''Under the Jaguar Sun'' is a collection of three
short stories by
Italo Calvino. The stories were to have been in a book entitled ''I cinque sensi'' (''The Five Senses''). Calvino died before writing the stories dedicated to vision and touch. In the Italian edition (
Garzanti, 1986) the stories are ordered as follows: ''Il nome, il naso''; ''Sotto il sole giaguaro''; and ''Un re in ascolto''. The titular story ''Sotto il sole giaguaro'' was originally published as ''Sapore sapere'' ("learning to taste") in the June 1982 edition of
FMR, an Italian magazine.
In the 1988 English translation by
William Weaver, the works are arranged by length, beginning with "Under the Jaguar Sun" followed by "A King Listens" and lastly "The Name, The Nose."
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edition, ''Under the Jaguar Sun'' was first published as ''The Jaguar Sun'' in the ''New Yorker,'' translation copyright 1983 by Harcourt, Inc. ''The Name, the Nose'' was first published in
Antaeus, translation copyright 1976 by Harcourt, Inc. It states that the English language copyright is 1988 by Harcourt, Inc.
''Sotto il sole giaguaro'' involves a couple on vacation in
Mexico, experiencing difficulties in their relationship. Mexico is presented as a country characterised by its bloody history, both in the
indigenous past and in its
colonised period, which includes the present. The sense of taste is explored in this story, and used by the couple as a substitute for sex. As they travel tasting different dishes, they stumble upon an old secret of the ancient cuisine that may prove to be cannibalistic.
A King Listens
''Un re in ascolto'' focuses on the sense of hearing. It is written in the
second-person. In the story, a
palace
A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...
becomes a giant ear and a King is obsessed by fears of rebellion which send him toward a state of restless aural surveillance. This
paranoia only seems to halt when he hears the sincere love song of a woman.
The story was made into an eponymous opera
work by the composer
Luciano Berio, and served as basis for Myriorama (2004), a telematic dance piece by ambientTV.NET in collaboration with kondition pluriel,
which questioned surveillance of daily life through networked telecommunication technologies.
The Name, the Nose
''Il nome, il naso'' is told from the perspective of three different characters: a French
sensualist
In epistemology, Sensualism is a doctrine whereby sensations and perception are the basic and most important form of true cognition. It may oppose abstract ideas.
This ideogenetic question was long ago put forward in Greek philosophy (Stoicism, E ...
, a prehistoric entity on the verge of becoming human, and a drug-addled musician. They are united in their quest of a captivating female scent, which in the end is revealed to be death.
Bibliography
*Calvino, Italo. ''Sotto il sole giaguaro.'' Milano: Garzanti, 1986.
*—. ''Under the Jaguar Sun.'' Translated by
William Weaver. London: Vintage, 1993.
References
{{Italo Calvino
1986 short story collections
Short story collections by Italo Calvino
Unfinished books