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==Historical Context==
==Historical Context==


After declaring indepence from colonial Spain in 1811, the land locked Paraguay established itself as the First Republic of the South. Francia was elected by the junta (or congress) to office and he established himself as dictator for life, until his death in 1840. He ruled with a despotic populism in which the ideals he had drawn from the philsophers of the French Enligtenment were tempered by his aristocratic insistence on absolute rule.{{fact}} As John T. Deiner explains, "created an army in which all citizens were required to serve. He confiscated property from the upper classes and used the state's coercive power to direct the working of that land by the army."<ref>John T. Deiner, "''I, The Supreme'': Politically Related Themes in the Novel." MACLAS: Latin American Essays XIII (1999), pp. 105-118 p. 105</ref> He also isolated the country from the outside world, restricting foreign trade and mobility. Poltical opposition was not tolerated. His successors eventually began the War of the Triple Alliance (1865-79), crippling Paraguay and decreasing its population by half and forcing many into exile, creating a Paraguay that Bastos described as 'the land without men of the men without land.' <ref>Rowe, William; Teresa Whitfield "Thresholds of Identity: Literature and Exile in Latin America"
After declaring indepence from colonial Spain in 1811, the land locked Paraguay established itself as the First Republic of the South. Francia was elected by the junta (or congress) to office and he established himself as dictator for life, until his death in 1840 <ref>http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/paraguay/francia.htm</ref>. He ruled with a despotic populism in which the ideals he had drawn from the philsophers of the French Enligtenment were tempered by his aristocratic insistence on absolute rule. <ref>Rowe, 242</ref> As John T. Deiner explains, "created an army in which all citizens were required to serve. He confiscated property from the upper classes and used the state's coercive power to direct the working of that land by the army."<ref>John T. Deiner, "''I, The Supreme'': Politically Related Themes in the Novel." MACLAS: Latin American Essays XIII (1999), pp. 105-118 p. 105</ref> He also isolated the country from the outside world, restricting foreign trade and mobility. Poltical opposition was not tolerated. His successors eventually began the War of the Triple Alliance (1865-79), crippling Paraguay and decreasing its population by half and forcing many into exile, creating a Paraguay that Bastos described as 'the land without men of the men without land.' <ref>Rowe, William; Teresa Whitfield "Thresholds of Identity: Literature and Exile in Latin America" ''Third World Quarterly'', Vol. 9, No. 1, The Politics of Exile. (Jan., 1987), pp. 229-245. Pg. 243</ref>
''Third World Quarterly'', Vol. 9, No. 1, The Politics of Exile. (Jan., 1987), pp. 229-245. Pg. 243</ref>


Francia's rule was the beginning of a long line of dictators, ending with Alfredo Stroessner during the time which Bastos was writing I the Supreme. Basto's novel can be perceived as a thinly disguised attack on Stroessner, who ruled Paraguay even longer than Francia (1954-1989). He came to power after the 1947 Civil War, which had destroyed all parties of the centre and left and drove more than athird of Paraguay's population into exile. He assumed presidency after a series of coups in 1954. He gained complete control of the military, eliminated potential rivals, and closely monitered and participated in allocations of national resources. As Deiner argues, "The novel’s El Supremo (Francia) and Stroessner in the twentieth century
Francia's rule was the beginning of a long line of dictators, ending with Alfredo Stroessner during the time which Bastos was writing ''I the Supreme''. Basto's novel can be perceived as a thinly disguised attack on Stroessner, who ruled Paraguay even longer than Francia (1954-1989). He came to power after the 1947 Civil War, which had destroyed all parties of the centre and left and drove more than athird of Paraguay's population into exile. He assumed presidency after a series of coups in 1954. He gained complete control of the military, eliminated potential rivals, and closely monitered and participated in allocations of national resources. As Deiner argues, "The novel’s El Supremo (Francia) and Stroessner in the twentieth century
used similar methods for dominating national politics. Neither tolerated effective
used similar methods for dominating national politics. Neither tolerated effective
opposition. Both rulers were extremely suspicious of any potential opponents, quickly
opposition. Both rulers were extremely suspicious of any potential opponents, quickly

Revision as of 02:05, 16 March 2008

I the Supreme
File:Ithesupreme2.jpg
The cover of the Spanish edition of the novel, published by Cátedra.
AuthorAugusto Roa Bastos
Original title'Yo el supremo'
TranslatorHelen Lane
LanguageSpanish
GenreHistorical novel
Publication date
1974
Publication placeParaguay
Published in English
1986
Media typePrint (Hardback & Paperback)
ISBN1-56478-247-6

I The Supreme (orig. Spanish Yo el supremo) is a historical novel written by exiled Paraguayan author Augusto Roa Bastos. This book was first published in Spanish in 1974, and in English (translation by Helen Lane) in 1986.

This novel is a fictionalized account of the 19th Century Paraguayan dictator José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia, who was also known as "Dr. Francia." Its title derives from the fact that Francia referred to himself as "El Supremo" or "the Supreme." It is considered to be part of the genre of novelas de dictadores or 'Dictator Novels', and also as a part of the Latin American Boom, a movement of Latin American literature in the 1960's and 1970's., [1]


Synopsis

As critic John King notes, "it is impossible to summarize this extraordinary novel in a few lines. It incorporates the latest developments in linguistic theory and practice, talks of the arbitrariness and unreliability of language that purports to describe reality, rereads and comments upon the various histories and travellers' accounts of Paraguay, ranges across the breadth of Latin American history, implicitly condemning Stroessner and debating with Fidel Castro, and exploring once again the gap between writer and reader."[2]

The novel opens with a pasquinade or (supposedly) forged note found on Asunción's cathedral door.

Influences

I, the Supreme is influenced by 20th century Argentinian writer Macedonio Fernández, as well as other avant garde artists like Jorge Luis Borges and Julio Cortázar. They are similar in use of metaphysical language and techniques used to reconstruct reality, as Dr. Francia does in his dictated creation of el Supremo, the ruler of all reality. Macedonio's writing utilized characters that did not fit the archetype of Western fiction, each existed on their own, only having meaning through their interaction with others in a collective, often never experiencing growth or development in order to construct atemporal spaces of mythmaking that challenge reality. Bastos borrows from these ideas yet uses the existing political and social history to challenge their factuality. He dismantles national Paraguayan mythology which is so intimately intertwined with the life of Dr.Francia, elucidating the distinctions between mythic and mythological. The novel can only accomplish this task within the metaphysical space of mythmaking. Whereas Macedonio attacks the concept of the individual as subject while admitting the fact that to write makes oneself a subject, Bastos recognizes this paradox and exploits it, utilizing it in concerns of political and social nature.[3]

Style

I, The Supreme is a dense, complicated novel that requires considerable reader involvement. Helene Weldt-Basson suggests that symbolism plays an important role in the novel, one that goes hand-in-hand with the complexity of the writing. She references Tzvetan Todorov's theory of symbolism in literature which suggests that "[there is an] inseparability of symbolism and interpretation. There are, for me, simply two aspects of a single phenomenon." This theory dovetails quite well with the multiple meanings associated with different objects in I, The Supreme. [4] Although the novel is a dialogue between The Supreme and his secretary, Patiño, there are in fact six different types of narration in the text: notebook entries, dialogues that have been transcribed, a logbook, the "voice" of El Supremo's father, two documents, and, of course, the intallments of the perpetual circular, which is ostensibly the main project Patiño and Dr. Francia are working on.[5] In addition to the six different types of narrative, there are also three possible authors: Roa Bastos, the author-compiler, and the "implied author". The latter refers to the "behavior, attitudes, and backgrounds... necessary for a proper understanding of the text.[6] The multitude of possibilities regarding the author and the shift between types of narratives, combined with an absence of quotation marks, contribute to this book being referred to as "undoubtedly, [the authors] most complicated work to date."[7]

Historical Context

After declaring indepence from colonial Spain in 1811, the land locked Paraguay established itself as the First Republic of the South. Francia was elected by the junta (or congress) to office and he established himself as dictator for life, until his death in 1840 [8]. He ruled with a despotic populism in which the ideals he had drawn from the philsophers of the French Enligtenment were tempered by his aristocratic insistence on absolute rule. [9] As John T. Deiner explains, "created an army in which all citizens were required to serve. He confiscated property from the upper classes and used the state's coercive power to direct the working of that land by the army."[10] He also isolated the country from the outside world, restricting foreign trade and mobility. Poltical opposition was not tolerated. His successors eventually began the War of the Triple Alliance (1865-79), crippling Paraguay and decreasing its population by half and forcing many into exile, creating a Paraguay that Bastos described as 'the land without men of the men without land.' [11]

Francia's rule was the beginning of a long line of dictators, ending with Alfredo Stroessner during the time which Bastos was writing I the Supreme. Basto's novel can be perceived as a thinly disguised attack on Stroessner, who ruled Paraguay even longer than Francia (1954-1989). He came to power after the 1947 Civil War, which had destroyed all parties of the centre and left and drove more than athird of Paraguay's population into exile. He assumed presidency after a series of coups in 1954. He gained complete control of the military, eliminated potential rivals, and closely monitered and participated in allocations of national resources. As Deiner argues, "The novel’s El Supremo (Francia) and Stroessner in the twentieth century used similar methods for dominating national politics. Neither tolerated effective opposition. Both rulers were extremely suspicious of any potential opponents, quickly acting to imprison and torture anyone suspected. Both were ruthless in their intolerance of dissent."[12] As Rowe describes his rule "...he inheireted all Francia's despotism, but none of his populism...he rules over a country wher human and civil rights are honoured only in their breach." [13]

Characters

Dr. Francia (El Supremo) is the character the book is named after. José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia or "Dr. Francia" is undoubtedly the main focus of the book, although not in a bibliographic sense. Most of the book is dedicated to his dictates to his secretary, Patiño. El Supremo is a domineering man, frequently belittling his closest confidant. He is also an infirm man, as the book is set a short time before his death on September 20th, 1840. Bastos' portrayal of him walks the line between praise and condemnation. While other authors of the novelas de dictadores clearly present their dictators as villians, Bastos makes it unclear as to whether he is defending him or not.[14]

Patiño Policarpo is the Supreme's secretary and amanuensis. Much of the book consists of dialogue between the Supreme and his secretary, which Policarpo records at the same time as he write what is dictated to him. Hence, in Roberto González Echevarría's words, "Patiño is the quintessential writer"[15]

Reception

Gerald Martin observes that "the publication of I the Supreme in 1974 was an exceptional cultural phenomenon." He goes on to note that Roa Bastos's novel "was more immediately and unanimously acclaimed than any novel since One Hundred Years of Solitude, and critics seemed to suspect that its strictly historical importance might be even greater than that of García Márquez's fabulously successful creation."[16]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ "I, The Supreme: "A DESPOT, NOW AND FOREVER", New York Times Book Review by Carlos Fuentes, April 6, 1986". Accessed March 6, 2008.
  2. ^ John King, "Augusto Roa Bastos: An Introduction." Modern Latin American Fiction: A Survey. Ed. John King. London: Faber and Faber, 1987. 297
  3. ^ Garth, Todd "Politicizing Myth and Absence: From Macedonio Fernandez to Augusto Roa Bastos" in Structures of Power: Essays on Twentieth Century Spanish American-Fiction State University of New York Press. 1996
  4. ^ Helene Carol Weldt-Basson Augusto Roa Bastos's I the Supreme: A dialogical perspective' University of Missouri: Columbia 1993 p. 77
  5. ^ Augusto Roa Bastos' I The Supreme, Harley D. Oberhelman Hispania 1994 p.450
  6. ^ Helene Weldt-Basson p.219
  7. ^ Augusto Roa Bastos' I The Supreme, Harley D. Oberhelman Hispania 1994 p.450
  8. ^ http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/paraguay/francia.htm
  9. ^ Rowe, 242
  10. ^ John T. Deiner, "I, The Supreme: Politically Related Themes in the Novel." MACLAS: Latin American Essays XIII (1999), pp. 105-118 p. 105
  11. ^ Rowe, William; Teresa Whitfield "Thresholds of Identity: Literature and Exile in Latin America" Third World Quarterly, Vol. 9, No. 1, The Politics of Exile. (Jan., 1987), pp. 229-245. Pg. 243
  12. ^ Deiner, 106
  13. ^ Rowe, 243
  14. ^ Foster, David William. "Augusto Roa Bastos' "I the Supreme": A Dialogic Perspective",Hispanic Review. University of Pennsylvania Press. 1995
  15. ^ González Echevarría, p. 80.
  16. ^ Gerald Martin, Journeys through the Labyrinth: Latin American Fiction in the Twentieth Century (London: Verso, 1989): 278


References

  • Deiner, John T. "I, The Supreme: Politically Related Themes in the Novel." MACLAS: Latin American Essays XIII (1999), pp. 105-118.
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