The Spanish American Regional Novel: Modernity and Autochthony (Cambridge Studies in Latin American and Iberian Literature, Series Number 2)

Carlos Alonso's study provides a radical re-examination of the novela de la tierra or regional novel, which plays a central part in the development of Latin American fiction in the first half of the twentieth century. He identifies the regional novel as a specific literary manifestation of the persistent meditation on cultural authochthony that has characterized Latin American cultural production from its beginnings, and which in his view springs from Latin America's problematic relationship with Modernity. He proposes a view of the autochthonous as a discourse rather than a referent. Professor Alonso presents his argument through challenging readings of three works that are universally acknowledged as archetypes of the autochthonous modality: Rivera's La voragine, Gallegos's Dona Barbara and Guiraldes's Don Segundo Sombra. This is a radical reexamination of the regional novel, which plays a central part in the development of Latin American fiction in the first half of the twentieth century. Professor Alonso presents his argument through challenging readings of three works that are universally acknowledged as archetypes of the autochthonous modality: Rivera's La voragine, Gallegos' Dona Barbara, and Guiraldes' Don Segundo Sombra. He proposes a new view of the autochthonous as a discourse rather than a referent, this discourse being organized by the three intertwined categories of language, geography, and work.--Publisher description This is a radical reexamination of the regional novel, which plays a central part in the development of Latin American fiction in the first half of the twentieth century. Professor Alonso presents his argument through challenging readings of three works that are universally acknowledged as archetypes of the autochthonous modality: Rivera's La vorßgine, Gallegos' Do±a Bßrbara, and Gniraldes' Don Segundo Sombra. He proposes a new view of the autochthonous as a discourse rather than a referent, this discourse being organized by the three intertwined categories of language, geography, and work. This study provides a radical re-examination of the regional novel, which played a central part in the development of Latin American fiction in the first half of the twentieth century. Professor Alonso presents his argument through challenging readings of three works: Rivera's La Voragine; Gallegos's Dona Barbara and Guiraldes's Don Segundo. In a remarkable piece called "The Argentine Writer and Tradition" - a title not unrelated to that of T. S. Eliot's powerful and enduring essay - Borges attempted to come to terms with the then contested issue of writing within a national literary tradition. Carlos J. Alonso. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 193-208).