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Sherds Podcast

Sherds Podcast is a journey through the outskirts of literary history. Each episode, we take an in-depth look at a lesser-known literary text and attempt to give it the critical attention it deserves: books that are criminally overlooked, have struggled to reach an anglophone audience, or are just downright odd. Hosted by Sam Pulham and Rob Prouse.

#32 Pedro Páramo by Juan Rulfo

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Juan Rulfo’s Pedro Páramo was originally published in Spanish in 1955.  The book is published by Serpent’s Tail, the translation is by Margaret Sayers Peden and the readings in this episode are by Jakub Blank.  

The book concerns the journey of a young man to his mother’s native village of Comala, where he will search for his father, the elusive figure, Pedro Páramo.  What he finds upon his arrival is a ghost town, the spectral image of a once vital community whose voices rise up to assail him with lamentations from beyond the grave.  Somewhere within this chorus of the dead unfolds the tale of the landowner, Don Pedro, whose iron grip upon the town may well have been the source of its desolation. 

Over the course of the episode, we discuss Rulfo’s intriguing use of structure, Mexican rituals surrounding death, and the brutality of its central character.  

Bibliography: 

‘The Fractal Structure of Pedro Páramo: Comala, When Will You Rest?’ by Elizabeth Sánchez in Hispania, Vol. 86, No. 2 (May, 2003)

‘Landscape and Loss in Juan Rulfo's Pedro Páramo’ by M. Ian Adams in Chasqui, Vol. 9, No. 1 (Nov., 1979) 

‘Introduction to Juan Rulfo’s Naming Strategies in Pedro Páramo’ by Margaret V. Ekstrom in Literary Onomastics Studies (1979) 

LiteratureSam Pulhamjuanrulfo, pedroparamo, serpentstail, mexicanliterature, margaretsayerspeden, translatedliterature, magicrealism