Jitanjáfora
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Jitanjáfora is a linguistic statement composed of words or expressions that are, for the most part, invented and have no meaning or significance on their own. In a literary work, their poetic function lies in their phonetic value, which can make sense in relation to the text as a whole.
The term was created by the writer Alfonso Reyes, who took it from the poetry of Mariano Brull (Cuba, 1891-1956), who in turn played with sounds by inventing words with out any apparent meaning.[1] Reyes claimed that Brull's daughters would recite poems for their guests. To surprise his audience, which included Reyes, Brull wrote a poem and made the girls recite it, leading Reyes to write: "Choosing the most fragrant word from that raceme, I said to call Mariano Brull's girls 'jitanjáforas'. It now occurs to me to extend the term to this entire genre or verbal form of poetry." [2]
The word "jitanjáfora"[3] appears in some of Bull's verses, such as this one:
Filiflama alabe cundre
ala olalúnea alífera
alveolea jitanjáfora
liris salumba salífera.— Mariano Brull, Leyenda
History of the Jitanjáfora[edit]
Examples of this type of poetic expression can be found in the poetry of the Spaniard Lope de Vega (1562-1635) — "Piraguamonte, piragua // piragua, jevizarizagua"[4] — or Sister Juana Inés de la Cruz (1651-1695).[citation needed]
Jitanjáfora and the Avant-Garde[edit]
Some artists of the avant-garde movement cultivated jitanjáfora, especially the Dadaists. The Guatemalan writer Miguel Ángel Asturias (1899-1974) made notable use of it, especially in his work El señor Presidente, as did the Spanish writer Gonzalo Torrente Ballester (1910-1999) en La saga/fuga de J. B. and the Argentine writer Alejandra Pizarnik (1936-1972) in the extravagant La bucanera de Pernambuco o Hilda la polígrafa. Julio Cortázar also employed this syntactic technique in his novel Rayuela, for which he created the conlang he called Gíglico.
Children's Jitanjáforas de sorteo[edit]
In the mid-twentieth century, children in Argentina would recite a jitanjáfora de sorteo, which was passed orally from child to child and never written in any book or magazine. It was shared from child to child without any adult interference:
- Apetén sembréi
- tucumán lenyí
- mamamí surtí
- buri vú carchéi.
Other versions can also be found throughout various Argentine provinces:
| first verse | second verse | third verse | fourth verse |
|---|---|---|---|
| apetén sembréi | tucumán lenyí | amamey surquí | tururú carchí[5] |
| apetén sembréi | tucumán lenyí | mamamí surtí | buri vú carchéi |
| apetén sendén | tucumán lenyí | a mamá lecí | guri guri garchí |
| apetem sem bem | tucumán lenyí | a mamá surtí | buri buri garchí |
| apetén sen den | tucumán lenyí | a mamá surtí | guri guri garchí |
| apetén sembrén | tucumán lenyí | amammer surquí | tururú gachí |
| apetén sembré | tucumán lenyí | mamemí surquí | tururú cacheu |
| a petén sen ben | cutibán len li | mamamí sur ti | buribú car che |
| ape ten sen blen | tucumán len bri | ama mer tur qui | gary gary gary chi |
| a petei cham blei | tucumán lenchí | mama di surquí | gulibú charquéi |
| apetén sen den | tucumán nenchí | a mamá surtí | buri buri carchí |
| a petén sen ben | tucumán lenchí | a mama surtí | gury gury carchí |
| a petén chen ben | cutival lendí | a mamá surtí | curi buri carchí |
| ape tem sem brem | tucu man len yi | mame mi sur quí | turu rú ca chí |
| apentén sen den | tucumán lenchí | a mamá surtí | buri buri carchí[6] |
| a petén sembrei | tucumán lenyí | mama mi surtí | buribú car chei[7] |
| a petén sen ven | tucumán lenyí | de mamá surchí | buri bú carchí[8] |
Contemporary Jitanjáforas[edit]
We can find some examples of jitanjáforas in contemporary poetry, such as these anonymous verses in which the author plays freely with alliteration, trying to transmit sensations through the words:
Crososto pinfro
Imenoclacto plecto plex
Astrasfo, pásporo indro
Musocrocto puclásforo estro
Susuclotno cricáscono etpro
Frocotú, rususú, plu plu, metaplú.
Zutrotpor ascror,
trotocopulfo pritel.
See also[edit]
- The language glíglico, in the novel Rayuela by Julio Cortázar
- The language jabberwocky (gibberish) by Lewis Carroll
- Alliteration
- Jerigonza
- Nonsense
- Scat
- Vonleska
References[edit]
- ↑ «jitanjáfora», article published in the Diccionario de la lengua española of the Royal Spanish Academy. Madrid (Spain): Espasa (23rd edition), 2014.
- ↑ Reyes, Alfonso (1983). La experiencia literaria (Third ed.). México: FCE. p. 185. Search this book on
- ↑ Bravo, Federico (2008). "La « jitanjáfora » de Mariano Brull : nouvelles propositions". Cahiers du centre Interdisciplinaire de méthodologie. Mitoyennetés méditerranéennes, n° 10.
- ↑ Bousoño, Carlos (1987). "En torno a "Malestar y noche", de García Lorca". El Comentario de Textos (Castalia). 1: 314.
- ↑ Lucero, Mónica Graciela (2015). ""Hand games as musical performance (a study of children from nine to eleven years of age)" / "El juego de manos como ejecución musical (un estudio de niños de nueve a once años de edad)"". Tesina de la maestría Psicología de la Música. Facultad de Bellas Artes, Universidad Nacional de la Plata. doi:10.35537/10915/47459. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
- ↑ Gonza. ""Recuerdos de la infancia"". A cara de perro. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
- ↑ "AFRO-ARGENTINOS, el pueblo silenciado". IndyMediaArgentina. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
- ↑ "Fórmules, rimes i tirallongues per tirar sort / Fórmulas, rimas y retah´las para sortear juegos". Poesia Infantil i Juvenil. 18 May 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
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