what is Chilean literature?
The literature of Chile became visible to the European awareness with the modernism, time of such picturesque figures as Vicente Huidobro. Nonetheless, the roots of the country's literary expression should be associated with the indigenous peoples of Chile, such as the Mapuche and Aymara. The Mapuche people have a particularly significant literary tradition. Their oral literature includes poetic narratives known as ülkantun and ñamku. These poetic forms were traditionally performed during ceremonies, rituals, and social gatherings, and they conveyed the Mapuche worldview, history, and cultural values. The ülkantun often depicts heroic figures, nature, and the relationship between humans and the spiritual world. Notable Mapuche poets include Elicura Chihuailaf and Leonel Lienlaf, who have written both in Spanish and Mapudungun, the Mapuche language.
The literature based upon European patterns starts with the local strand of Baroque. Among the achievements of the colonial period, it is worth to notice Alonso de Ercilla's epic poem "La Araucana," which depicts the Arauco War between the Spanish conquistadors and the Mapuche indigenous people. The political independence of the country from Spain (1818) is closely related to romantic values and sensibility, yet still it is a formative period for the emergent national literature. No wonder that one of the outstanding poets, Venezuelan-born Andrés Bello, played a significant role in the development of such areas as grammar and education. He also made a first attempt at sketching a literary history of Latin America.
The full blossom of Chilean literature came with the modernism and avant-garde movements. This is the moment in which the most notable names, such as Gabriela Mistral, Vicente Huidobro, and Pablo Neruda rose to prominence. Huidobro's invention of creacionismo made a contricution to the long list of avant-garde "-isms".
The Chilean contribution to the celebrated "boom" of Latin American literature may be associated with the magical realism of Isabel Allende. Finally, the post-boom prose is illustrated by Roberto Bolaño.
My favourite bibliography
[in progress]
The literature based upon European patterns starts with the local strand of Baroque. Among the achievements of the colonial period, it is worth to notice Alonso de Ercilla's epic poem "La Araucana," which depicts the Arauco War between the Spanish conquistadors and the Mapuche indigenous people. The political independence of the country from Spain (1818) is closely related to romantic values and sensibility, yet still it is a formative period for the emergent national literature. No wonder that one of the outstanding poets, Venezuelan-born Andrés Bello, played a significant role in the development of such areas as grammar and education. He also made a first attempt at sketching a literary history of Latin America.
The full blossom of Chilean literature came with the modernism and avant-garde movements. This is the moment in which the most notable names, such as Gabriela Mistral, Vicente Huidobro, and Pablo Neruda rose to prominence. Huidobro's invention of creacionismo made a contricution to the long list of avant-garde "-isms".
The Chilean contribution to the celebrated "boom" of Latin American literature may be associated with the magical realism of Isabel Allende. Finally, the post-boom prose is illustrated by Roberto Bolaño.
My favourite bibliography
[in progress]
I have readRoberto Bolaño, Amuleto (1999)
Isabel Allende, Eva Luna (1987) Pablo Neruda, Veinte poemas de amor y una canción desesperada ( Vicente Huidobro, Altazor (1919) |
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