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Augusto Roa Bastos

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Augsto Roa Bastos
OccupationWriter
NationalityParaguayan
GenreLatin American Boom, Dictator Novel
Notable worksHijo de hombre
I, the Supreme
Notable awardsMiguel de Cervantes Prize 1989

Augusto Roa Bastos, (June 13 1917 – April 26 2005) was a notedParaguayan novelist, and was one of the most important Latin American writers of the 20th century. As a teenager he fought in the Chaco War between Paraguay and Bolivia and later worked as a journalist, screenwriter and professor. He is best known for his novel Yo el Supremo (I, the Supreme) for which he won the Premio Cervantes, Spanish literature's most prestigious prize. Yo el Supremo is one of the foremost Latin American novels to tackle the topic of the dictator. It explores the dictations and inner thoughts of Dr. José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia, who ruled Paraguay with an iron fist and no little eccentricity for 26 years in the early 19th century. Roa Bastos' personal canon includes Hijo de Hombre ("Son of Man") and numerous other novels and short stories, the majority of which were written in exile.


Biography

Chronology of Key Events

  • 1932-1935 - Chaco War in which he enlists as a medical auxillary.
  • 1937 - his first novel Fulgencio Miranda wins Ateneo Paraguayo Prize (never published).[2]
  • 1942 - El ruiseñor de la aurora, a book of poems, is published (actually written in 1936).
  • 1942-1945 - Travels to Europe as editorial secretary for Asunción daily El País to study journalism and cover WWII.[3]
  • 1947 - Flees to exile in Buenos Aires following the Paraguayan civil war and seizure of power by Alfredo Stroessner.
  • 1959 - Hijo de hombre (1960; Son of Man) wins Concurso International de Novelas de la Editorial Losada, which publishes it in 1960. [4]
  • 1960 - His adaptation of Hijo de hombre wins first prize at the Argentine Instituto de Cinmatografia.[5]
  • 1970 - Returns to Paraguay to teach Latin American literature.[7]
  • 1974 - Yo, el Supremo (1974; I, the Supreme) published, his most famous work.
  • 1976 - Military coup in Argentina forces him into exile in France.
  • 1982 - Exiled from Paraguay for a second time after a number of visits starting in the 1970s.
  • 1986 - English translation of Yo, el Supremo published.
  • 1989 - Fall of Alfredo Stroessner and return of Roa Bastos to Paraugay.
  • 1989 - Wins Premio Cervantes (Cervantes Prize), Spanish language's top literary prize.
  • 2005, April 26 - Dies in Asunción.

The Early Years: 1917-1932

Roa Bastos was born in Asunción on June 13 1917. He spent his childhood in Iturbe, a provincial town some 200 kilometres (120 mi) to the south of the Paraguayan capital Asunción, where his father was an administrator on a sugar plantation.[8]. It was here that Roa Bastos learned to speak both Spanish and Guaraní, the language of Paraguay's indigenous people. His early exposure to Guaraní social customs and language combined with the traditional Spanish education that he would receive in Asunción under his uncle's clerical tutelage, created a cultural duality that would manifest itself in many of Roa Bastos' writings.[9] His rural upbringing also provided Roa Bastos with exposure to the exploitation and oppression of the indigenous and peasant peoples of Paraguay,[8] which would become a prominent theme in his writings.

War and Writing: 1932 to 1947

In 1932 the Chaco War began between Paraguay and Bolivia. At some point, perhaps as late as 1934, Bastos joined the Paraguayan army as a medical auxiliary.[10] The horrors he experienced during this time set him firmly against violence for the rest of his life. During the 1930s and 1940s Roa Bastos' occupation was primarily as a journalist, although after the war one of his first jobs was as a bank clerk. In the mid 1930s he began working as a reporter for the Asunción daily El País and began writing theater. During World War II he was invited to London by the British Council; he also served as El País's war correspondent in London and covered the Nuremberg Trials for the paper.[citation needed] He did, however, find time to publish a book of poems in the classic Spanish style called El Ruiseínor De La Aurora (The Dawn Nightingale)in 1942, although he would later renounce this work.[11] His novel Fulgencio Miranda (1941) and his plays that were successfully performed during the 1940s were never published. Of his prolific poetry of the late 1940s only El naranjal ardiente (1960; “The Burning Orange Grove”) was published.[11]

Exile in Argentina: 1947-1976

In 1947 Alfredo Stroessner took power in Paraguay and Roa Bastos was forced to flee to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Bastos had actively opposed Stroessner and his ally President Higinio Morínigo during the Paraguayan Civil War. He would remain in Argentina until just before the arrival of the military dictatorship in 1976 and would not return permanently to Paraguay until 1989. In 1953 his collection of short stories ''El trueno entre las hojas (1953; Thunder Among the Leaves) was published, but it was not until the 1960 publication of the novel Hijo de hombre (Son of Man) that Roa Bastos received extensive critical and popular success (including his first literary prize).[9] This work draws on the oppressive history of Paraguay from the rule of Dr. Jose Gaspar de Francia in the early 1800s until the Chaco War. The historical theme and the multiple narrative perspectives used throughout this novel would be used extensively in his most famous work Yo, el Supremo more than a decade later. Roa Bastos adapted Hijo de hombre for the screen shortly after its publication and wrote many scripts throughout the 1960s.[11] In 1974 he published his influential work Yo, el Supremo, which was the labour of the previous seven years. However, with the arrival of the military dictatorship in 1976 this book was banned, and he was exiled for the 2nd time in his life, this time to Toulouse, France.

His Years in France: 1976-1989

In Toulouse Roa Bastos taught Guaraní and Spanish literature at the University of Toulouse II.[11] Although he had been allowed to visit Paraguay in the 1970s to work with a new generation of Paraguayan writers, he was once again barred from entry in 1982 for purportedly engaging in subversive activities.[12] Roa Bastos did not return to his native Paraguay until 1989, following the downfall of Alfredo Stroessner for whom he professed detestation.

A Return to Paraguay and the Cervantes Prize: 1989-2006

Following the the toppling of the Stroessner regime, Roa Bastos was awarded the Premio Cervantes (Cervantes Prize), awarded by the Spanish Royal Academy and its correspondent academies in the various American nations, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the Spanish-language novel; he spent the prize money on educational and literary projects in Paraguay.[citation needed] It was at this time that Roa Bastos returned to Paraguay, although he often visited France.[11] He continued writing throughout the 1990s and died on April 26, 2005 from a heart attack. He was survived by his three children and his third wife, Iris Giménez.[9]

Legacy

Roa Bastos is easily the most important author to come out of Paraguay and remains highly influential for a new generation of Paraguayan authors. His influence can also be found in the works of a host of foreign-post boom writers including: Mempo Giardinelli, Isabel Allende, Eraclia Zepeda, Antonio Skármeta, Saul Ibargoyen, and Luisa Valenzuela.[13] According to Latin American Writers 'Yo, el Supremo' "anticipates many of the post-boom writing techniques" such as "the carnivalization of historical discourse, transtextualization, and parody".


Awards and Prizes

Roa Bastos won the Losada novel prize for his first novel, Hijo de HombreCite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).

The Writing of Augusto Roa Bastos

Style

Roa Bastos' writing is considered part of a neobaroque style that was used by many Paraguayan writers in exile during the 1970s and 1980s.[14] His novels blend the present and past by creating scenes with myths from precolonial times and Christian legends, developing a special kind of magic realism which allows him to create a poetic image of an oppressed people whose potential has been tragically wasted.[citation needed]

Precursors and Influences

Ruy Díaz de Guzmán's Anales del descubrimiento, población y conquista del Río de la Plata, is considered one of the most important antecedents to Roa Bastos' writings.[15] Guzmán, a Paraguayan explorer of Guaraní and Spanish heritage, wrote extensively in this work about the geography of Paragay using using mythical descriptions of the landscape and the Guaraní language. The most important precursor to Roa Bastos, however, is Rafael Barrett, whose writings incorporated many of the important themes and writings styles that Roa Bastos would later master incuding: Spanish-Guaraní bilinguilism, magic realism, the revision of Paraguayan history, social literature, exploration of collective memory and the universe of poetic symbols.[16]

The Significance of Bilingualism: Spanish and Guaraní

Major works

Hijo de hombre

Hijo de hombre portrays the struggle between the governing élite and the oppressed in Paraguay from the 1860s until the beginning of the Chaco War in 1932.[citation needed].

Yo, el Supremo

Main article: Yo, el Supremo

In Yo, el supremo, he is also fundamentally concerned with the power (and the weakness) of writing itself: its plot revolves around the dictator's efforts to uncover who has been forging his signature on a series of pasquinades discovered around the capital, and also his relationship with his secretary, to whom he dictates his thoughts and orders, but whom he never feels he can fully trust.[citation needed]


Published Works

  • El ruiseñor de la aurora, y otros poemas (1942; The Dawn Nightingale, and other poems) *Written in 1936
  • Nocturno paraguayo (1947–1949)
  • El trueno entre las hojas (1953; Thunder Among the Leaves)
  • El naranjal ardiente (1960; The Burning Orange Grove) *Written between 1947 and 1949
  • Hijo de hombre (1960; Son of Man) - A novel
  • El baldío (1966; The Wasteland)
  • Madera quemada (1967; Burnt Matter)
  • Los pies sobre el agua (1967; The Feet on the Water)
  • Moriencia (1969)
  • Cuerpo presente, y otros textos (1972; Present Body and Other Texts)
  • El pollito de fuego (1974)
  • Los Congresos (1974)
  • Yo, el Supremo (1974; I, the Supreme) - A novel
  • El somnámbulo (1976)
  • Lucha hasta el alba (1979)
  • Los Juegos (1979; The Games)
  • Antología personal (1980; Personal Anthology)
  • Contar un cuento, y otros relatos (1984; To Tell a Story and Other Reports)
  • On Modern Latin American Fiction (1989)
  • Vigilia del admirante (1992; Vigil of the Admiral) - A novel
  • El fiscal (1993; The Prosecutor) - A novel
  • Contravida (1994; Counterlife) - A novel
  • Madama Sui (1996)
  • Metaforismos (1996)
  • La tierra sin mal (1998; Land Without Evil)

Notes

  1. ^ Foster 1978, p.11
  2. ^ Foster 1978, p.11
  3. ^ IBID
  4. ^ IBID
  5. ^ IBID
  6. ^ IBID
  7. ^ IBID
  8. ^ a b King 1983, p. 16
  9. ^ a b c Caistor 2005
  10. ^ Foster 1978, p.11
  11. ^ a b c d e "Augusto Roa Bastos", Hispanic Heritage in the Americas, Enclopaedia Britannica, retrieved 2008-03-25
  12. ^ Marcos 1989, p. 16
  13. ^ Marcos 1989, p. 1212
  14. ^ Marcos 1989, pp. 1211–1212
  15. ^ Marcos 1989, p. 1209
  16. ^ Marcos 1989, p. 1210

References

  • Balderston, David (2004). Encyclopedia of Latin American and Carribbean Literature 1990-2003. London: Routledge. ISBN 0415306876. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  • Marcos, Juan Manuel (1989), "Augusto Roa Bastos", Latin American Writers, 3: 1209–1213 {{citation}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)
      • {{|last= Foster|first=David Willian |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Augusto Roa Bastos |location=Arizona State University |publisher=Twayne Publishers |year=1978 |isbn=0-8057-6348-1 }}
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