'In Vargas Llosa's La ta Julia y el escribidor the process of writing,

the role of the novelist, and the relationship between the writer
and the reader are examined.' Discuss.
"Escribo. Escribo que escribo. Mentalmente me veo escribir que escribo y tambin
puedo verme ver que escribo. Me recuerdo escribiendo ya y tambin vindome
que escriba. Y me veo recordando que me veo escribir y me recuerdo vindome
recordar que escriba y escribo vindome escribir que recuerdo haberme visto
escribir que me vea escribir que recordaba haberme visto escribir que escriba y
que escriba que escribo que escriba. Tambin puedo imaginarme escribiendo
que ya haba escrito que me imaginara escribiendo que haba escrito que me
imaginaba escribiendo que me veo escribir que escribo."

[Elizondo, 1972]

In La ta Julia y el escribidor we see a thorough exploration of the concept of

narration, the process of writing and how the reader is affected by the
authors choice of narrative style and writing process. In the epigraph above,
also seen at the start of La ta Julia, we see an important example of the
extent to which narrative layering can extend. It is not by chance the Mario
Vargas LLosa chooses to cite Elizondo at the beginning of his novel. The
extract is clearly an demonstration of meta-fiction and it skilfully frames the
work that the reader is about to endeavour to investigate. This is Vargas
Llosa's attempt to draw attention to the fact that his novel should be viewed
as an artefact; he forces us to view the work as a work of literature rather
than become too involved in the story. This is important for the reader to
understand and obey because it allows us to examine some of Vargas Llosa's
motives behind writing the novel. In this piece I will discuss three of these
motives: to examine and exemplify the process of writing, the role of the
novelist and the relationship between the writer and the reader.
Essentially, La ta Julia y el escribidor tells two separate stories. The first is
the story of eighteen year old Mario, the narrator, and his incestuous
relationship with his aunt who is 12 years his senior. The second follows the
wacky plots of several radio soap operas produced by Mario's co-worker,
Pedro Camacho. Both stories begin as well defined separate plots, but as I will
go on to discuss, the two become gradually less well defined and increasingly
intertwined.
To begin with we must examine what the role of the novelist actually is. The
important question then arises of whether the role of a novelist is that of an
entertainer or an informer, creator or recycler, artist or not. Mario deals in the
genre of news broadcast, perhaps considered the most objective of genres.
However, as Mario reveals very on in the novel, his job "consista en recortar
las noticias interesantes que pareca en los diarios y maquillarlas un poco"1
(p.13). This is paradoxical in itself, as it is widely accepted that a news writer
informs rather than entertains. Mario instead must assume the role of a
novelist to embellish the news bulletins slightly to make the more palatable

to the listeners; this exercise must however be carried out with restraint,
reflected the Mario's constant battle to prevent his co-worker Pascual from
filling all the news bulletins with gory highly-embellished stories of natural
disasters and mass deaths. In this sense, Vargas Llosa appears to be
attempting to demonstrate that, in the case of a news writer, the novelist
must assume a role in which the factual news is made slightly fictitious to
appease the listener, but not to the extent where the fiction would be
considered non-realistic.
The case of Pedro Camacho, the script-writer, is slightly different. Camacho
declares himself as an artist, despite the sometimes clichd and
melodramatic nature of his scripts2. He is employed as an entertainer but
ironically refuses to recognize the commercial nature of his work. Camacho
continues writing his scripts in the name of art without reflection upon their
reception among the listeners, or indeed oblivious to their responses.
Vargas Llosa not only explores the role of a novelist, but also the internal
process of writing, seemingly particularly interested in the theory that there
is a subconscious element of narration2. Camacho is Vargas Llosa's vehicle to
present this idea. Whilst observing the way Camacho works Mario comments
"me recordaba la teora de los surrealistas franceses sobre la escritura
automtica, aquella que mana directamente del subconsciente, esquivando
las censuras de la razn."1 (p.171). Camacho is always portrayed as working
in very disconnected and mechanical way of writing, completely involving
himself in his work . Ironically, this is exactly what Vargas Llosa appears to be
reacting against by creating a novel with consciously complex layers of
narration and sub-narration. It is particularly interesting that Vargas Llosa
juxtaposes the exploration of the subconscious element of narration with the
ongoing story of an incestuous relationship. Incestuous relationships are often
related to the subconsciousness of sexual, emotional and physical attraction
overriding the importance of social norms and/or legality.
There is an inherent element of ambiguity present in La ta Julia, both in the
definition and blurring of lines between protagonists, narrators and authors
and in the relationship between chapters. The story of Mario and his aunt
Julia mirrors almost exactly the story of our author, Mario Vargas Llosa, and
his aunt Julia3. This creates a confusion between author and protagonist.
Carlos J. Alonso suggests that the story of Mario the "fledgling artist" as the
protagonist, is the story of him becoming Vargas LLosa the "established and
successful creator who appears in the last few pages"4. Following this
argument, it would be logical to deduce that the story of La ta Julia y el
escribidor is autobiographical. However, I would argue that this is far from a
logical conclusion. In fact, Mario the protagonist is far from the a
representation of the author Vargas Llosa. As stated by Sara Castro-Klarn:
"the 'author' is simply yet another fiction that operates within the novel's
parody f the autobiographical pact."3. We can deduce instead that La ta Julia

is actually a play on the idea of an autobiographical novel, or a pseudoautobiographical work. Vargas LLosa himself supports this argument in an
interview he gave, claiming that "there is hardly any relation between this
story [his life story] and the on in the novel"4. He also suggests that his own
life story only served as a "remote source" of inspiration.
There is also an equally confusing relationship that lies in the structure of the
book. Despite being two separate discourses, the odd and even chapters are
most definitely intertwined. There is a counterpoint between the mockautobiographical chapters and the radio soap opera chapters that makes the
chapters seem as though "they were two veins of a single discourse engages
in mutual imitation"3. Ta Julia often mentions that her relationship with Mario
could be something out of one of Pedro Camacho's radio soap operas. The
narrative structure elected for by Vargas Llosa allows him to provide a multifaceted approach to storytelling and the process of writing.
In addition to the confusion among the readers with regards to the
relationship between the author and protagonist and the relationship
between the Camacho's episodes and Mario's narrations, there also arises
confusion over who are narrator actually is. In my understanding, the
numerous instalments of Camacho's work are in fact the work of Mario, as he
is the one that is actually recounting the tales to us. If we assume this point
of view we can conclude that since Camacho's stories are actually the work of
Mario the protagonist, they must in turn be the work of Mario Vargas LLosa
the author. It is this kind of complex multi-layered narration that makes it
important that we view the work as meta-fiction, in order to be able to
externally examine this complex method of narration as a possibility of the
process of writing4. The complex layering of narrator upon narrator is also
mirrored in the protagonists. For example, Dr Alberto de Quinteros is a
protagonist in one of the episodes of Camacho, who is in turn a protagonist in
the narration of Mario the protagonist, who is in turn a protagonist in the
narrative of Mario Vargas Llosa the author.
By creating multiple layers of narrators and narratives, Vargas Llosa
facilitates the exploration of the relationship between reader and writer on
multiple levels. There are several obvious differences between the readerwriter relationships of Camacho and Mario. Camacho uses the genre of radiotheatre, which is a generally more accessible genre for the listener and easier
for the narrator to capture the imagination of the listener. Mario's
grandparents mention that radio theatre "Es una cosa ms viva, or hablar a
los personajes, es ms real"1 (p.122). Camacho's radio theatre, when
completely involved in it, can seem as if it were a second reality, seeming
almost as real as daily life despite the sometimes absurd and erratic plots.
Camacho also relates to the reader by exploring the viscera. He appeals to
the controversial suggestion that human nature leads us to enjoy harbouring
hate and resentment by exposing extreme events in his episodes. Mario also

appeals to the readers intrigue of the unknown by exploring and breaching

social taboos, most obviously that of incest. Mario as a protagonist obviously
breaches this social taboo, and we and readers are complicit in his incestuous
relationship.5
We are also forced to explore our ability to trust both of the protagonist
narrators as their reliability as narrators comes into question multiple times in
the novel. Throughout the novel, it is evident through the narration of Mario
that Camacho is slowly deteriorating mentally. As the violence and intensity
increases in his episodes, his own psychological deterioration advances,
perhaps affected by the lack of reality in his writings in which he becomes so
completely involved. His mental states is echoed in the deterioration of his
plots into a chaotic mess of various characters and storylines, not
remembering who belongs where. In a desperate but failed attempt to bring
some order back to his stories, Camacho attempts to kill characters off to try
and make remembering the various plots and characters easier for himself.
Mario also brings his own reliability as a narrator into question towards the
end of the novel where he begins to obviously lie about his relationship with
ta Julia to the readers. He states that "El matrimonio con la ta Julia fue
realmente un xito"1 (pg.469) despite the fact we know that the marriage
terminated after 8 years and ended in divorce.
To conclude, Vargas LLosa presents us as readers with multiple challenges
through reading his novel. We find ourselves exploring the possibility of
narrating with subconscious motives, and multi-layered narrations and
narrators. The relationship between the reader and writer it almost the
opposite of what we may have expected before commencing reading the
book. Camacho, who is creating fiction for his own pleasure, seemingly has
more success to begin with. Whereas Mario aims to create fictitious news
tailored to the reader, yet seems to have less success. Ultimately there is a
role-reversal and Mario must take over the rescue mission to save Camacho's
plots and ends more successful in the eyes of the listeners. In a final gesture
Vargas Llosa also calls into question the role of the narrator. Paradoxically,
Camacho creates un-realistic plots that eventually begin to seems realistic to
the reader, however it is the normalization of his unrealistic of his works that
eventually drives his to insanity.

Bibliography
1. Vargas Llosa, Mario. La Ta Julia Y El Escribidor. Madrid: Punto de Lectura,
2006. Print.
2. Birkenmaier, Anke. 'Transparencia Del Subconsciente: Escritura Automtica,
Melodrama Y Radio En La Ta Julia Y El Escribidor'. Revista Iberoamericana 74.224
(2008): n. pag. Web

3. Castro-Klarn, Sara. Understanding Mario Vargas Llosa. Columbia, S.C.:

University of South Carolina Press, 1990. Print.
4. Alonso, Carlos J. 'La Tia Julia Y El Escribidor: The Writing Subject's Fantasy Of
Empowerment'.PMLA 106.1 (1991): 46. Web.
5. Reedy, Daniel R. 'Del Beso De La Mujer Araa Al De La Ta Julia: Estructura Y
Dinmica Interior'.Revista Iberoamericana 47.116 (1981): n. pag. Web.
6. Hassett, John J. 'el escritor ante el espejo' en Jos Miguel Ovideo (ed.) (1982):
Mario Vargas LLosa, Taurus, Madrid (1978). Print.
7. Rossman, Charles, and Alan Warren Friedman. Mario Vargas Llosa, Estudios
Crticos. Madrid: Alhambra, 1983. Print.
8. Csuday, Csaba. 'En Busca Del Paraso Perdido. Conversacin Con Mario Vargas
Llosa En Budapest'. Verbum 5.2 (2003): 357-368. Web.