma therefore becomes both the medium and the
message of Benet's narrative. The present study will examine the
theoretical suppositions, as well as the practical elements that contribute to the creation of Benet's enigmatic fiction. My study is
not intended to resolve the enigmas found within Benet's worksas will be shown, many of the enigmas are not resolvable-but
rather to define the essential components that cause the enigmas
to exist and to be sustained.
In his theory Benet maintains that in order for art (specifically,
the novel) to possess value as art, it must appeal to that part of
the human spirit which lies beyond the rational and scientific. That
is, the author must probe what Benet terms the "zona de sombras,"
149

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150

David

K. IHerzberger

HR, 47 (1979)

which "se situia mas alla de todos los dogmas." 1 The instrument
that the writer must use to explore this mysterious zone is his style.
According to Benet, during a certain moment of the literary process
the writer must describe and translate into words the ideas and
images of his mind. At some time during this process of expression,
the writer (i.e., the "good" writer) will inevitably extend his mind
into an unknown zone, which his reason cannot clearly define. The
ideas and images of this enigmatic reality do not correspond to
words he finds in the dictionary, nor can they be expressed by normal forms of language. The writer must therefore invent a pellicle
(pelicula) capable of receiving the impressions of images that lie
outside the realm of rational thought. This pellicle is the writer's
style, which is carefully developed over a long period of time in
order to transcend intellectual knowledge and therefore express the
obscure images and hidden concepts of the mind.2
Translated into practice, Benet's theoretical commingling of
enigma and style becomes intensified and expanded. His most
consistent effort to develop this relationship can be found in the
surface structure of his narrative discourse. The mere length of
Benet's sentences challenges the reader to follow the central idea,
which is generally camouflaged by the numerous delays, digressions,
and ambiguous interpolations that surround it. The accumulation
of images and the continuous, labyrinthine sentence structure undermine the reader's attempts to determine how these images and
ideas relate to each other and to the narrative as a whole. Many
of Benet's sentences seem to be organized not merely to make logical
resolution difficult, but so as to discourage it and make it impossible.
Nonetheless, Benet's convoluted syntax and complicated style do
not create enigma. What is important here is that Benet conveys
through his narrative a tone of ambiguity and confusion, which
forms the incipient stages of enigma as narrative determinant.
Although Benet does not claim to understand all that makes up
the zona de sombras, he is certain that its enigmatic complexity
originates with "la contradicci6n" (EC, p. 51). The writer must
1 Juan Benet, En ciernes (Madrid: Taurus, 1976), pp. 22-23. All references to En ciernes are to this edition and are denoted in the text by the
abbreviation EC and the page number. Subsequent references to other works
by Benet are also to the same editions indicated on first citation.
2 Juan Benet, La inspiraci6n y el estilo (Madrid: Revista de Occidente,
1966), pp. 141-42.

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Enigma in the Novels of Juan Benet

151

therefore transcend the domain of reason and seek inspiration in

"un terreno donde toda suerte de certeza es quimerica, cuestionable
y esteril; donde no valen las acotaciones de racionalidad y dondegracias a la apertura que introducen la contradicci6n y el misterio
-impera el espiritu de lucha de los contrarios" (EC, p. 53). This
world of opposites is what Benet terms "el imperio del oxymoron"
(EC, p. 53), and it is within this "imperio" where Benet conjoins
novelistic theory and practice most intimately. In his novels Benet
frequently uses contradictory statements in order to maintain his
narrative in a state of flux or suspension. The oxymoronic descriptions that he employs are constructed by the simultaneous
suggestion of disparate or opposed elements, and thereby they
create disorder and incoherence by virtue of their qualities of
irresolution and contradiction. For example, in Una meditacion
when Leo and Carlos visit the Indio's hut, they hear "un ligero
crujido de peldanios y un suspiro ahogado, cercano y lejano a la
Leo's love affair with Carlos causes her ego to feel "al
vez."3
mismo tiempo aniquilado y engendrado" (p. 291). When examining the potentially destructive results of Cayetano Corral's scientific
investigations, the narrator concludes that "nada parecia mas
imposible y remoto y al mismo tiempo mas inminente" (p. 281).
In La otra casa de Mazon, the silence of the house takes on an air
of mystery because of the "zumbido sin ruido ni origen"4 associated with it, while the stables "vertian su oquedad a traves de
las juntas y grietas de las tablas, y aquellas puertas y mallas
cerradas-tan d6biles y firmes al mismo tiempo" (p. 193). In
Una tumba the Brigadier's tomb is described as "sagrado y maldito,
venerado y execrable,"" while the "corp6reo soplo" (p. 11) of
the wind and the "eco sordo del peldaiio" (p. 66) further enhance
the mysterious atmosphere of the novel.
From one point of view, the repeated use of oxymoronic constructions can be seen as an attempt by Benet purposely to avoid
full coherence in his work. As a result, the reader remains confused and uncertain in his response to the reality before him. From
another perspective, however, Benet implies that the writer himself
cannot completely identify the reality that he creates. Thus the
s Juan Benet, Una meditaci6n (Barcelona: Seix Barral, 1970), p. 160.
4 Juan Benet, La otra casa de Maz6n (Barcelona: Seix Barral, 1973),
p. 127.
5 Juan Benet, Una tumba (Barcelona: Editorial Lumen, 1971), p. 8.

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David

152

K. Herzberger

HR, 47 (1979)

writer can only express the contradictions that he senses, while the
enigma remains unresolved, and as Benet suggests, unresolvable.
Benet seems indeed to be describing his own mode of writing when
he claims that the writer must " [adentrarse] con la imaginaci6n
en aquel terreno que de antemano no conoce-y nunca sera capaz
de explorar en toda la magnitud de lo desconocido" (EC, p. 78).
Benet also contributes to the ambiguity and mystery of his
narrative through the suggestive power of his style. Rather than
telling or showing directly, Benet frequently conveys the sensation
of a situation, so that the reader feels that he is confronted with the
dream of reality instead of its concreteness. A scene from Un viaje
de invierno best illustrates this technique. When Demetria appears
in front of Arturo she is, "despojada de tiempo y coloreada por la
nada ... insomne y sin sombras, ni siquiera habia en su cara el
asomo de una carne viciada por la espera atona y casi argentifera
desprovista de toda emoci6n: no habia llegado hasta allli, no habia
estado observandole mientras acuclillado hurgaba en la grama sino
que empezo a formarse con la llegada del repentino frio" Furthermore, Demetria possesses a "mano impalpable" (p. 81), and
when speaking she utters "palabras sin vocalizaci6n" (p. 97). Her
voice is "concertada con el silencio y la oscuridad, sin timbre ni
tono" (p. 97), and when one evening she touches Arturo, he feels
"un par de manos sin tacto" (p. 98). The reader is aware that
Demetria exists, because she is the central character of the novel.
Yet Benet continually undermines her physical existence by his
use of ethereal images and descriptive phrases. Despite her major
role, Demetria remains a mysterious character, who rarely gains a
tangible presence.
Narrative hesitancy is another important stylistic trait that
creates uncertainty in Benet's novels. Benet frequently uses introductory locutions in his sentences, which, without changing the
meaning of the sentence, introduce an air of doubt as to the accuracy of what is being told. In Un viaje de invierno and La otra
casa de Mazon, for example, the narrator often qualifies his statements with such remarks as "tal vez," "al parecer," "acaso,"
"es posible," "parece que," etc. In Una meditacion, the firstperson narrator displays a sililar reticence to make unequivocal
6 Juan Benet, Un viaje de invierno (Barcelona:

La Gaya Ciencia, 1973),

p. 92.

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Enigma in the Novels of Juan Benet

153

statements and places in doubt what he relates by claiming that he

cannot totally remember certain events: "yo no recuerdo ... " (p.
50); "Pero uno de nosotros, no recuerdo quien . .. " (p. 24); "Y
por si fuera poco tenia un nombre que yo no he conocido otro mas
solemne, aunque lo he olvidado ... " (p. 21). These admissions,
coupled with the other prefatory words described above, undermine
narrative omniscience but, more importantly, increase the hesitancy
that the reader feels concerning the factual elements and reliability
of the text. As a result, Benet enhances the overall ambiguity of
his novels and further intensifies the enigmas within them.
Although style and technique play an integral part in the invention and elaboration of enigma in Benet's novels, the major
sources of enigma are found in the characters, situations, and
events that Benet creates. Frequently, Benet withholds information or only partially discloses certain factual elements in his narrative, which prevents the reader from piecing together the puzzle
before him. Threads of the plot remain dangling, and actions and
their motivations are unexplained. Even more disturbing, however, is the inclusion in Benet's novels of what seem to be supernatural elements, which contribute to the pervasive plot irresolution. The phrase "seem to be" is significant here, because Benet
rarely supplies enough details to enable the reader to determine
fully the make-up of the supernatural. This lack of specificity
and emphasis on ambiguity links Benet intimately to Todorov's
distinction between the uncanny, the marvelous and the fantastic.7
Although Todorov's study of the fantastic concentrates on nineteenth-century literature, the principles that he formulates can be
adapted to more general use, since they provide insight into certain
enigmatic elements of contemporary fiction as well. According to
Todorov, if the reader concludes that the laws of everyday reality
can be utilized to describe a phenomenon that at first seems supernatural, then the phenomenon belongs to the world of the uncanny.
If on the other hand the reader determines that the laws of reality
are unable to account for an event, then it pertains to the realm of
the marvelous. The fantastic, in contrast, does not involve the
resolution or explanation of an enigma, but rather stems from a
hesitancy or uncertainty produced in the reader because of the
7 Tzvetan Todorov, The Fantastic, trans. Richard Howard (Cleveland,
1973). See specifically Chaptersii and iii.

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154

David K. Herzberger

47 (1979)
HER,

supernatural elements present in the text. In short, the fantastic

occupies the duration of the reader's uncertainty. As Todorov
states: "Either total faith or total incredulity would lead us beyond
the fantastic: it is hesitation which sustains its life." 8
Much of the supernatural in Benet's novels relates to the fantastic, because it is intended specifically to create uncertainties in
the reader. Benet's theoretical approach (as discussed previously)
and practical application within his fiction support this notion.
For example, one of the principal elements of enigma associated
with Benet's novels is Numa, the mysterious guardian of the
Mantuan forests. Critics have posited several theories to explain
Numa's role in Benet's novels: that he symbolizes the oppression of
the Franco government; that he is a figure transplanted from
Frazer's The Golden Bough and serves to maintain the status quo;
that he exists only as a figment in the imagination of the inhabitants of Regi6n.9 More important than reader uncertainty, however, is the fact that the narrator and characters within the novels
discuss the unknown origin and shadowy existence of Numa. For
example, in Volveras a Region, Dr. Sebastian explains to Gamallo's
daughter that
Su historia-o su leyenda-es multiple y contradictoria;se asegura por
un lado que se trata de un supervivientecarlista que-con mas de ciento
y pico de aiios-del odio a las mujeres y a los Borbones saca cada afio
nuevas fuerzas para defender la inviolabilidad del bosque; por el contrario, tambiencundela creenciade que su existenciase remontaa muchos
afios y decenios atras: un monje hinchado de vanidad que abandonala
regla cuando la intransigentereforma moderadoratrata de restringir el
consuelodel vino ... Se afirmatambienque no se trata sino de un militar
que todos hemos conocidoy que, habiendo amado a una mujer hasta la
locura, se fug6 despechadoy se retir6 alla para ocultar sus voluntarias
mutilacionesy cobrarvenganza en el cuerpo de sus seguidores.l0
Thus while the reader's efforts to comprehend Numa are obstructed
8 Todorov, The Fantastic, p. 31.
9 See, for example, Manuel Durfn, "'Juan Benet y la nueva novela
espafiola," CA, 195 (1974), 193-205; Ricardo Gullon, "Una regi6n laberintica que bien pudiera llamarse Espafia," fnsula, No. 319 (June 1973), pp. 3,
10; Steve Summerhill, "Prohibition and Transgression in Two Novels by
Juan Benet," paper delivered at The Ninety-First Annual Convention of the
Modern Language Association of America in New York, 1976.
10Juan Benet, Volverds a Region, 2nd ed. (Barcelona: Ediciones Destino,
1974), p. 251.

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Enigma in the Novels of Juan Benet

155

at every level, the characters within the novel that coexist with
Numa in Regi6n are similarly perplexed. This uncertainty, which
surrounds Numa both inter- and extratextually, is a recurrent element of the fantastic in each of Benet's novels, and the accumulation of evidence does not resolve the mystery fully. Numa may
indeed represent important social and existential problems, but his
principal function intrinsically is to sustain narrative ambiguity
and mystery. Viewed in this light, Numa reifies authorial intention.
Less developed instances of the fantastic occur frequently in
Benet's novels. In Volveras a Region, for example, the "rueda
telegrafica" is intimated to exert a direct influence on the future
of Dr. Sebastian and his father, while the red flowers found in the
mountains of Regi6n grow only on top of human remains. In Un
viaje de invierno, Benet introduces the fantastic in his narrative
by exposing the strange relationship between the appearance of the
grajos and Arturo's ascension of the Rio Torce, or by the portrayal
of the Intruso, whose doubtful existence parallels that of Numa:
"se barajarian las hip6tesis mas dispares acerca de su procedencia
y de su personalidad, una prueba mas de la mucha confusi6n que
lleg6 a provocar" (p. 109). Una tumba displays equally enigmatic
elements: the unexplained cause and effect relationship between the
Brigadier's death and two of the persons associated with it, as well
as the communication between the nino and his dead relatives,
which is hinted at, but never confirmed. What is important about
these and other such incidents, however, is that the reader is unable
to define their existence within the realm of what Todorov calls
"the laws of nature." On the other hand, these incidents do not
completely defy natural laws. Thus Benet plants the uncertainty
in his reader that is necessary for the formation of the fantastic
and which contributes to the enigmatic milieu of all of his novels.
As discussed previously, Benet frequently uses certain types of
introductory phrases that serve to increase the ambiguity of the
content of his novels. Benet also employs this technique to exploit
further reader hesitancy associated with the fantastic. In Una
meditaci6n, for example, the events involving Andarox and the
pearls clearly fall within the bounds of the supernatural. Andarox,
we are told, has swallowed a pearl and has developed in his body
through some unknown and unexplained process a mechanism that
produces pearls identical to the one he has swallowed. Such a

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situation is obviously impossible when viewed in terms of the "laws

of nature," and the reader ordinarily would not hesitate to place
it in Todorov's category of the marvelous. However, the narrator
inserts throughout his tale such prefatory statements as "se decia,"
or "hubo quien afirmara" or "Yo oi decir . . " (p. 255). As he
does elsewhere, Benet uses these "hearsay" remarks to put in
doubt the veracity of the entire episode. Hence the reader is aware
that something strange has occurred, but he is unable to define it
because of the implied skepticism of the narrator. Benet makes
no attempt to resolve the mystery of the pearls; rather he relies
upon the uncertainty of the event to enhance his invention of the
fantastic.
On occasion, Benet transgresses the laws that govern the fantastic and enters plainly into the realm of the marvelous. Like the
events associated with the fantastic, there is no logical or rational
psychological explanation for these incidents, but in contrast to
the fantastic, Benet makes no effort to put in doubt their supernatural nature. For example, the existence of the king and the
appearance of Cristino Mazon's dead relatives in La otra casa de
Mazon are clearly instances of the marvelous. Benet does not attempt to disguise that they are dead, nor does he suggest that they
are only figments of Cristino's perverted imagination. Instead,
they appear as part of a supernatural world, which Benet incorporates into the "real" world of his novel. In Un viaje de
invierno, elements of the marvelous also contribute to the mysterious
atmosphere: the keys of a piano begin to move before the musician
touches them, while the pedal of the piano is "hundido a fondo
antes de que el pie lo pisara" (p. 239). In Volveras a Region, the
supernatural powers of the "moneda de oro" are never placed in
doubt, and in Una meditacion the Indio's dead father, who speaks
from the bottom of the lake, clearly pertains to the world of the
marvelous. The juxtaposition of these and other marvelous elements with both the real and the fantastic in Benet's novels is
intended to confuse the reader and make him actively participate
in untangling a webwork of mysteries, which, because of the nature
of their presentation, cannot be resolved. By utilizing enigma as
the primary element of his narrative, Benet is able to subvert the
superficial, observable reality that characterizes much of the postwar novel and penetrate into the zona de sombras that forms the
nucleus of his fiction.

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Enigma in the Novels of Juan Benet

157

The uncertain flow of psychological time, shifts in narrative

point of view, and the interpolation of fragmented subplots are
recurring characteristics of Benet's novels and further enhance the
overall narrative ambiguity. Nevertheless, these techniques are
commonplace among contemporary novelists, and Benet's use of
them does not distinguish him as a source of alternative or innovative fictional realities. Instead, Benet's strength as a novelist lies
in the presentation of his human world through the juxtaposition
of elements that do not seem to fit together, and which to a large
degree resist synthesis. On the one hand, Benet represents the
rivers, valleys, mountains, and deserts of Region with detailed,
scientific descriptions. Furthermore, he stages incidents from
Spanish history against the backdrop of Region and forces his
characters to wrestle with the existential problems that confront
contemporary man-all of which contribute to the illusion of a
well defined novelistic reality based upon the observation of life.
At the same time, however, Benet presents in his novels a series of
mysterious events that are never fully explained in the context of
the real world that he has created. Significantly, though, Benet
does not ask the reader to suspend his belief in the real world, nor
does Benet reject the laws that govern it. Instead, he attempts to
puncture the superficial structures of existence in order to show
that disorder, incoherence, and enigma form the deep structure of
reality. Life for Benet is ineffably complex, as is the manner in
which he portrays it. Throughout his fiction Benet elects to present
perplexing suspensions rather than rationally integrated wholes.
The critical interpretation of enigma in Benet's novels has
yielded diverse and often conflicting opinions. This is as true for
an individual character such as Numa (as previously discussed) as
for the broader view that Regi6n is a microcosm of Spanish ruin
and oppression, or that the characters symbolize the dehumanization of modern man. Nonetheless, while different interpretative
methods educe diverse meanings, the intrinsic norms of Benet's
novels remain constant. The invention and expression of enigma
fuse to form the central message of Benet's fiction, and at the same
time enunciate his novelistic intentions.
DAVID K. HERzBERGER

Marquette University

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