El Chacotero

The direct translation to English is usually something like “fond of a joke” ¹ 1 “Chacotero.” Collins Spanish Dictionary, HarperCollins Publishers, https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/spanish-english/chacotero. Accessed 20 Sept. 2023. or “joker.” Carmen Aguirre, the author of Something Fierce, uses the feminine version of the word, la chacotera, and defines it as “Chilean slang for ‘the fun girl’.” ² 2 Aguirre, Carmen. Something Fierce: Memories of a Revolutionary Daughter. Penguin Random House, 2014. p. 258.  In relation to Tropico, “El Chacotero” is the title of a piece that begins, “Here is one of your funny stories,” then goes on to describe a scene in Huerta’s father’s childhood. Like Yolanda’s example of “how not to be sad,” the humour of the story seems complicated. The Chilean slang is one example of how Spanish is working in Tropico. Yes, it is possible to translate the word chacotero into English, but it is also slang, so the meaning of the word comes from a specific time and place. Similarly, Huerta knows her father to be funny or “fond of a joke,” but his humour also belongs to and comes from his particular life experiences.