what is Colombian literature?
Pre-colonial Colombia had a rich and diverse history characterized by various indigenous cultures and societies. Muisca Confederation (c. 600-1600 CE) was a confederacy of several tribes in the Altiplano Cundiboyacense region. The Muisca were known for their advanced agriculture, pottery, and metalwork, as well as the famous El Dorado legend. Chronologically overlaping, there also existed the Tairona civilization (c. 800-1600 CE). Located in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the Tairona created complex societies with advanced agricultural practices and notable architectural structures, including terraced fields and elaborate burial sites. Slightly more recent, Quimbaya culture (c. 300-1600 CE) was known for their exceptional goldsmithing, the Quimbaya are famous for the Poporo Quimbaya, a ceremonial vessel that exemplifies their artistic skills. Around 1000 CE, there also appeared Zenú society, located in the Sinú River Valley, the Zenú developed a sophisticated society with extensive trade networks, agriculture, and an advanced system of irrigation.
This complex and little known pre-colonial history was rich in migrations and agricultural advancements. Pre-colonial societies cultivated crops like maize, potatoes, and cassava, allowing them to support larger populations. There also existed trade routes serving the exchange of goods and ideas between various populations. They practiced rich spiritual traditions, often centered around nature, ancestors, and often surprisingly wide-ranging ideas on the inscription and duties of man in the cosmos. Before the arrival of the Spanish, numerous indigenous groups had rich oral storytelling traditions that often included myths, legends, and songs, but no tradition of writing.
The arrival of Spanish explorers in the early 1500s marked the end of pre-colonial history in Colombia. This initiated a significant transformation of Indigenous societies through conquest, colonization, and the introduction of new diseases. Led by figures such as Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, the Spanish began their conquest of the Muisca Confederation in 1536. Quesada founded Santa Fé de Bogotá, which became the capital of the new colony. In 1542, the Real Audiencia of Bogotá was established, serving as the highest judicial and administrative authority in the region. The Spanish implemented the encomienda system, granting colonists the right to extract labor and tribute from indigenous people, leading to significant exploitation and decline in native populations. Gold and silver mining became major economic drivers. The discovery of gold in Cauca and Chocó intensified European interest. The establishment of towns and haciendas, particularly in regions like Antioquia and Cundinamarca, expanded Spanish influence and agriculture. The introduction of sugar and other cash crops led to the establishment of large plantations, relying on both indigenous and African enslaved labor. Enslaved Africans often escaped and formed Maroon communities, which resisted colonial authority. Early colonial literature consisted mainly of chronicles, letters, and religious texts written by Spanish missionaries and explorers, documenting their experiences in the New World.
The influence of Enlightenment ideals of European origin and other independence movements in Latin America began to inspire revolutionary sentiment in Colombia in late 1700s. A number of uprisings began in 1810, culminating in the establishment of the short-lived United Provinces of New Granada. In 1819, the decisive battle of Boyacá led by Simón Bolívar effectively secured independence for the territory from Spanish rule. Following independence, Colombia was part of a larger republic known as Gran Colombia, along with Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama, until its dissolution in 1831.
It was also the time of the introduction of the European and Latin American Romantic ideas. The Colombian literary scene began to flourish with romantic poets and novelists, such as Jorge Isaacs, the author of the novel "María" (1867). While this early novel focused on love and nature, writers like Esteban J. B. Sarmiento and José Eustasio Rivera focused on social and political issues, reflecting the struggles and aspirations of Colombian society.
Colombian literature of the 20th century may be placed under two major keywords: modernism and magical realism. They may also be seen as interconnected: the major Colombian modernist José Asunción Silva blended European influences with local themes, prefigurating the advent of the most famous Colombian aesthetics. Magical realism is a literary style that blends the magical and the ordinary. Gabriel García Márquez is the most famous proponent of this style, with his landmark novel "One Hundred Years of Solitude" (1967), which portrays the fictional town of Macondo and explores themes of solitude, history, and family. Nobel Prize winner in Literature (1982), Márquez contributed also for the exploration of life and death, especially in works like "Love in the Time of Cholera."
Other Colombian writers are much less recognizable for the global reader. Jorge Franco is known for his novel "El mundo de afuera," which addresses themes of violence and love in contemporary Colombia. Another important writer is Laura Restrepo, whose work often engages with social issues and woman’s rights, such as in "Delirio."
This complex and little known pre-colonial history was rich in migrations and agricultural advancements. Pre-colonial societies cultivated crops like maize, potatoes, and cassava, allowing them to support larger populations. There also existed trade routes serving the exchange of goods and ideas between various populations. They practiced rich spiritual traditions, often centered around nature, ancestors, and often surprisingly wide-ranging ideas on the inscription and duties of man in the cosmos. Before the arrival of the Spanish, numerous indigenous groups had rich oral storytelling traditions that often included myths, legends, and songs, but no tradition of writing.
The arrival of Spanish explorers in the early 1500s marked the end of pre-colonial history in Colombia. This initiated a significant transformation of Indigenous societies through conquest, colonization, and the introduction of new diseases. Led by figures such as Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, the Spanish began their conquest of the Muisca Confederation in 1536. Quesada founded Santa Fé de Bogotá, which became the capital of the new colony. In 1542, the Real Audiencia of Bogotá was established, serving as the highest judicial and administrative authority in the region. The Spanish implemented the encomienda system, granting colonists the right to extract labor and tribute from indigenous people, leading to significant exploitation and decline in native populations. Gold and silver mining became major economic drivers. The discovery of gold in Cauca and Chocó intensified European interest. The establishment of towns and haciendas, particularly in regions like Antioquia and Cundinamarca, expanded Spanish influence and agriculture. The introduction of sugar and other cash crops led to the establishment of large plantations, relying on both indigenous and African enslaved labor. Enslaved Africans often escaped and formed Maroon communities, which resisted colonial authority. Early colonial literature consisted mainly of chronicles, letters, and religious texts written by Spanish missionaries and explorers, documenting their experiences in the New World.
The influence of Enlightenment ideals of European origin and other independence movements in Latin America began to inspire revolutionary sentiment in Colombia in late 1700s. A number of uprisings began in 1810, culminating in the establishment of the short-lived United Provinces of New Granada. In 1819, the decisive battle of Boyacá led by Simón Bolívar effectively secured independence for the territory from Spanish rule. Following independence, Colombia was part of a larger republic known as Gran Colombia, along with Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama, until its dissolution in 1831.
It was also the time of the introduction of the European and Latin American Romantic ideas. The Colombian literary scene began to flourish with romantic poets and novelists, such as Jorge Isaacs, the author of the novel "María" (1867). While this early novel focused on love and nature, writers like Esteban J. B. Sarmiento and José Eustasio Rivera focused on social and political issues, reflecting the struggles and aspirations of Colombian society.
Colombian literature of the 20th century may be placed under two major keywords: modernism and magical realism. They may also be seen as interconnected: the major Colombian modernist José Asunción Silva blended European influences with local themes, prefigurating the advent of the most famous Colombian aesthetics. Magical realism is a literary style that blends the magical and the ordinary. Gabriel García Márquez is the most famous proponent of this style, with his landmark novel "One Hundred Years of Solitude" (1967), which portrays the fictional town of Macondo and explores themes of solitude, history, and family. Nobel Prize winner in Literature (1982), Márquez contributed also for the exploration of life and death, especially in works like "Love in the Time of Cholera."
Other Colombian writers are much less recognizable for the global reader. Jorge Franco is known for his novel "El mundo de afuera," which addresses themes of violence and love in contemporary Colombia. Another important writer is Laura Restrepo, whose work often engages with social issues and woman’s rights, such as in "Delirio."
I have readGabriel García Márquez, El coronel no tiene quien le escriba (1961), Crónica de una muerte anunciada (1981)
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I have written... nothing ...
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Aluna, the world's management
Closed in a little room in Lisbon, during the pandemic, I see all kinds of movies. One of them is Aluna, a 2012 documentary on Kogi tribe from the Colombian Serra Nevada, a sequel of a 1990 BBC documentary From the Heart of The World: Elder Brother's Warning. Once again, it is all about the warning the Kogi decided to send to the "Younger Brother", the Spanish-speaking white man or simply the modern world. The message of the movie echoes all those calls for the recognition of the "epistemologies of the South", since the Indians want to say something quite precise, concerning the water cycle, invasive species, the sanctuaries of biodiversity across the mountains and sea shore they were traditionally controlling and, in their own way, carefully studying. They got an Oxford expert's keen attention. At least it is supposed to seem so on the movie.
Connecting the hot spots with the golden thread they cared to acquire from what appears to be an English manufacturer, they create something that would be a remarkable work of art integrating Western artistic tradition; probably it speaks so persuasively because, by some strange coincidence, it enters our mental orbit, is so nicely post-modern. But what strikes me most is the persuasion of being world's managers that those Indians possess. They believe to be actually responsible for the state of the forest they inhabit. Apparently, it is not only a Judeo-Christian message, and nothing connected exclusively with the modernity. It is probably something far more universal to believe that we, as a group, a tribe, a race, a mankind, are in charge. Contemporary humanities, or post-humanities as some people say, try to criticise and eradicate this presumption. Nonetheless, the Anthropocene, for those barefooted Indians, had arrived thousands of years ago; in fact, at the very beginning of everything.
Lisbon, 4.04.2020.
Connecting the hot spots with the golden thread they cared to acquire from what appears to be an English manufacturer, they create something that would be a remarkable work of art integrating Western artistic tradition; probably it speaks so persuasively because, by some strange coincidence, it enters our mental orbit, is so nicely post-modern. But what strikes me most is the persuasion of being world's managers that those Indians possess. They believe to be actually responsible for the state of the forest they inhabit. Apparently, it is not only a Judeo-Christian message, and nothing connected exclusively with the modernity. It is probably something far more universal to believe that we, as a group, a tribe, a race, a mankind, are in charge. Contemporary humanities, or post-humanities as some people say, try to criticise and eradicate this presumption. Nonetheless, the Anthropocene, for those barefooted Indians, had arrived thousands of years ago; in fact, at the very beginning of everything.
Lisbon, 4.04.2020.
