“Obras completas” de Monterroso: la agonía del maestro y del discípulo

Abstract

Augusto Monterroso did not enjoy advanced formal education and he defined himself as an autodidact. His short story “Obras completas” presents the weekly meetings at a bar of a distinguished academic with young followers, to which a provincial newcomer arrives, not well educated, but with talent enough to become a great poet. The professor, to include him in the conversation, assigns him the role of Unamuno specialist, a lie which becomes true as time goes by. What appears to be an encouraging strategy by the professor reveals a different aspect when at the end of the story the professor pushes the young man towards erudition, derailing his career as a poet. The complexity of this short story, according to this interpretation, presents two alter egos of Monterroso, who, in spite of his beginning as an autodidact, directed rigorous writers’ workshops and taught at the university. Ultimately, the story is about a conflict between alternatives that separate erudition from creativity and leaves behind an irreparable nostalgia for the path not taken.