Palma, Clemente (1872–1946)

Clemente Palma is considered the father of the modern Peruvian short story and the initiator of fantastic literature in that country. Born in Lima, on December 3, 1872, the son of the eminent tradicionista Ricardo Palma and brother of the noted feminist author Angélica Palma Román, Clemente began his literary career during the modernist movement and was inspired by the fin de siècle ambiance. Although he was a prolific writer whose diverse works include, poetry, novels, short stories, political and sociological essays, and literary theory and criticism, Palma is best remembered for his fiction. He published two collections of short stories, Cuentos malévolos (1904, 1913) and Historietas malignas (1925), and two novels, Mors ex vita (1918) and XYZ (1934). Palma explored the fantastic in eight of his thirty-two short stories, with the finest example being "La Granja Blanca." His first novel also incorporated themes of the fantastic, which may have led to his interest in science fiction that is evident in XYZ. Palma died on September 13, 1946.

See alsoLiterature: Spanish America; Palma, Ricardo; Palma Román, Angélica.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books by Palma

Excursión literaria. Lima, Peru: Imprenta de "El Comercio," 1895.

Dos tesis. Lima, Peru: Imprenta de Torres Aguirre, 1897.

Filosofía y arte. Lima, Peru: Imprenta de Torres Aguirre, 1897.

El porvenir de las razas en el Perú. Lima, Peru: Imprenta de Torres Aguirre, 1897.

El Perú. Barcelona: Libraría de Antonio J. Bastinos, Editor, 1898.

Cuentos malévolos. Barcelona: Imprenta Salvat y Cía., 1904. 2nd edition, Paris: Librería Paul Ollendorff, 1913; 3rd edition, Lima, Peru: Editorial Nuevos Rumbos, 1959; 4th edition, Lima, Peru: Ediciones PEISA, 1974. Translated by Guillermo I. Castillo-Feliú as Malignant Tales. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1988.

La cuestión de Tacna y Arica y la conferencia de Washington. Lima, Peru: Casa Editora M. Moral, 1922.

Mors ex vita. Lima, Peru: Imprenta "Lux," 1923.

Historietas malignas. Lima, Peru: Editorial "Gracilaso," 1925.

XYZ. Lima, Peru: Ediciones Perú Actual, 1934.

Había una vez un hombre … Lima, Peru: C.I.P., 1935.

Don Alonso Henríquez de Guzmán y el primer poema sobre la conquista de América. Lima, Peru: C.I.P., 1935.

Writings in Periodicals

"Mi gata Astarté." Actualidades 2.85 (21 October 1904): 6-7.

"Una página de mitología." Actualidades 3.93 (January 1905): 5-6.

"El quinto Evangelio." América literaria 2.36 (20 June 1903): 275-276.

"Imploraciones." El Ateneo 1.2 (1899): 195-201.

"¿Ensueño o realidad?" El Ateneo 2.11 (1900): 427-444.

"Andrónico." El Ateneo 2.14 (1900): 152-159.

"Marionetes." El Ateneo 3.17 (1900): 446-452.

"Mensaje de amor." El Ateneo 3.18 (1900): 596-601.

"Leyendas de haschischs." El Ateneo 6.38 (1905): 2073-2086.

"Vampiros." El Ateneo 7.39 (1906): 85-89.

"Datos bibliográficos sobre Clemente Palma." Boletín de la Biblioteca de la Universidad Mayor de San Marcos 8.1 (1938): 158-162.

"La nieta del Oidor." Cultura 1.1 (1915): 9-20.

"Los canastos." Cultura peruana 6, no. 28 (1946): 2-3.

"El último fauno." Excelsior 7.118 (December 1942): 31-34.

"Leyendas de haschischs." Gracilaso 2, no. 3 (April 1914): 25-28.

"Los faunos viejos." Ilustración Peruana 5, no. 1 (1913): 10.

"En el carretón." Ilustración Peruana 5, no. 4 (1913): 89-90.

"Anacreonte ebrio." Ilustración Peruana 5, no. 7 (1913): 183.

"La nieta del Oidor." Ilustración Peruana 5, no. 8 (1913): 205-207.

"El hombre del cigarrillo." El Mercurio 4 September 1932, sec. 1, p. 1.

"Aventura del hombre que no nació." El Mercurio 8 January 1933, sec. 1, p. 1.

"Mors ex vita." Parts 1, 2. El Mercurio Peruano 1, no. 3 and 4 (September, October 1918): 133-142, 190-214.

"Walpurgis." El Modernismo 1.10 (1901): 114-116.

"Floreal." El Modernismo 1.11 (1901): 121-122.

"Dmitri era un excelente amigo." El Modernismo 1, no. 13 (1901): 148-150.

"Dmitri, fantasia malvada." Monos y monadas 1, no. 32 (4 August 1906): 4-5.

"En la orgía." La Neblina 2, no. 1 (1897): 5.

"Al vuelo." La Neblina 2, no. 4 (1897): 91-93.

"Los canastos." Turismo 13.123 (January 1938): 9.

"Elogio y diatriba." Turismo 13, no. 131 (September 1938): 10.

Secondary Sources

Kason, Nancy. "Elements of the Fantastic in 'La Granja Blanca'." In The Fantastic in World Literature and the Arts: Selected Papers from the Fifth International Conference on the Fantastic, edited by Donald E. Morse, pp. 115-121. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1987.

Kason, Nancy. "The Dystopian Vision in XYZ by Clemente Palma." Monographic Review / Revista Monográfica 3, no. 1-2 (1987): 33-42.

Kason, Nancy. "Société et Mécanisation: L'Eve Future de Villiers de L'Isle-Adam et XYZ de Clemente Palma." Bulletin Hispanique 89 (1987): 359-365.

Kason, Nancy. Breaking Traditions: The Fiction of Clemente Palma. Lewisburg, PA: Bucknell University Press, 1988.

                               Nancy Kason Poulson