Literature of Costa Rica
The literature of Costa Rica is the literature of the second smallest Spanish-speaking state in Latin America , which belonged to the Central American Confederation , which emerged from the Spanish General Capitanate of Guatemala , until 1838 and then became independent. As in the other states of Central America , an independent literary development did not begin until much later than in the centers of Mexico , Peru or the La Plata region. This was due to the fact that Costa Rica could only be reached by circumnavigating Cape Horn until the 1840s . The literature of the small country led a shadowy existence for a long time and was not noticed outside the country's borders until the end of the 20th century. Today, a European attitude towards life is expressed more strongly in the country's literature than in other Central American literatures.
To 1900
The indigenous peoples of the north of Costa Rica were culturally influenced by the advanced civilizations of Central America, those of the south by tribes from today's Colombia (including the Chibcha ), but did not develop their own written culture. The inhabitants of the Cordillera de Talamanca , however, used the knotted script with the quipu , which the Inca also used.
The first printing works were established around 1830 and the first newspapers were published in the small-scale rural area. A powerful planter aristocracy did not exist here. The rise of a liberal trader oligarchy living on coffee exports brought the country a capitalist modernization surge from the 1840s onwards that encompassed all areas of society, including the educational system and other state institutions, the entire culture and a national literature that was being established with its myths and heroes, that pays homage to the cult of positivism .
Manuel Argüello Mora (1834–1902) can be considered the founder of a realistic storytelling tradition with a romantic touch . The nephew of President Mora Porras, who followed him temporarily into exile and wrote the first novels in Costa Rica since 1887, is counted as part of the Generación del Olimpo ( Generación del 900 ) group.
Until the 1920s, costumbrismo dominated Costa Rica, as in other regions of Latin America . Local representatives were Manuel Argüello Mora (1834–1902), who also wrote historical novels, and Manuel González Zeledón ( Magón , 1864–1936). The rural ways of life are also reflected in the poetry of Aquileo Echeverrías (1866–1909), who was friends with Rubén Darío . Echeverría is still considered Costa Rica's national poet today.
1900–1950: From Simbolismo to Social Realism of the Generación del 40
After the dictatorship of Federico Tinoco Granados ', which ended in 1919, European influences had an increasing effect on the work of the Costa Rican authors. Fernando Centeno Güell's poems , which were written in the 1930s and 1940s, were influenced by simbolismo . Roberto Brenes Mesén (1874–1947), who fought politically against the dominance of the United Fruit Company , but emigrated to the USA in 1939, can be considered a conservative representative of a metaphysical modernism . Avant-garde trends also developed in the 1930s; However, prose literature remained tied to the description of the unstable political and social reality in the country after the Great Depression.
The misery of the banana producers had been a constant theme in Costa Rican literature for generations, first described by Carmen Lyra (1888–1949), a central figure of the Partido Comunista Costarricense in Bananos y hombres (1933). Lyra's volume of short stories Cuentos de mi tía Panchita ("Tales of my Aunt Pachita"), published in 1920, became one of the classics of Costa Rican literature; it also borrows from a fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm . The social reforms of the 1940s and the failed rebellion of 1948 did little to change the situation. Important representatives of the social rebellious Generación del 40 were Carlos Luis Fallas (1909–1966) and Fabián Dobles (1918–1997). Fallas, probably the best-known author of the time and leader of the banana workers' strike of 1934, processed his own experiences as a worker on the plantations of the United Fruit Company in the novel "Die Grüne Hölle" ( Mamita Yunai , 1940), which was first translated into German in 1954 in the GDR appeared. With Ese que llaman pueblo (1942), Dobles created Costa Rica's first novel on urban themes. His activist role in the Communist Party cost him his job as a teacher; so he had to work as a correspondent for the Cuban and Soviet press. Since the 1960s, his work has again been highly valued and has received numerous awards.
1950–1990: Connection to international literature
After the civil war of 1948, in which some authors like Carmen Lyra left the country, social criticism intensified; at the same time, interest in regional topics increased. Joaquín Gutiérrez (1918–2000) became known in Germany through the novel “The Embers and Their Shadows” (1963), which also dealt with the conditions on the plantations. In 1956 his award-winning childhood novel “Cocori” was published in the GDR. Carmen Naranjo (1928–2012), at times Minister of Culture and Ambassador to Israel, became known in the 1960s through novels, short stories and poetry. Her work, which spans numerous themes, is also stylistically innovative - she largely reduces people to voices - is influenced by American authors as well as by Carlos Fuentes or Juan Rulfo . The former diplomat, vice foreign minister and minister of culture Alberto Cañas (1920–2014) describes in his novel Los molinos de Dios (“The Mills of God”, 1992) in a traditional narrative style the fate of the coffee growers, who often come from Germany, and their role in the politics of the country . In 1971 he founded the Compañía Nacional de Teatro. The socially critical authors also include Jorge Delbravo (1938–1967) and Laureano Albán (* 1942) from Turrialba as well as Julieta Pinto (* 1921). She had got to know the hard life of the rural population before studying sociology of literature in Paris and teaching linguistics and literature at the Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica in Heredia. Since the 1960s she has been experimenting with modern narrative forms in her numerous books.
Since the 1980s, the authors' perspective has widened and increasingly included international developments and literary movements. The historical novel also found friends again: The destruction of the Aztec Empire from the point of view of the underdogs is treated by the socially and culturally diverse committed parliamentarian and politician José León Sánchez , born in 1919 as the son of Indian parents, in his novel, which has been translated into many languages and sold in millions " Tenochtitlan. The last battle of the Aztecs ”( Tenochtitlan - La última batalla de los aztecas , Mexico City 1984). Sánchez was imprisoned for twenty years after attempting to steal treasures stolen by Spaniards for the indigenous people. He wrote about 30 books and was most recently Professor of Pre-Columbian Culture at the University of Costa Rica. He is probably the best-known author from Costa Rica abroad and has received numerous awards for his work. Tajana Lobo Wiehoff , who was born in Chile in 1939 , moved to Germany in 1963 and has lived in Costa Rica since 1966, writes from a historian's perspective about the destruction of paradise ( Asalto al paraíso ) and the everyday world of the Latin American peoples by the Spaniards. Her books have been translated into several languages.
Also to be mentioned are the novels "The Friends and the Wind" ( Los amigos y el viento ) by Virginia Grütter Jiménez (1929-2000), who dealt with her childhood in fascist Germany and the immediate post-war period and "The miraculous war" La guerra prodigiosa ) by the poet, novelist and playwright, essayist and diplomat Rafael Angel Herra (* 1943) as well as the diverse, black humor-soaked work of Alfonso Chase (* 1944), which describes the milieu of the youth in the capital San José .
Since 1990: The generation of disappointment
The newer literature of Costa Rica has developed in relative isolation from other Latin American literatures, including that of neighboring countries. The topic of “dictatorship” is missing, there is no indigenism ; After a longer phase of renunciation of violence and peace, the topics reflect the situation of a developed urban society, whose young generation, however, has increasingly poor educational opportunities and career prospects and is playing with the idea of emigrating to the USA. The new Costa Rican literature thus appears “more European” than that of other Latin American countries.
Costa Rican contemporary writers - like other Central American writers - use a wide range of narrative techniques and resources without hesitation. They borrow from a wide variety of genres. The Costa Rican novelist and essayist Carlos Cortés (1962) notes that “the contemporary generation in Costa Rica, both in terms of literature, art and culture, but also in terms of gender relations, is at a time of 'trans- The species 'lives'. In his novel Cruz del olvido he reckons with the revolutionary illusions of Latin America.
Also Fernando Contreras Castro (born 1963) is an important representative of the younger generation skeptical, the so-called "Generation of disappointment." His novel Los Peor (1995) was also published in German in 2002 (new edition in Zurich 2011). His view of the life of the lower classes and marginalized groups mixes with motifs and figures from Greek mythology. In a way, it can be seen as a follower of Magical Realism . Warren Uloa (* 1981), author of the award-winning novel Bajo la lluvia Dios no existe ("There is no God under the rain", 2011), which sparked some controversy, deals with the problems of adolescents, drug use, abortion, suicide, Sexuality and pedophilia, although he also attacks the Catholic Church and Evangelicals. The US government’s Central America policy is also one of his topics. Luis Chaves (* 1969) breaks through the genre boundaries with his poetry and experimental lyric “Poetics of Little Things”. Chaves transforms everyday occurrences into events with a symbolic character. In Germany, the volume of poetry La foto was published in 2012 and Debajo de esto hay algo mejor (German: “Here lies something better”) in 2013 . In 2014 his novel was published, or better: his Chronicle of Salvapantallas . Recurring themes of the writer and publisher Guillermo Barquero (* 1979) are illness and grief. Carlos Fonseca (* 1988), who grew up in Puerto Rico and now lives in London, breaks the line between fiction and pure information with his novel Coronel lágrimas , published in 2015 .
Women are very present in Costa Rican literature. The provocative novel María la noche (1985) by the ecofeminist author Anacristina Rossi (* 1952) has been translated into several languages, heralding a new era in Costa Rican literature. In 1991 the pedagogue Linda Berrón Sañudo (* 1951 in Spain) founded the book series Mujeres , in which female narrators have their say. 11 volumes have appeared so far, including the anthology Relatos de Mujeres (1993), edited by her . Jessica Clark Cohen (* 1969) became known through fantasy and science fiction stories. In her stories, influences from pop culture and cinema are reflected. The poet and narrator Carla Pravisani (* 1976 in Argentina) has lived in Costa Rica since 2002 and is concerned with: a. with the topic of migration. Karla Sterloff (* 1975) deals with feminist topics . Erotic poetry is written by Laura Fuentes Belgrave (* 1978), who has also published anthologies on the ubiquitous topics of pedophilia , sexual violence and incest .
Digital media, blogs, writing and literature courses are playing an increasing role in the spread of texts in the small country for economic reasons.
There is a thriving theater scene in the capital, San José. In addition to the Costa Rican National Theater, which opened in 1897, which also cultivates dance and artistry, the Teatro Popular Melico Salazar is an important venue; there are also several mostly small stages. The most important cultural prizes are the Premio Magón, awarded since 1962, and the Premio Nacional Aquileo J. Echeverría, awarded in ten categories since 1964 .
literature
- Sergio Ramírez (Ed.): Un espejo roto. Antología del nuevo cuento de Centroamérica y República Dominicana . GEICA / Goethe-Institut 2014 (German: Between South and North. New storytellers from Central America ).
- Linda Berrón Sañudo: Narradoras Costarricenses. Antología de Cuentos. Editorial Universidad Estatal a Distancia. San José, Costa Rica, 2006 (Spanish).
- Jessica Clark Cohen, Guillermo Barquero, Warren Ulloa, Carla Pravisani: Stories from Costa Rica. Zurich, ISBN 978-3-293-40899-9 . EBook.
- Álvaro Quesada Soto: Breve historia de la literatura costarricense . Editorial Costa Rica 2008. ISBN 9977-23-893-6 .
Web link
- Jana Fuchs: A sketch of the current literature in Costa Rica. The area of Costa Rican literature is determined by a great diversity of genres, sub-genres, narrative forms and styles. In: literary criticism , 8/2016.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Central American Literature , in: Der Literatur-Brockhaus , Mannheim 1988, Vol. 2, Sp. 622.
- ^ Klaus Küpper: Invitation to a journey of discovery. The literature of Central America and its reception in the German-speaking area . In: ila. The Latin America magazine . No. 331 , December 2009, p. 40-44 ( ila-web.de ).
- ^ Klaus Jetz: New Literature from Costa Rica. Online: Quetzal Leipzig , 1994.
- ^ Author information from the Unionsverlag Zurich
- ^ Klaus Jetz: New Literature from Costa Rica. Online: Quetzal Leipzig , 1994.
- ↑ Jana Fuchs in: literary criticism , 8/2016.
- ^ Author information from the Unionsverlag Zurich
- ↑ Portrait of the author on the website of the Goethe Institute
- ↑ E.g. the courses of the Casa de escritura