Book contents
- Pablo Neruda in Context
- Pablo Neruda in Context
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Introduction
- Part I Residence and Travel
- Chapter 1 A lo lejos alguien canta
- Chapter 2 Pablo Neruda in Buenos Aires
- Chapter 3 Pablo Neruda’s España en el corazón and the Spanish Civil War
- Chapter 4 France in the Life and Poetry of Pablo Neruda
- Chapter 5 Of Commitments and Polemics
- Chapter 6 Departure and Return
- Part II Landmark Events and Relationships
- Part III Literary Influences and Poetic Evolution
- Part IV Other Genres
- Part V Politics, Race, and Ecocriticism
- Part VI Worldwide Influence, Reception, and Legacy
- Works Cited
- Index
Chapter 1 - A lo lejos alguien canta
Solitude as Rite of Passage and Diplomatic Life in East Asia, 1927–1932
from Part I - Residence and Travel
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 February 2026
By
Edited by
Book contents
- Pablo Neruda in Context
- Pablo Neruda in Context
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Introduction
- Part I Residence and Travel
- Chapter 1 A lo lejos alguien canta
- Chapter 2 Pablo Neruda in Buenos Aires
- Chapter 3 Pablo Neruda’s España en el corazón and the Spanish Civil War
- Chapter 4 France in the Life and Poetry of Pablo Neruda
- Chapter 5 Of Commitments and Polemics
- Chapter 6 Departure and Return
- Part II Landmark Events and Relationships
- Part III Literary Influences and Poetic Evolution
- Part IV Other Genres
- Part V Politics, Race, and Ecocriticism
- Part VI Worldwide Influence, Reception, and Legacy
- Works Cited
- Index
Summary
1927 was a critical period in Pablo Neruda’s life. At the time, he was assigned to a diplomatic post in Rangoon. He was a promising poet and a young diplomat hungry to see the world. Southeast Asia represented a season of solitude that he alleviated with his marriage to Maruca, with whom he would have his only daughter. The girl would die at an early age. In this region, he envisaged Residencia en la tierra (Residence on Earth, 1933). Through the letters to his friend Héctor Eandi and his travel chronicles, we learn the inner landscapes that occupied Neruda’s creative mind. A memorable poem written in this period is “El tango del viudo” (“Widower’s Tango”), which describes his tempestuous relationship with Josie Bliss. This period has been revisited lately due to the confession of a sexual assault of a young Tamil woman under his service expressed in his memoirs.
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- Pablo Neruda in Context , pp. 25 - 32Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2026
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