Beginnings of Latin American Literature

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Demarcation

In the early days of Latin American literature , a distinction must be made between the written tradition of the natives (Indios) and the literature of the conquistadors and colonists, whereby the writings are also taken into account that were printed, published and in some cases only written there in Europe refer to occurrences in Latin America. The literature of the conquistadors and colonists initially developed in the Vice kingdoms of New Spain (Mexico) and New Castile (Peru), later founded in 1717/1739 Viceroyalty of New Granada (Colombia, Venezuela) and in 1776 by Peru separate Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata and in Central America and Brazil. Literary production in the peripheral areas such as Venezuela, Chile or Paraguay initially lagged far behind that of court society in New Spain and New Castile, which was built on the ruins of the advanced civilizations of the Aztecs and Incas.

The term Latin America (instead of: Ibero America) only became popular towards the end of the 19th century. So when one speaks of the beginnings of Latin American literature, it is a projection of a relatively modern term into the past. This formation of the term (which replaced the term Ibero-American ) expressed the attempt not only to distinguish oneself from Anglo-Saxon North America, but also to emancipate oneself from the colonial powers Spain and Portugal and, in the spirit of a vague “Latinity”, to tie in with the modern French model. This concept formation, which was driven by the influence of French interests, paradoxically excluded the French-speaking areas of America such as Haiti , Québec , etc. Portuguese-speaking and Spanish-speaking authors from Latin America had little to say to one another until the 1960s. Nevertheless, the historical contexts of both literatures are similar and the exchange between traveling and exiled writers within the Spanish-speaking area was so intense that it was only possible to speak of Latin American national literature since the middle of the 19th century. After that there was only one really cross-continental trend, modernismo at the beginning of the 20th century, while the traditions and peculiarities of the six large areas also repeatedly asserted themselves beyond national borders.

A country-specific distinction in early literary history can therefore be postponed until the twenty states were formed, some of whose final borders were not established until the early 20th century. Only a clear demarcation to the north can be made, which means that the geographical area from Mexico to Tierra del Fuego - including the Caribbean islands .

Ultimately, the language area is not a clear criterion either. The indigenous people had a variety of languages, of which mainly Nahuatl , which is spoken to a lesser extent in the southwest of the USA, as well as Quiché and Guaraní have passed down into modern times . In addition, the European conquistadors came from all sorts of countries, but mostly introduced Spanish as a common language, with the exception of Portuguese in Brazil and French in French Guiana and Haiti. The increasing spread of Spanish in the southwest of the USA also means that Spanish-language literature is becoming known there; conversely, Latin American and Caribbean authors also write in Spanish in exile in the USA.

Literature of the Indians

Origins

The oldest evidence for the representation of images and writing are those between 800 and 500 BC. So-called glyphs. It all started with the Olmecs of La Venta (in what is now the Mexican state of Tabasco ), who carved their symbols on steles. Their meaning has not yet been clarified. The next records come from the time around 600 or 500 BC. From Monte Albán in Oaxaca in the form of representations of groups of dancers with glyphs and probably the first calendar symbols.

Stone inscriptions of the Maya are dated between 300 and 900 AD . There are finds from Palenque and Yaxchilán (both in today's Chiapas ) and Tikal in Guatemala . Here the decryption proceeds and interprets the signs as reports of genealogies, heroic deeds and blood sacrifice ceremonies.

In the 16th century, Diego de Landa had thousands of Maya manuscripts burned in the market square of Mani. There were only four of them left:

Only later and according to oral tradition were the creation and empire history of the Quiché-Maya Popol Vuh as well as the closely related village chronicles of the books of Chilam Balam transcribed and later translated into Spanish.

There are also numerous collections of Aztec literature, which were also put together later. As recorded Bernardino de Sahagún who inquired from him statements of Indian specialists in an encyclopedic twelve-volume work Historia general de las cosas de la Nueva España , whose final version is from the 1585th

to form

Aztecs

In Aztec literature ( Nahuatl literature) there are several epic forms:

  • tlatolli = prose, with the subforms:
    • huehuetlatolli = speeches and admonitions of the ancients
    • toetlatolli = stories of the gods ( Codex Matritensis )
    • itolloca = chronicles ( Anales de Tlatelolco , 1528; Codex Ramírez )
  • cuícatl = song and poetry, with the subforms:
    • teocuícatl = hymns to the gods ( Codex Florentino )
    • tepanazcuícatl = poems accompanied by music
    • yaocuícatl = war songs
    • xopancuícatl = spring songs
    • icnocuícatl = about the transience of existence ( Annals of Cuauhtitlán , 1558)

For more information see: Aztec Codices

Incas

In the early history of the Incas there was no written language, only an oral transmission of the so-called Quipucamuyus (storytellers). It was not until the beginning of the 17th century that these stories were written down. The following genres have emerged:

  • jailli = hymns and prayer songs
  • atiy jaillili or jaich'a = heroic songs
  • arawi = poems
  • wawaki = dialogue poems with erotic content
  • wayñu and qháshwa = dance songs
  • wanka = lamentations
  • aranway = humorous poetry and animal fables

In addition, there is a separate form of theater, which Nicolás de Martínez Arzanz y Vela tells of in his work Historia de la villa imperial de Potosí . Only a few pieces have survived, so u. a. the tragedy of the end of Atawallpas (recorded in 1871) and Ollantay (recorded in the 18th century).

Other indigenous peoples

Records and / or collections of early literature by other Indian peoples are almost completely missing, only a few myths and hymns of the Guaraní from today's Paraguay have survived.

Chronicles

Some of the historical works of the Indians, which were written after the campaigns of the conquistadors, were already colored in Christianity. So z. B. in the Historia chichimeca by Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxóchitl (great-grandson of the last ruler of Texcoco ) spoken of an Indian deluge. The works by Hernando de Alvarado Tezozómoc ( Crónica Mexicayotl , Crónica Mexicana ), which were written in Nahuatl and Spanish, are different .

Literature of the conquistadors and colonists

On August 3, 1492, Christopher Columbus made the first entry in the logbook of the Santa Maria when he set sail from Palos de la Frontera to find a sea route to India. This date marks an important point in the history of Latin American literature. After two more trips, Columbus was suspected of embezzling gold and in 1499 was sent to Spain in chains, where he wrote Libro de las profecías .

The discovery and occupation or colonization of further areas in Central and South America progressed faster and faster and the conquistadors for the most part proceeded very brutally and cruelly against the Indians. This is also reported by Hernán Cortés in his five letters to the Spanish King Charles V , summarized under the title Cartas de relación , which were written between July 10, 1519 and 1526. He accuses a few other conquistadors, but only seemed to want to distract from allegations against his own actions.

Viceroyalty of New Spain / Mexico

Chronicles

The creation of De Orbe Novo Decadas (1494–1526) by the Italian humanist Pedro Mártir de Anglería , who, however, was never in Latin America himself , also occurred in the time of Cortés . Just like Francisco López de Gómara , who with his Historia de la conquista de México (1552) tried to counteract the criticism of Hernán Cortés.

With the Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España by Bernal Díaz del Castillo , the first work by a soldier involved in the campaigns was published around 1568. Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas was even more critical of the generals' approach in his work Brevísima relación de la destrucción de las Indias (Seville 1552) (German: Brief Report on the Devastation of the West Indian Countries , 1790).

Further chronicles:

  • Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas: Apologética historia , Historia de las Indias , Historia general
  • Fray Toribio de Benavente Motolinía : Historia de los Indios de la Nueva España (1541), Carta al emperador (1555)
  • Fray Bernardino de Sahagún : Historia general de las cosas de la Nueva España 12 books (1569)
  • Fray Diego Durán : Historia de las Indias de Nueva España e islas de tierra firme (1581)
  • José de Acosta : Historia natural y moral de las Indias (Seville, 1590)

Epic and lyric

The development of poetry and epic in the new colonies, which were now run as viceroyalty, was still strongly influenced by European currents. The collection of poems Flores de baria poesía (1577) was based on Petrarkism , a learned poetry. The authors of the collection were only partly “New Spaniards”, such as B. Gutierre de Cetina and Juan de la Cueva.

Much more firmly attached to the new country was La grandeza mexicana (1604, German "The Mexican greatness") by Bernardo de Balbuena (1562? –1627), who came to Mexico as a toddler. In it he describes this new country in the form of a letter. His second work El Siglo de Oro en las selvas de Erífile (1608, German "The Golden Age in the forests of Erífile") belongs to the genre of shepherd novels . And with El Bernardo o Victoria de Roncesvalles (1624) he made use of the European Roland epics.

Other works:

  • Antonio de Saavedra Guzmán: El peregrino indiano (1599)
  • Silvestre de Balboa Troya: Espejo de paciencia ( ca.1608 )
  • Hernán González de Eslava: Coloquios espirituales y sacramentales y canciones divinas (1610), collection of dramas and poetry
  • Arias de Villalobos: Obediencia que México dio a Felipe IV.

Viceroyalty of New Castile / Peru

Chronicles

The earliest text of the conquistadors in southern America was Verdadera relación de la conquista del Perú (Seville, 1534) by Francisco de Xerez . In this work, the conquest is portrayed as the liberation of the Indians from the tyranny of the Incas and the general Francisco Pizarro as a friend of the Indians. Agustín de Zárate expresses himself similarly positively in his seven-volume chronicle Historia del descubrimiento y conquista del Perú (1553).

But there were also chroniclers who dealt much more critically with the approach of the conquerors and even found admiration for the fallen Inca Empire. Juan de Betanzos started with Suma y narración de los Incas (approx. 1551 / first printed in 1880). The four-volume La crónica del Perú (1552) by Pedro de Cieza de León , which deals with the history of the Incas and goes back to the reign of Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza in 1551, occupied a prominent position .

From 1569 to 1581 the viceroy Francisco de Toledo ruled , who again cracked down on the Incas and consulted his own chroniclers. At this time, José de Acosta began his Historia natural e moral de las Indias , which was not completed until 1590. The opinion that it was the Christian task of the Spaniards to convert the Indians increased, the rejection of human sacrifice, polygamy and incest became louder, so u. a. in Gobierno del Perú (1567, German the form of government of Peru ) by Juan de Matienzos and Historia de los incas (around 1580) by Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa . As an alternative, a report on the earlier customs of the natives appeared in 1578 by an author who called himself "Anonymous Jesuit". The allegation was raised that many horror stories were only circulated because the Spaniards lacked knowledge of Quechua.

Chile and the periphery

Chronicles

The rest of South America did not have such a highly developed civilization as the Incas. The area was not conquered until the 40s of the 16th century, as reported in the Crónica y relación copiosa y verdadera de los reinos de Chile (1558, first printed in 1966) by Gerónimo de Vivar .

The lost works El gran cuaderno and Los ratos de Suesca by Gonzalo Ximénez de Quesada , as well as the short chronicle Epítome de la conquista del Nuevo Reino de Granada (approx. 1550) came from New Granada (today's Colombia ). Fray Gaspar de Carvajal tells in Relación del nuevo descubrimiento del famoso río grande de los Amazonas from the Amazon region and Francisco Vàsquez in Relación de todo lo que sucedió en la jornado de Amagua y Dorado (1562) u. a. by the conquistador Lope de Aguirre , who renounced the Spanish royal power.

In a mammoth work of over 150,000 verses, Juan de Castellanos reports in Elegías de varones ilustres de Indias (1589) about the conquest of the Caribbean, Colombia and Venezuela, using the epic form, whereby the Spanish in his representations are much more positive and harmless are drawn as the Indians.

Epic

The most impressive work that combined epic style with historical authenticity, which is the multi-volume La Araucana by Alonso de Ercilla (1533–1594), who took part in the 1557 battles against the Araucans. The first part appeared in 1568/69, the second in 1578 and the last in 1589. In his epic he repeatedly portrays the Spaniards as cruel, as in the second part:

“Our people, who have been Christians up to this point, have now exceeded the limits of what is permitted and defiled the great victory through cruel deeds and inhuman acts. So my mind and my pen are reluctant to describe the great slaughter that was wrought that day among the defenders of their country ”

On the other hand, the Araucans are characterized as heroic, but also as traitors and barbarians.

At the point where La Araucana ends, namely when García Hurtado de Mendoza took office as Viceroy of Peru (1589), Pedro de Oña's Arauco domado (1596) began . Here a much more favorable picture of the Spaniards is drawn, but also romantic love stories are repeatedly woven into the Indios, far from those earlier allegations of sexual abnormalities such as sodomy and incest.

Juan Rodríguez Freyle came from another region, namely New Granada (= Colombia), who published El carnero in 1638 and tells the last 100 years of this colony in numerous anecdotes and love stories.

Two travel reports depict the areas apart from the two vice kingdoms very differently: on the one hand, Descripción del Peru, Tucumán, Río de la Plata y Chile (1607) by Reginaldo de Lizárraga , who has no good words for the Indians; on the other hand, A través de la America del Sur (1599-1608) by Guadalupe Diego de Ocaña , who in z. Some reports of his trip in a very dramatic way.

The poem Argentina y conquista del Río de la Plata (1602) by Martín del Barco Centeneras and the prose book La Argentina (1612) by Ruy Díaz de Guzmán represent the Argentine region .

Other works:

  • Juan de Miramontes y Zuázela: Armas antárcticas ( ca.1610 / first printing 1921)
  • Diego de Hojeda: Cristida (1611)
  • Diego Dávalos y Figueroa: Miscelánea austral (1603)

The Portuguese colony of Brazil

Before the geographical size of the area was even known, Pero Vaz de Caminha wrote a letter ( Carta , published in 1817) to the Portuguese king on May 1, 1500 , in which he reported on the discovery of this country. But the manor house was not particularly interested in the new properties, so it was not until 1530 that a major expedition was started along the coast, which Pero Lopes de Sousa documented in Diário de Navegação (published in 1839).

Only after an administrative reform and the increased Christianization by the Jesuit order did increasing colonization occur. Hence, most of the writings published at the time came from the pens of members of the Society of Jesus . One of the first was Manuel da Nobrega around 1557 with Diálogo sobre a Conversão do Gentio . The Jesuit priest José de Anchieta (1534–1597) , who came from Tenerife , became an important author . He wrote the Latin poems De Beata Virgine Dei Matre Maria (1563), De gestis Mendi de Saa (1563), the first grammar of an Indian language Arte de Gramática da Língua mais usada na Costa do Brasil (1595) and the drama Auto na Festa de São Lourenço (first performed 1583, published 1948).

Other works are:

  • Pero Magalhães Gândavo: História da Província de Santa Cruz a que vulgarmente chamammos Brasil (1576)
  • Gabriel Soares de Sousa : Tratado descritivo do Brasil (1587)
  • Ambrósio Fernandes Brandão: Diálogos das Grandezas do Brasil (1618)
  • Frei Vicente do Salvador: História do Brasil (1627, published 1889)

The beginning of the 17th century

It was not until the beginning of the 17th century that urban life developed in Mexico City , Lima and São Salvador da Bahia that was roughly comparable to that in the European centers, but literature production and reception remained limited to a small upper class. For economic reasons, there was initially a ban on the import and printing of novels in the Spanish colonies (there were no printing works in Brazil until the 19th century), which contributed to the spread of epics and chronicles. A gradual "literarization" of the chronicles began at the beginning of the 17th century.

Villancicos , often bilingual, festive choral chants (e.g. Spanish-Kichwa, Spanish-Nahuatl, Portuguese-Afro-Brazilian), which were both an expression of piety and social tension, emerged during this period . They often complained about the injustice and hypocrisy of the conquerors, and occasionally also about the situation of the black slaves. This art form was cultivated until the end of the 18th century.

The heyday of colonial literature in the Baroque era

Even during the Baroque period from the middle of the 17th to the middle of the 18th century, Latin American literature was heavily influenced by Spanish and Portuguese. But these influences were only received with a time lag and the actual colonial issues emerged more clearly. This went hand in hand with the construction and expansion of the cities, which brought new audiences, and the development of their own Creole identity. Most books were no longer written and / or published for and in the mother country, with the exception of Brazil, where printing was banned until the beginning of the 19th century. Baroque literature only developed there in the 18th century. The Jesuit theater played a lesser role here, while it flourished in Mexico. B. in the form of Corpus Christi games . The theater in Lima in the 18th century was shaped by the influence of Calderon .

As evidence of the time delay reception of baroque literature in Spanish America who was cultism (Kulteranismus) of Luis de Góngora called ( Soledades 1636, Fábula de Polifemo y Galatea 1627), whose mannered Latinized style here and in Brazil found many followers and imitators , while in Spain it had already been replaced by classicism .

Towards the end of this period - in the Spanish colonies after 1765, in Brazil since 1757/58 - influences of the European Enlightenment made themselves felt in Latin America as part of the colonial reform policy. However, their impact in the subcontinent, which was uniformly shaped by the Catholic Church, initially remained small, not only due to the dominance of scholastic-metaphasic philosophy, but above all in view of the numerically small bourgeois class. The tight control, especially by the Spanish crown, the censorship and the printing ban prevented the influence of more modern literary and philosophical currents not only from Europe, but even from the Spanish motherland. Thus the works of Kant were forbidden; they were on the papal index but were occasionally smuggled into Latin America. It was not until 1778/1787 that shipping to the colonies was liberalized. But the tutelage of the high Spanish clergy and Spanish officials continued, which prevented the development of an independent Creole literature. However, the lower clergy often sided with the anti-colonial movements.

In the second half of the 18th century, in addition to Mexico and Lima, other regional intellectual centers developed, especially Buenos Aires as a result of the rapid rise of the viceroyalty of La Plata, which was separated from Peru in 1776 and had good connections to Europe. The development of literacy and literary life was slower in the newly formed viceroyalty of New Granada in 1739, and even slower in the Central American colonies.

Viceroyalty of New Spain / Mexico

Viceroyalty of Peru

Viceroyalty of New Granada (since 1739)

Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata (since 1776)

Cuba

Brazil

Independence and Romantic Era

The ideas of the Enlightenment were mostly only received at the same time as those of Romanticism - that is, during the struggle for independence and afterwards - and above all by Jesuit reformers. Herder's historicism inspired Latin Americans to rethink their culture, language, and historical identity. In particular, the French Revolution and the overthrow of Ferdinand VII freed thought in motherland Spain as well as in the colonies from clerical fetters, but promoted faith in science. The reception of Alexander von Humboldt's works also contributed to strengthening Creole self-confidence; Simón Bolívar received many stimuli from them.

In the early 19th century, Latin America's narrative literature sought connection to the European standards of Romanticism and developed its own prose associated with local themes. Romanticism was important to Latin American writers as it addressed the liberation of the individual. The colonial imprint had tied people to tradition and classicism . Now they could escape this bondage through literature. So for the first time the current history and related problems were written down. During this time the struggle for equality of the indigenous population flared up , in connection with which the genre of the slave novel ( novela abolicionista ) originated, which was founded by the Cuban Felix Tanco y Bosmeniel (1797–1871) ( Petrona y Rosalía 1838). Another example is the novel Francisco by Anselmo Suárez y Romero (1818–1878).

The individual with his inner world is at the center of romantic literature. Consequently, the romance novel became very important. These are mostly about a tragic, unfulfilled love that can end with the death of both protagonists. In addition to the theming of love, more importance is now attached to nature. In the poetry and prose there are detailed, idyllic descriptions of nature, which, in addition to the mere description of natural phenomena, also reflect the emotional state of the writer. These characteristics of romanticism return u. a. frequently in the works of the Argentine José Mármol . Other representatives of Romanticism in Latin America are Esteban Echeverría (Argentina), Jorge Isaacs (Colombia) and Juan León Mera (Ecuador). With the costumbrismo , a realistic narrative flow spread throughout Latin America, which in part made use of romantic motifs, emerged from the 1830s.

Individual characteristics and consistency of national literature

As a result, regional and national literary traditions became more and more pronounced, as there were fewer and fewer exchange relationships between the young nation states and instead the one-sided orientation towards Europe - turning away from Spanish models, especially towards French symbolism - intensified. While this and modernismo dominated poetry, the epic of the 1930s was shaped by a social-realistic style, that of the 1940s to 1980s in many countries by magical realism . The development of a global Spanish-language book market in the 20th century, which today has 550 million potential readers, contributed to this boom . However, after the boom, which was also driven by US and European demand, magical realism is viewed critically as Macondismo .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Walter Mignolo : The Idea of ​​Latin America . Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford 2005, ISBN 978-1-4051-0086-1 , in it the chapter "Latin" America and the First Reordering of the Modern / Colonial World , pp. 51-94.
  2. ↑ César Fernández Moreno: ¿Que es la América latina? In the S. (Ed.): America latina en su cultura . Siglo Veintiuno Editores, Mexico City 1972, pp. 5–18, here p. 9.
  3. ↑ Michael Rössner (ed.): Latin American literary history. 2nd edition 2002, foreword, p. VII f.
  4. ↑ César Fernández Moreno: ¿Que es la América latina? In the S. (Ed.): America latina en su cultura . Siglo Veintiuno Editores, Mexico City 1972, pp. 5–18, here p. 8.
  5. ↑ Michael Rössner (ed.): Latin American literary history. 2nd edition 2002, p. 10 f.
  6. ↑ Gerónimo de Vivar: Crónica y relación copiosa y verdadera de los reinos de Chile 1558. In: Fondo Histórico y Bibliográfico José Toribio Medina, Volume 2 . Instituto Geográfico Militar, Santiago de Chile 1966 ( memoriachilena.cl ).
  7. ↑ Michael Rössner (ed.): Latin American literary history. 2nd edition 2002, p. 50 f.
  8. ↑ Michael Rössner (ed.): Latin American literary history. 3rd edition, 2007, p. 44
  9. ↑ Michael Rössner (ed.): Latin American literary history. 2nd edition 2002, p. 61 ff.
  10. ↑ Manoel Ribeiro Rocha received permission to print in Lisbon in 1757 for his book Etíope resgatado, empenhado, sustentado, corrigido, instruído, e libertado, which criticizes slavery . In 1758, the Brazilian indigenous peoples were legally equated de jure. See Rocha, Manoel Ribeiro (1687-1745) , in: Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture , 2008.
  11. ↑ Heinz Krumpel: Enlightenment and Romanticism in Latin America: a contribution to identity, comparison and interaction between Latin American and European thinking. Peter Lang, 2004, p. 15 ff.

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