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On The House of the Spirits

…I do not believe in your theory
of the strong and the weak…

—Isabel Allende
The House of Spirits

What continues to strike me of the book “The House of the Spirits” is how Isabel Allende alternated first voices and dialogs to immerse the readers into the patriarchal, catholic, and socially divided society of the country portrayed in her novel.

In this book, it is the richness of symbols and imagined events combined with actual history what brings together three generations through the female lineage. Three women and three male characters, three houses, and three political parties among others are the backbone of the book. The three women also intersect in triads of love, political events and violence and achieved power through intellect, relationships, magic and morality. It is the clairvoyant Clara—the main character of this book— the one who first confronted male authoritarian power by setting up schools and health programs in the farm run by her abusive husband. Later in the book, Clara’s daughter and granddaughter immersed themselves in the political turmoil of a country’s internal war, overcoming torture, cruelty and abuse and overall, refusing to remain victims of a system. Allende’s female characters deal with politics and social institutions in a way that is all but passive.

I have chosen to represent this book with my personal haunted house, by appropriating photographs from my own family albums and using the triangle as a format. Along with the multiple meanings of triangles through history: diverse religions, female or the womb—goddess—homosexuality and female sexuality, are the standard mathematical definitions. Thus, considering the geometric figure, the tension of opposites creates new and ultimately forms circles.

—Alejandra Chaverri
June 2008
This book is part of the exhibtion "Banned y recovered:artist response to censorship"