Introduction
The world is diverse, and, depending on many geographical and cultural features, people can display numerous combinations of visions, beliefs, and opinions. In this context, cultural interactions represent a complex multi-layered concept that showcases how low-scope inconsistencies can be omitted in favor of generalized similarities. The idea can be illustrated by the example of two works of Jamaican and Columbian authors, which managed to overcome cultural differences and make a global impact on society.
Girl
The Girl is a short story picturing a relationship between mother and daughter. The story’s structure resembles a flow of mother’s instructions, admonishments, and unpleasant remarks with no logical beginning or end. The “flow of wisdom” is further intensified with an author’s decision to write a story in one sentence, separating parts of the mother’s speech with semicolons (Kincaid, 2003). The main themes involved in the story include overbearing parental attitudes and stereotype transition in their children.
Despite the story being written in America, it was inspired by the author’s childhood that she spent on Antigua island. Antigua remained a colony of the United Kingdom until 1981, which affected the country in many ways (Braziel, 2022). The developing country’s features, such as agricultural specialization and poor living conditions, are reflected in the advice given by the mother. In particular, she instructs how to grow okra or avoid contact with people due to the risk of contagion (Kincaid, 2003). In this context, Girl pictures the cultural environment providing small pieces of evidence of ordinary people’s everyday routine, highlighting its flaws.
Death Constant Beyond Love
Death Constant Beyond Love story provides a dualistic insight into society’s functioning. Adhering to the story’s main topic, corruption, the author raises the concepts of work, family, and love only to show their falseness (Márquez, 1973). In the example of the story’s protagonist, it is possible to see the corrupted work of a person in a high position through the use of “rented Indians” to enhance the crowd attending his performance (Márquez, 1973). In the meantime, the concepts of family and love are distorted by the actions of a father willing to sell his daughter to deceive the system (Márquez, 1973). However, the author contrasts these concepts’ changeable, deceiving sides to death, implying it cannot be deceived.
It is possible to see the impact of the Latin American Boom movement in Death Constant Beyond Love. Its main features include experimental, non-linear plots and fantastic or surreal elements (Zuluaga, 2019). In the given story, the traits of experimentation appear in the form of lifelike inanimate objects that resemble sentient qualities, such as a lithographed butterfly (Márquez, 1973). In the meantime, the showcased mistrust in the government could be inspired by events, such as the massacre by the Colombian government in 1928 (Zuluaga, 2019). The events greatly impacted the author, which could have motivated him to reflect on the experience.
Global Cultural Impact
Both mentioned works had a significant global and cultural impact. In general, it can be considered similar in opposition to the current status quo. Girl criticizes traditional parental attitudes, simultaneously highlighting the background environment of the colonial past. In turn, Death Constant Beyond Love emphasizes the ubiquitous superficiality and insincerity of individuals and their communities. However, the particular features of the given stories, such as the choice of topics and degree of realism, invoke different feelings in readers. Girl intends to shock people with a realistic vision of the world. In contrast, Death Constant Beyond Love promotes calm and thorough contemplation by adding fictional elements to a real picture. Nevertheless, both stories were acknowledged by world society due to the relevance of raised topics regardless of present cultural differences.
Conclusion
Girl and Death Constant Beyond Love are short stories that surpassed the native borders and left an imprint on world literature. The former is a one-sentence story that is straightforward in conveying the intended message. The latter allows for a degree of mystery, making the readers elaborate on the author’s true intentions. Both stories, however, raise topics relevant to people despite their possible particular disagreements.
References
Braziel, J. E. (2022). Kincaid, Jamaica. The Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Fiction 1980–2020, 1, 1-5.
Kincaid, J. (2003). Girl. In A. Charters (Ed.), The Story and its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction (6th ed.) (pp. 320-321). Bedford/St. Martin’s.
Márquez, G. G. (1973). Death is constant beyond love. Atlantic Magazine Archive. Web.
Zuluaga, C. (2019). I will not fully die: A Biography of Gabriel GarcĂa Márquez. eLibros, Luna Libros.