Naturalism and Realism in Latin America
The naturalism and realism in Latin America are from Europe imported literary trends end of the 19th century .
General
In contrast to Europe, naturalism and realism appeared at the same time in Latin America and thus show only minor differences. One also speaks of the simultaneity of the non-simultaneous (Rössner, 2002, p. 198) . Imported from Europe, Flaubert , Zola and Eça de Queirós in particular are seen as role models and used by many Latin American authors. During this literary period people opposed subjectivism and completely turned away from the romantic sense of form.
The world is represented in terms of probability . The acting person is determined by his environment. The realist and naturalist is concerned with an accurate representation of the world and the spiritual drive of people. He directs his interest in town and country.
Both Darwinism and positivism influence realism. The rational interpretation of reality forms the contrast to romanticism . The up to this point inviolable topics such as homosexuality are taken up in naturalism.
Genera
Novels
The intention of the novelists of that time is to gain awareness of society by depicting reality as real and unexplained. One of the most important representatives is the Chilean author Alberto Blest Gana (1830–1920) with his best known novel Martín Rivas (1862), in which he describes the social rise of a young man from the middle class .
stories
... trata de mostrar la realidad tal cual es, como espejo de lo cotidiano.
The Latin American authors figure in their stories the living conditions in which the people of that time found themselves. Among other things, the subjects of the enslavement of the peasants in the Antilles and the expulsion of the gauchos are taken up. The narrative is given a certain structure through the description of the surroundings and the precise typification of the characters. The changing milieu influences the development of the characters. Two of the best-known representatives of this literary movement are Javier de Viana (1868–1926) and Baldomero Lillo (1867–1923).
Representative
Baldomero Lillo
biography
Baldomero Lillo is considered the Chilean representative of naturalism and realism in Latin America, who is best known for his numerous stories.
He was born in Lota on January 6, 1867, the son of the mine worker José Nazario Lillo Mendoza .
As a child, he initially attended school sporadically. In addition to the school in Bucalebu (1876) and the Liceo (from 1883), his mother , Mercedes Figueroa, also taught him to read and write. After school he worked as a salesman in a general store in Lota.
The wedding followed in 1897 and in 1898 the move to Santiago de Chile . In the capital , he improved his financial situation by working for an insurance company and then as an administrative officer at the Universidad de Chile . He also worked for the newspapers Zig Zag , Pacífio Magazine , Las Ultimas Noticias and El Mercurio . After years of lung disease , he died on September 10, 1923 in San Bernardo near Santiago.
Literary development
Baldomero Lillo is not least due to its 45 stories as one of the main representatives of the short stories in Chile during the period of the turn of the century called. The topic and type of literature that did not exist at that time also make him an author of that time that is well read to this day.
In 1903 his work Juan Fariña was published in the Revista Católica newspaper. In the following year his book Sub terra was published , consisting of 13 stories. Including Caza mayor , Juan Fariña , La compuerta Nº12 , Los inválidos , El grisú , El pago , El chiflón del Diablo , El pozo , La mano pegada , La barrena , Era él solo , Cañuela y Petaca , El registro .
His 2nd collection followed in 1907 with the title Sub sole . This contains the following 12 works: El rapto del sol , Irredención , En la rueda , Las nieves eternas , Víspera de difuntos , El oro , El remolque , El alma de la máquina , Quilapán , El vagabundo , Inamible , La trampa .
His work La huelga , which deals with the workers' massacre of 1907, remained unfinished due to a lack of information and his deteriorating health . Further sketches and stories, some of which came from his estate, were published in later collections.
Works
Sub terra
Baldomero Lillo's most famous collection focuses on the life of the miners from Lota and Coronel , with his personal experiences providing a good basis for this. Zola's naturalism was a model for him . In the works, his considerations flow together with the social and economic conditions. In addition to the miners , the North American capitalists and the unscrupulous exploiters as well as the Indian peons are described. There is no direct accusation of the miners' poor situation. It appears as a pure representation of actions and the psychological states of the individual. The linguistic design used by him adapts to the society he describes and makes his language appear multifaceted.
Sub sole
As can already be seen under the title, 12 stories are united under the rays of the sun and light , each of which is thematically different. The customs of the people , child abuse [1] , the life of the peasant , the imagination and the symbolism are some of the motifs that are processed in the Sub sole collection . In addition to the clear, realistic representation, he allows subtle traits of humanity in his works. According to Rafael Maluenda , the stories El rapto del sol , Irredención , Las nieves esternas and El oro reflect the essence of the anthology because they include a moral thought [2] such as all-embracing love and human complacency. In Sub sole, Lillo not only uses realismo and naturalismo , but also, to a small extent, modernism .
El oro
content
An eagle looked from its nest in the rock at a sparkling point that was a ray of sunshine. As the sun seemed to be setting, the eagle tried to catch him with its beak and carry him back to the sun. But its beak burned in the attempt, and the sunbeam fell on the earth. The magicians recognized the after a long time puzzle solution. It was a strand of the sun and anyone who tried to catch it would lead an immortal life. To do this, however, it was necessary to remove any trace of compassion or love. And so it happened, love was banished from life and with a greedy look chased for the powder of sun rays, gold . Some died because of hostile ambitions . The sunbeam wandered with its tracks over fields and rivers . The eagle also caught the beam again. So the time went by, and one day love for the eagle said that her reign was complete. As a result, the bird looked at the earth and saw many busy men pulling the gold out of the earth, noting that gold, while a beautiful metal, was carats of arrogance, selfishness and ambition.
interpretation
With the story El Oro, Baldomero Lillo complements his collection of stories Sub Sole from 1907. This story deals with the arrogance and selfishness of people. In addition to the literal increasing meaning of gold as a priceless metal, the title is also a symbol for the values of life . Both solidarity and love are other central themes. Lillo mainly uses hackneyed characters in this story , like the sun and the eagle. His intention is to show that people would give up their most important good, that of love, in order to experience material enrichment. This fact leads to increased selfish behavior.
In this narrative, Lillo incorporates many modernist elements, especially those of symbolism and imagination , which distinguish him from the other authors of realism / naturalism. Nevertheless, the detailed description is definitely a clear characteristic that can be assigned to that of naturalism. With the eagle's last words, Lillo transmits the moral of the story to the reader.
Federico Gamboa
biography
Federico Gamboa is one of the most important exponents of naturalism in Mexico . He shows his versatility in all three literary genres , epic , lyric and drama . In addition to novels , he wrote short stories , dramas and memoirs .
He was born in Mexico City on December 22, 1864 . Gamboa spent some of his life abroad, including in Guatemala , Buenos Aires , Brussels and New York . At the age of 24 he traveled to Brazil , Argentina and the United States as a diplomat . He could translate professionally from English . In 1913 he went into exile . When he returned in 1923, he worked as a university lecturer in literature and international law. Federico Gamboa died in Mexico City on August 15, 1939.
Literary development
In the works of Federico Gamboa there is no clear separation between realism and naturalism. The boundaries seem to merge. His works are characterized by a detailed, objective description. He skillfully involves his characters in the social environment. Nevertheless, his people can only act to a limited extent. One of his first works by including his exact descriptions was Del natural (1888). His strong orientation towards Catholicism distinguishes him from naturalism in France and Spain . Nevertheless, the literary influences of Zola and Bourget can be seen. By following Zola, Gamboa is able to explain the conditions as precisely as possible. Of Bourget , the criterion is human psyche to explore exact least, out. A basic element that goes into his work is sincerity. He spread the idea of Sincerismo . Nevertheless, like any other writer, Federico Gamboa had to face criticism . "Azuela" compares his naturalistic spelling as a mishmash of prudery and sensuality (Reichhardt, 1972, p. 494/495) . According to the critics, in addition to the extreme pathos in his works, there is also a tendency to moralize. He published his autobiography under the title Impresiones y recuerdos (1893) and several other volumes under the name Mi diario (1908–1939).
With the works La última campaña (1894), La venganza de la gleba (1905) and Entre hermanos (1928) Federico Gamboa became known as a dramaturge .
Extract from his works
His story Aparencias (1892) depicts a love affair between a young adoptive mother and her adoptive son, in which the adoptive father, knowing about it, ultimately forces them to go on living together and not understand the more conceivable alternative of killing the adoptive son. This story of adultery , set in France, is characterized by a precise description of the milieu .
One of his well-known works, Suprema ley (1896), is permeated by its naturalistic writing, in which the conditions in a metropolis are described using authentic scenes. The court clerk Julio Ortegal develops affection for the defendant Clothilde, who murdered her lover. After her release from prison , Ortegal can, with his wife's consent , take her into his home. A doomed love affair between the two results from the stay.
But he achieved the greatest success with Santa (1903), which was even filmed several times. The novel allows the reader to glimpse the prostitution milieu . The theme is the life of a young girl who lives in the country and is rejected by her parents due to a lack of love. She ends up in a brothel in moral and material misery. Only a poor, blind pianist named Hipólito can give her love. After three attempts to escape from the brothel, the protagonist finds her end in a hospital .
Works (selection)
Javier de Viana
biography
Another exponent of naturalism in Latin America is the Uruguayan writer Javier de Viana. In addition to several novels and plays, he wrote numerous short stories that made him one of the most important authors of these genres.
Javier de Viana was born on August 5th, 1868 in Canelones / Uruguay. An ancestor was the governor of Montevideo in the 18th century . His father was a large landowner . He spent his childhood in the country or on his father's Uruguayan estancia until he was 11 years old. In addition to his medical studies , he devoted himself to modern languages. Viana took part in the revolution against Máximo Santos in 1886 and in the Aparicio Saravias uprising in 1904, without success . These experiences became the subject of his Crónicas de la revolución del Quebracho (1891) and Con divisa blanca, crónicas de la guerra uruguaya (1904). Punished by the police , he and his family ended up in exile in Argentina until he returned to his homeland in 1918. 5 years later he became a member of the Partido Nacional . Since his health deteriorated further, he died impoverished on October 5, 1926 in La Paz / Canelones.
Literary development / spelling
In his works, people are shaped by their environment and, above all, violence , excesses and crimes run like a red thread through his life. In the course of his life he wrote more than 20 volumes, of which Campo from 1896, Gaucho from 1899 and Gurí from 1901 are the best known. The works Abrojos (1919), Cardos (1919) and Del campo y la ciudad (1921) followed. A multitude of neologisms and scientific terms (Reichhardt, 1972, p. 645) appear to the reader as a contrast to the dialects and pictorial description of nature otherwise chosen by him . His narratives are structured in a dialogical manner and are full of color and drama . Elements of naturalism and positivism come to the fore through the precise representation. Individuals are unable to break free from the old traditions and imaginations of life and to survive in that time. The gaucho fails because of the upheaval at the turn of the century . He has degenerated into an animal , his rancho has fallen into disrepair, the pampas smells of decayed meat, and the birds are infested with vermin (Reichhardt 1972, p. 645) . The heroism is in a few works on the caudillos and bandits discussed.
Javier de Viana has a bitter and pessimistic view of his homeland. Because of this, it is important to him to focus on the subject of the decay of the gaucho in his works and feels that the new conditions that currently existed in Uruguay are unreasonable.
Due to the recognizable influence of his personal experiences and experiences, the stories of the author mentioned gain immensely in credibility.
Parallels to his compatriot Eduardo Acevedo Díaz can be seen both in literature and in other areas of his life . Both had similar intentions to educate the Uruguayan people about the grievances in their country.
plant
En las cuchillas
content
The story En las cuchillas is part of the Gurí collection of stories (1901), which was first published in 1896. The Uruguayan author Javier de Viana depicts the political war in this story . A civil war that, as it was often described in this epoch , takes place in the city as well as in the countryside. The protagonist is a white caudillo (leader) on the run from a gang. Thus there are two storylines in the narrative , on the one hand that of the persecuted and on the other hand that of the persecutor. The white man rides his horse through the Uruguayan cuchillas to save his life. The six-man armed gang is led by an old Indian who is very knowledgeable about the countryside. The other five are stocky fellows with brown beards. Three of them are wearing boots, the other two are barefoot.
At the beginning, a chase with bolas and lances is described, which the caudillo tries to escape. The hunt is a mess. However, the persecuted succeeds in escaping from his enemies. However, he is aware that it will be impossible to hide from the enemy. You have him in view, no matter where he is. The gang uses the night to recover from the hunt and to gather new strength for the further pursuit.
The desolation of the pampas is reflected in the caudillo's mind . When he arrives at a spring he descends to quench his strong thirst. Night falls on him, he is alone. He continues his march until he thinks he has found a safe place. He remembers the previous experiences in battle. While he trots around on his horse, he comes to a familiar river bed. The same stream, the same hills, the same environment. In his loneliness he thinks of his friend Basilio Laguna and imagines his death.
The caudillo's strength is rapidly dwindling because he has been on his feet for 48 hours and has not eaten any food for 36 hours. The gang spots him and resumes pursuit. The caudillo is hit several times by their lances. A pistol shot can be heard from the refugee and he can throw himself on the ground with the last of his strength. Despite his numerous injuries, he is not dead yet. When he is about to be dealt the last fatal blow, a rider, the commander and friend of Laguna , comes along and orders this man not to be killed. The gang breaks off their plan and Laguna offers the dying man one last favor. The caudillo then asks him to hand over the legacy Oribe, leyes o muerte , written on a piece of paper, to his son .
The caudillo has a severe convulsion of death that Laguna can no longer look at, so that it releases him from his suffering. The gang distributed his clothes and left him naked to bury him the next day at Laguna's request. They come back two days later and find a decayed, decapitated, fly-strewn corpse .
interpretation
In this story by Javier de Viana typical motifs of naturalism are taken up and described. Above all, the issue of the gauchos in Latin America, who are compared to stubborn gangs, is clearly addressed here. The narrative portrays one of the worst times in Uruguayan history when people acted contemptuously and cruelly. The caudillo and the gang describe two different social classes . Since the individual members are only sporadically dressed in scraps of cloth and some are barefoot, the poverty of that time is underlined. In contrast, the caudillo appears wealthy and quickly becomes the hunted. The motive of the persecutors is not clarified and therefore only guesses for the reader.
The fight is an element used by Javier de Viana, which runs like a red thread through the story. It begins with the struggle for survival, which is expressed through the uninterrupted attempt to escape, and ends with a cruel agony for the persecuted. His biggest problem, disorientation , ultimately becomes his undoing. He rides around all the time and always returns to the same place. Without moving away from his enemies, he literally rides into their arms, as the Indians have taken in a person in their gang who knows how to orientate himself in the "cuchillas". The Caudillo developed in desperation, anger and wrath, because he can not know about in the country and will have to watch as he gets more and more into the clutches of the gang.
For the gang, however, this unscrupulous hunt can be compared to a game between wolves and sheep . The refugee is seen only as booty and should be exposed.
Laguna seems to be a very close friend of the caudillo . He not only saves the caudillo from death by the gang, but also gives him the opportunity to express one last wish. From this point of view his last act seems all the more cruel, although it is actually the act of redemption for the caudillo . As a friend, it is impossible for him to see the suffering. In contrast to Laguna, the Indians only feel contempt for their enemy, which can be explained not least by the historical background.
Another novelty in literature that Javier de Viana incorporates is that the Indians get a voice and are thus seen as a fully fledged human being.
The depiction of the gloomy, dreary landscape emphasizes the hopeless situation of the refugee. The author succeeds very well in describing the thoughts and feelings of the caudillo . Viana uses the element of irony . For example, the caudillo imagines his friend's death in a trance-like state.
The characters are characterized by the dialect-rich language . In this way the author gives the text more authenticity .
The title En las cuchillas could initially be understood as ambiguous. The meaning in the blades , however, is not the most accurate. Cuchillas are ranges of hills that characterize the Uruguayan landscape. There is the Cuchilla de Haedo (north) and the Cuchilla Grande (east).
literature
- Fernández Moreno, César: America Latina en su literatura . Unisco, Méxiko 1972, pp. 185-189 and pp. 204-216
- Grossmann, Rudolf: History and Problems of Latin American Literature . Max Hueber Verlag, Munich 1969, pp. 363, 367 and 362-363
- Leal, Luis: Historia del cuento hispanoamericano México . Ediciones de Andrea, pp. 48-57
- Gorriti, Juana Manuela: Cuentos del Mercosur. RIL editores, Santiago 2002, p. 159, ISBN 956-284-224-X
- Oviedo, José Miguel: Historia de la literatura hispanoamericana- 2. Del Romanticismo al Modernismo . Alianza Editorial, Madrid 2005, pp. 154-159 and pp. 177-184
- Oviedo, José Miguel: Antología crítica del cuento hispanoamerica del siglo XIX . Madrid 2005
- Reichardt, Dieter (ed.): Author Lexicon Latin America . Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt 1992, p. 267 and p. 676
- Reichhardt, Dieter: Latin American Authors - Literature Lexicon . Horst Erdmann Verlag, Tübingen / Basel 1972, p. 645
- Rössner, Michael (ed.): Latin American literary history . JB Metzler Verlag 2nd edition, Stuttgart / Weimar 2002, p. 198
- Smith, Verity: Encyclopedia of Latin American Literature . Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, London / Chicago, p. 482-483; p. 810