Chilean literature

Romanticism in Chile can be classified in three literary generations, according to the critic Cedomil Goic: the 1837 generation, the 1842 generation and the 1867 generation, the latter of which had many parallels with realism and is considered by some critics to actually be part of the realist movement.[9]

Made up of writers born between 1800 and 1814 and also known as the "Generación Costumbrista", the 1837 generation developed a literary interpretation of local everyday life and manners.

Its main feature was a special emphasis on observing the picturesque and local, approaching it from a satirical and critical point of view. The group included Mercedes Marin del Solar,[6] Vicente Pérez Rosales and José Joaquín Vallejo.[10]

Made up of writers born between 1815 and 1829, this group was also known as the "Romantic-social" generation. Like their predecessors, they portrayed everyday life but added an extra layer of social critique to their work. The group were influenced by foreign intellectuals in Chile such as José Joaquín de Mora, Andrés Bello, Domingo Faustino Sarmiento and Vicente Fidel López and made the first attempts to found a characteristically Chilean national literature movement. The poetry of this generation resembled European Romanticism in style and included Salvador Sanfuentes' "Inami", Guillermo Matta Goyenechea's[11] "Poesías líricas" (Lyrical poems), Guillermo Blest Gana's[12] "Armonías" (Harmonies) and José Antonio Soffia's[13] "Hojas de otoño". Narrative literature had a more original style and included works such as José Victorino Lastarria's[14] "Peregrinación de una vinchuca"; Alberto Blest Gana's "Durante la reconquista" (During the reconquest) and "El loco Estero" (Estero the Mad, 1909); José Joaquín Vallejo's[15] "Artículos de costumbres" (Essays on customs); Vicente Pérez Rosales' "Recuerdos del pasado" (Memories of the past); and Daniel Riquelme's "Bajo la tienda" (Under canvas). Dramatic works of the period included Daniel Caldera's[16] "El tribunal del honor" (The court of honor).

From 1850, great historical works emerged such as Diego Barros Arana's "Historia general de Chile" (General history of Chile), Miguel Luis Amunátegui's "Descubrimiento y conquista de Chile" (Discovery and conquest of Chile), Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna's "El ostracism de O'Higgins" (The ostracism of O'Higgins) and Ramón Sotomayor Valdés'[17] "Historia de Chile durante 40 años" (40 years of Chilean history).

In 1886, the Nicaraguan poet Rubén Darío moved to Valparaíso, Chile, where he stayed with fellow poets Poirier and Eduardo de la Barra. Together they co-authored a sentimental novel titled "Emelina". Although the novel was not an immediate success, Rubén Darío is credited with the re-emergence of Chilean lyric poetry with "Azul" (Blue) in 1888. This was followed by Carlos Pezoa Véliz' "Entierro de campo" (Country funeral) and "Tarde en el hospital" (Afternoon in the hospital), and Manuel Magallanes Moure's[7] "La casa junto al mar" (Seaside house) and others. Carlos Pezoa Véliz only became famous after his early death at the age of 28.

The generation of 1867

Realist writers depicted everyday and banal activities and experiences instead of the more traditional romanticized or stylized representations, distinguishing them from their predecessors.[18] This movement was made up of writers born between 1830 and 1844. Alberto Blest Gana is considered a pioneer of realist style in Chile, starting with "Martín Rivas" in 1862, a portrait of the Chilean society of the time. Blest Gana describes what he saw as positive changes in Chilean society, which, at the time, was moving towards capitalism. He believed it was inevitable that local traditions would disappear and be replaced with European customs, and felt that opposition to these changes was old-fashioned and futile. In contrast, fellow writer Luis Orrego Luco observed the transformations with sadness and denounced the moral consequences of this process of change. The opposing views of Blest Gana and Orrego Luco are the most important representation of the realism movement in Chile. Other important writers of the generation were Daniel Barros Grez,[19] Eduardo de la Barra,[20] Zorobabel Rodríguez, José Antonio Soffia, Moisés Vargas and Liborio Brieba. During this period, narrative literature advanced more than poetry or drama, although the construction of new theatres encouraged some development in the latter. Important theatres include the Victoria in Valparaíso, inaugurated in 1844, the República in Santiago, inaugurated in 1848, and Teatro Municipal de Santiago, inaugurated in 1857.[21]

Also known as Costumbrismo, Criollismo was a literary movement that was active from the end of the 19th century to the first half of the twentieth century. An extension of Realism, it portrayed the scenes, customs and manners of the writer's country, with some hints of patriotism. The first centenary of Chilean independence in 1910 fed the patriotic spirit of the nation and its writers, and saw a renewed emphasis of rural life in contrast to the traditional focus on urban life as the only source and background of stories. In prose literature, Baldomero Lillo's "Sub Terra" and "Sub Sole" were among the most important, as well as Mariano Latorre's "Zurzulita" and "Cuna de cóndores" (Cradle of condors) and Federico Gana's "Días de campo" (Country days). Key drama works included Antonio Acevedo Hernández' "Árbol Viejo" (Old Tree), and "Chañarcillo".[22]

During the first quarter of twentieth century, a new Chilean literary scene emerged: an Avant-garde movement. The first manifestation of this movement was "Flores de cardo" (Thistle flowers) by Pedro Prado in 1908, a work that broke with metric restraints and the rules of poetry. Prado also published "El llamado del mundo" (The call of the world) and "Los pájaros errantes" (The wandering birds) in 1913 and 1915, and founded artistic group "Los Diez" with architect Julio Bertrand.[23] in 1916.[24]

On December 22, 1914, Gabriela Mistral - who would later win the Nobel Prize in Literature - won the "Juegos Florales de Santiago" poetry contest, her first recognition as a great talent. In 1919, Gabriela Mistral published "Desolación", the work that won her the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1945. "Desolación", "Tala", "Lagar" were some of her most important poetic works. In 1914, Vicente Huidobro published "Arte del sugerimiento" (The art of suggestion) and "Non serviam", two works that initiated the Creacionismo movement which saw a poem as a truly new thing, created by the author for the sake of itself. Huidrobro published the "manifesto" of the movement in his book "El espejo de agua" (The water mirror) in 1916. Ángel Cruchaga,[25] another poet of this generation, took "love" as his main topic and was known for the sadness of his poems. In 1915, he published "Las manos juntas" (Holding hands), his most characteristic work. Pablo de Rokha[26] used poetry to portray his anarchic, combative and controversial view of the world. Key works include "El folletín del Diablo" and "Los gemidos",[27] published in 1920 and 1922 respectively. In 1938, Pablo de Rokha founded and managed the publishing house "Multitud", which distributed books in the United States, Russia and Latin America. Also in this period, between 1914 and 1925, Juan Guzmán Cruchaga published "Junto al brasero" (Beside the brazier), "La mirada inmóvil" (The motionless gaze), "Lejana" (Far), "La fiesta del corazón" (Party of the heart), and the anthology "Agua de cielo" (Water of heaven).[28]

During the 20th century, neo-modernist and avant-garde Chilean poets found fame beyond Chilean borders. Gabriela Mistral won the first Latin American Nobel Prize of Literature, followed by fellow Chilean Pablo Neruda. The father of the Creacionismo movement, Vicente Huidobro, also contributed to the internationalization of Chilean literature.

Chilean Nobel Prize winner Pablo Neruda

Pablo Neruda published the works "Crepusculario" and "Veinte poemas de amor y una canción desesperada" in 1923 and 1924, as a prelude to the great success he would have in the next quarter century.

Chilean Imagism was a literary trend that started in 1925 in opposition to Criollismo, which it accused of being nationalist, narrow and lacking imagination. Imaginist writers moved away from the elements used as inspiration by previous generations (everyday life, rural life and the fight against nature). The Imaginist group, made up of writers Ángel Cruchaga Santa María,[25] Salvador Reyes, Hernán del Solar, Luis Enrique Délano[29] and Manuel Eduardo Hübner,[30] broke with the most prominent literary critics of the time. Luis Enrique Délano said in an article about the origin of the Imagism: "We had not decided to innovate at all, but we had a common sense that Chilean literature was full of "Criollismo", cloying and heavy.[31]

One achievement of the Imaginist group, along with some of the most prominent criollista writers, was the creation the magazine "Letras".[32] Although the editorial line of the magazine was imaginist, important criollista writers collaborated and it aimed to create an international dialogue about art and literature. Contributors included Augusto d'Halmar, Mariano Latorre, Marta Brunet, Luis Durand,[33] Rosamel del Valle,[34] Juan Marín[35] and Jacobo Danke[36] among others.

La Mandrágora (Spanish for The Mandrake) was a Chilean Surrealist group founded on 12 July 1938 by Braulio Arenas (1913–1988), Teófilo Cid, Enrique Gómez Correa and Jorge Cáceres (who was still a teenager at the time).[37] The group met in Talca and by 1932, Braulio Arenas was exchanging ideas with Teófilo Cid and Enrique Gómez.[38] By 1935, these ideas had become more developed, and in 1938, they held a kind of initiation ceremony reading surrealist poems and texts at the University of Chile. They went on to publish a magazine called, like the group, "La Mandrágora" (seven issues were produced on a small scale, from December 1938 to October 1943[37]), as well as anthology of poetry, El AGC de la Mandrágora, (The AGC of the Mandrake) which included works by all founders except Teófilo Cid. Politically, the group supported the Popular Front. Among the main achievements of this group was the publication of "La Mandrágora", which promoted the surrealist movement in Chile; a conference held at the University of Chile in 1939, a surrealist exhibition held in the Biblioteca Nacional de Chile (national library of Chile) in 1941, and an international surrealist exposition in Galleria Dédalo in Santiago in 1948. Braulio Arenas also published the magazine "Leit-motiv" from 1942 to 1943, with contributions from André Breton, Benjamin Péret and Aimé Césaire, linking "La Mandrágora" with the French surrealists.

Vicente huidobro

They were known for their critique of modern Chilean poetry and Chilean writers like Pablo Neruda and Vicente Huidobro.[39] The group began to separate in 1949. In 1957, Braulio Arenas, Enrique Gómez Correa and Jorge Cáceres published the anthology "El AGC de la Mandrágora", which included a surrealist dictionary and a bibliography of the Chilean surrealism.

The first half of the 1940s saw the emergence of the "Generación neocriollista de 1940" (Neo Criollista Generation of 1940).[40] The neocriollistas — a name that can be translated as "neo traditionalist" - put a great emphasis on local customs and wanted to portray the life of the common people in a social and human way. A key factor that influenced their ideology was the turbulent political times that they lived in, with group members committed to Marxism and left-wing political activism. One of the most important writers of this generation was Nicomedes Guzmán,[41] who was known for including social topic in his works, such as social and economic inequality, exploitation, misery in the suburban life, moral degradation in poverty, and corruption in power. Among his most important works were "Los hombres oscuros" (The dark men), "La sangre y la esperanza" (Blood and hope), "La luz viene del mar" (Light comes from the sea), and "Una moneda al río y otros cuentos" (A coin to the river and other tales), published in 1939, 1943, 1951 and 1954. Other key writers of the generation were:

Gonzalo Drago,[42] with works like "Cobre" (Copper), a book of stories about the struggles and hard life of the miners, published in 1941; "Surcos" (Grooves), a collection of stories about peasants published in 1948; and "El Purgatorio" (Purgatory), a novel that describes the author's experiences as a conscript during military service, published in 1951. Andrés Sabella and Volodia Teitelboim, with their works "Norte Grande" (Big North) and "Hijo del salitre" (Son of saltpeter), both describing the lives of saltpeter miners in the north of Chile. Francisco Coloane and Nicasio Tangol,[43] who wrote about life in the extreme south of Chile. Nicasio Tangol revealed the traditions and myths of the southern island of Chiloe, Chilean Patagonia and the native peoples of that extreme region. Francisco Coloane described man's struggles in the southern seas in his works "Cabo de Hornos" and "El último grumete de La Baquedano" (Cape Hornos and The last boy of the Baquedano), both published in 1941.[44] Maité Allamand[45] and Marta Brunet who wrote work inspired by rural life. Brunet's play "Montaña adentro" (Into the mountain) is notable for its use of rural language and peasant slang to portray life in the country, while Allamand put special emphasis on children's literature and was one of the pioneers of this genre.

The first children's literature published in Chile date back to the period when the printing press was introduced in Chile around 1812. These texts were mainly educational and religious books, written mostly by Spanish priests in order to educate children. It was in the early 20th century when several magazines for children were founded, including "Revista de los Niños" (The Kids' Magazine) in 1905, "Chicos y Grandes" (Kids and Grownups) in 1908, and "El Penaca" - the only one that lasted into the next decades.[46] Around the same time, two children's books by Agustín Edwards Mac-Clure were published: "Aventuras de Juan Esparraguito" (The Adventures of Juan Little Asparagus ) and "El niño casi legumbre" (The Almost Bean Boy).

Another precursor of children's literature in Chile was Blanca Santa Cruz Ossa[47] who compiled stories and myths from Chile and from other countries, including "Cuentos rumanos" (Romanian tales, 1929), "Cuentos maravillosos del Japón" (Marvellous tales from Japan, 1935), "Cuentos de España" (Tales from Spain, 1936), "Cuentos Ingleses" (English Tales,1936), "Las hadas en Francia" (Fairies in France, 1936), "Leyendas de la selva" (Legends of the Jungle, 1936), "Leyendas moriscas" (Moorish Legends, 1936), "Cuentos mitológicos griegos" (Greek myths and tales, 1937), "Cuentos italianos" (Italian stories, 1938), "Cuentos servios" (Serbian stories, 1939), "Cuentos chinos" (Chinese stories, 1940), "Orejones y viracochas: Diego de Almagro" (Big ears and Viracochas, 1943), "Sangre y ceniza: narración novelesca de la conquista de Chile" (Blood and ashes: fictional narrative of the conquest of Chile, illustrated by Coré, 1946), "Cuentos chilenos", (Chilean stories, with illustrations by Elena Poirier, 1956)[48] "Cuentos bretones" (Breton tales, 1973), "El duende del pantano y otros cuentos de Bretaña" (The Swamp Troll and other tales of Britain).

Gabriela Mistral, 1945

Maité Allamand, Carmen de Alonso and Marta Brunet also wrote children's literature inspired by Chilean folklore. Allamand produced works like "Alamito el largo" (The little long poplar, 1950) while Brunet wrote "Cuentos para Marisol" (Tales for Marisol, 1938) and "Por qué el petirrojo tiene el pecho rojo" (Why robins have a red chest, 1938). Around this time, Gabriela Mistral composed poetry dedicated to children, primarily in her works "Tala" and "Ternura".

In 1964, a subsidiary of IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) was set up in Chile, bringing together a group of writers to promote literature for children and young people. Among the writers taking part were Marcela Paz ("Papelucho"), who was also the first director of the Chilean IBBY, Maité Allamand, Chela Reyes, Gabriela Lezaeta, María Silva Ossa,[49] Amalia Réndic and Pepita Turina. Over the years, this organization became an important meeting place for writers and was a great promoter of children's and youth literature. Other important contributors to IBBY included Alicia Morel,[50] Lucía Gevert,[51] Cecilia Beuchat, María Eugenia Coeymans, Felipe Alliende,[52] Víctor Carvajal, Saúl Schkolnik,[53] Manuel Peña Muñoz,[54] Héctor Hidalgo, Manuel Gallegos[55] María Luisa Silva, Jacqueline Balcells[56] and Ana María Güiraldes.[57]

As a consequence of the vast changes during World War II, Chilean literature became more universal in its themes, focusing on problems common to the whole humanity and using new modes of expression. In the novel form, key works included Manuel Rojas' "Hijo de ladrón" (Son of a thief), María Luisa Bombal's "La amortajada" (The shrouded) and José Donoso's "El obsceno pájaro de la noche" (The obscene bird of the night). Key poetic works included Nicanor Parra's "Poemas y antipoemas" (Poems and antipoems), Humberto Díaz Casanueva's "Réquiem", Eduardo Anguita's "Venus en el pudridero" (Venus on the garbage heap), Gonzalo Rojas' "Contra la muerte" (Against death), Jorge Teillier's "Muertes y maravillas" (Deaths and wonders), Fernando González Urízar's "Los signos del cielo" (Signs from heaven), Miguel Arteche's "Fénix de madrugada", (Phoenix at dawn) and Raúl Zurita's "Purgatorio" (Purgatory). In drama, important works included Luis Alberto Heiremans'[63] "El tony chico" (The small clown), Egon Wolff's "Álamos en la azotea" (Poplars on the roof), Jorge Díaz Gutiérrez'[64] "El cepillo de dientes" (Toothbrush) and "La cantante calva" (The bald singer).

Following the coup d'état of September 11, 1973, culture diminished in Chile. The coup forced many writers to emigrate, and after a while Chilean writers began to create publishing houses and magazines in their new homes in exile. Journals published by Chileans in exile included "Araucaria" in Spain, "Literatura chilena en el exilio" (Chilean literature in exile) in California and "América Joven" (Young America) in the Netherlands. The editorials "Ediciones Cordillera" in Canada, "LAR" and "Ediciones Michay" in Spain.[65] Chilean literature underwent a process of internationalization at this time, despite the fact that Chileans still living in Chile had lost their writers, along with most other forms of art. The mix of Magic realism and "family saga", for example, brought international fame to Antonio Skarmeta, Fernando Alegría, Gonzalo Rojas, Humberto Díaz Casanueva, Ariel Dorfman and Isabel Allende, Hernán Neira. In times of dictatorship and repression, Chilean literature contributed to raising international awareness about the situation in Chile. Virtually every major city in the western world was home to Chilean writers, many of whom denounced the regime of Augusto Pinochet,.[66][67]

Possibly due to the diaspora of exile, Chilean literature during and after the dictatorship was not uniform in style. Young writers found themselves transplanted in a foreign culture, and it would take time for writers returning from exile to get used to the Chilean intellectual environment and form new groups.[68] In poetry, there was the so-called "Nueva poesia chilena" (New Chilean poetry). This "Nueva poesia chilena" included a great number of poets coming back from exile in Europe, with Raul Zurita, Rodrigo Lira, Antonio Arévalo[69] and Bruno Montané[70] among the most famous.

A new generation of writers has incorporated the fantastic or imaginative literature to which Omar Pérez Santiago belongs and his book of short stories Nefilim en Alhué (2011). This trend modernizes the old school of gothic existential issues, the terrifying, the magical, the oneiric and the diabolical of popular culture, and which has its origin in María Luisa Bombal's La amortajada (1938), Elena Aldunate's Juana and cybernetics (1963) and Carlos Droguett 's Patas de perro (1965). In this current are the books Tales of gore, madness and death (2011) by Pablo Espinoza Bardi, The curious case of the shadow that died as a memory (2018) by José Baroja and Suicidal mind and other deaths (2012) by Aldo Astete Cuadra.[71]