Elena Poniatowska, Cervantes 2013 award, has denounced that Mexican writer Juan José Arreola raped her and pregnant her in 1954 , an event that has attracted media attention in recent days and has led Arreola's family to deny it by publishing several epistles.
Poniatowska, born in Paris in 1932 and emigrated to Mexico during World War II, confirmed in a recent interview with Excelsior that he had a son with the late writer and editor Juan José Arreola in 1955, the result of a sexual attack by the Mexican in 1954, when she was his student .
The prestigious writer, today of 87 years, has captured in her most recent book The Polish lover a part of this story, which is reflected through a character , the Master, whom he visited once a week and who once attacked her sexually.
When asked if the Master was the writer Juan José Arreola, Poniatowska said yes. "It was already known, many know it . But it must not be said, for what? In addition, so many years have passed. He used his ability to convince, to be very seductive, to harm people," he explained to Excelsior .
Some facts of which he spoke several times later although in his last participation in the International Fair of Guadalajara (FIL) he focused on talking about the novel itself - dedicated to his son Emmanuel.
However, last weekend, relatives of Arreola, who died in 2001, published a "faith of errata" with which they intended to protect the figure of their ancestor, winner of numerous literary awards and considered one of the most prestigious writers, academics and editors of the time.
"Time seems to have affected memory (we refuse to believe that it is about selling books). In any case, it is a pity that dear Juan José is not here to vent his right to a hearing, " said the family in a release.
They assure, in the text, that those who knew Arreola know "what it was and not capable" , and then attach a letter written by Elena Poniatowska in 1955, during her pregnancy in Europe.
In it, the writer - who was then just 22 years old - addresses her " dear Juan José " and tells her that "they have no right to discuss the matter."
"Right now what matters are your big children, and not the baby. (...) That I am fine and I will be fine, " says the writer.
And he continues, a few paragraphs later: " I will never speak a word with anyone , nor after the baby."
The family attached another letter, dated 1956, that only says: "Cover me, Juan Josesito," which was supposedly attached to a flower, a "poppy" that is "on behalf of our child."
In this statement, the Arreola also wanted to defend the figure of the writer of another serious accusation launched by the poet and pianist Tita Valencia (Mexico City, 1938), where he claimed that one of his most popular works, "Minotauromaquia", reflected the violence of gender lived with Arreola in the 1960s.
The family, in response, published two letters from Valencia where they reflect closeness, and also some misunderstandings, between them.
However, in the letter she qualifies Arreola as "good" and apologizes for his changing attitude.
This week, Poniatowska responded to the Arreola family with a "right of reply" in the newspaper Reforma .
"It's 4:37 in the afternoon of Sunday, December 8, 2019 and I read in amazement the letter from the family of the writer Juan José Arreola. I have never, in 64 years, made any statement about Arreola and its surroundings," he said.
In this message, the writer of Polish origin remembers that in her book she only talks about the Master.
"When I met Arreola in 1954 (I was born in 1932 and will turn 88 on May 19, 2020), I was a young girl totally ready to dazzle, " she said.
He described Arreola as "an adult, a married man, with three children, 20 years older than me," with whom he lived a "married adult who knew what he was doing with an inexperienced and naive young woman in every way."
"Although Arreola's family talks about respect, the respectful one was me, the one who never asked for anything was me, the one who never saw him again was never me, the one who kept silent was me," says Poniatowska, who remembers that Arreola didn't even see to his son, neither knew nor maintained him .
Poniatowska regretted that Arreola's family "celebrated" the conquests of the latter, and argued that his letters released by the family only prove that she did care about her children.
"The silence and respect that the Arreola family speaks about have been my family and mine for 64 years," he defends. And he defines his 1955 letter as that of "a seizure who tries to protect" the writer.
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