Xavier Villaurrutia - Notable Works

Notable Works

Villaurrutia's notable works include his poetic writings beginning with Reflejos in 1926 and Nocturnos in 1933. Villaurrutia's writing becomes darker in his later poetic works: Nostalgia de la muerte (literally meaning "Nostalgia of the dead") in 1938, and Décima muerte (literally "tenth death") in 1941. It is unclear if this change was due to the increase turmoil in Europe that would lead to World War II or simply due to Villaurrutia's increasing age. The preoccupation with death in Villaurrutia's work would climax with his 1941 with his play Invitación à la muerte, the title of which can be literally translated to "Invitation to the death" (see "References" below regarding Dr. Raymond Marion Watkins's book which chronicles a history and analysis of this play, which Watkins demonstrates was heavily influenced by Villaurrutia's integration of dramatic elements traceable to William Shakespeare's "Hamlet.") The final published work of Villaurrutia would come posthumously in 1953 with the publication of Poesía y teatro completos a collection of his works which included the short theatrical dramas, Autos profanos. In 1993, Copper Canyon Press published Eliot Weinberger's translation of Nostalgia for Death along with Esther Allen's translation of Octavio Paz's Hieroglyphs of Desire, a book-length study of Villaurrutia's work.