Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/461

* SPANISH-AMEKICAN LITERATURE. 307 SPANISH-AMERICAN LITERATURE. on natural and political science began also to appear. The remaining literary effort, directed toward what is generally called pure literature, produced a few works of merit (so recognized by the mother country), which w'ere of impor- tance in the further literary development of Amer- ica. These writers (largely ecclesiastics, though occasionally some conquistador handled the pen equally well with the sword), described the con- flicts of the Spaniards with the natives, as did the Chilean epic poet Pedro de Ona (born c.1571) in his Araucano dotnado and Pedro de Peralta y Barnuevo (d. 1700; of Spanish birth) in his L/oin. fundadu ; or they depicted the beauties of natural scener}' and the happenings of agricultural life, as did the Guatemalan Rafael Landi'var (1731- 93), in his bucolic Latin poem, Rusticatio ilexi- carta; or they collected the materials for history and wrote excellent accounts of the pacification and settlement of America, as did Juan de Ve- lasco, of Ecuador, in his Historia del rc'nio de Quito, and the Jesuits Ovalle and Rosas in Chile. Fr. Juan de Barrenechea y Albis, of the latter country, in his Restauracion de la Imperial ( 1693), made a solitary attempt at novel-writing. There appeared also some wortliy attempts at de- votional writing, both in prose and verse, such as the Sentimientos espirituales of Sor Francisea Josefa de la Concepcidn (d. at Tunja, 1742), and La Cristiada of Diego de Hojeda (who lived in Lima early in the seventeentli century ). Juan de Castellanos (sixteenth centur.y), of New Gra- nada, in his Elegias de varones ilustres, not onl,y celebrated in hendecasyllabic verse the deeds of the early explorers of America and of his native viceroyalty, but also achieved the doubtful distinction of writing the longest poem in the language. The crowning glory of New Granada, however, lies in the intellectual movement which, under the leadership of Jos6 Celestino Jlutis (1732-1808). the "illustrious pa- triarch of botanists of the New World," and the many-sided Jose de Caklas (1741-181G), became memorable in the Spanish-American scientific literature of the latter half of the eighteenth centurv. During this same period the Ecuado- rean Antonio de Alcedo (died 1812) produced his Diccionario ffeofirafico-liistorico de las liidias oc- cidentales (1786-89), a translation of which, by G. A. Thompson, with numerous additions, was published in London (1812-15). The Period of Independence. The revolution- ary davs of the early nineteenth centurv, which, in Spanish America, substituted the radical phi- losophy and sentiment of the progressive French branch of the Latin stock for the unswerving loy- altj' and religious mysticism of the conservative Spaniard, did not wholly release American writ- ers from dependence upon Peninsular schools of thouglit. It is true that through translntion and imitation it is possible to trace the influence of Byron, of Hugo, of Heine, and of the other great leaders of the romantic school of literature: but in the majority of cases these and other writers are introduced to Spanish America indirectly, and above all through the writings of the Span- ish romanticist Zorilla. who has exerted a most profound influence upon American authors. The one great bond that unites the separate republics and. though perhaps unwillingly, keeps them in touch with the thought of the mother country, is the 'sonorous Castilian language,' which its best writers have preserved in all its grammatical and rhetorical purity of diction; but to which they have given a buoyancy and flexibility lack- ing in the original, and a greater freedom of thought and a more revolutionary and virile spiiit that together have rendered this 'offshoot of French art and of Latin culture' a vigorous literary product. During the early decades of the nineteentli cen- tury themes suggested by the revolutionary con- flict, in which so many of the writers took an ac- tive part, naturally formed the greater poition of the literary output. The period which fol- lowed is marked by literature of a more contem- plative and personal tone. Within recent years there has arisen the new school of 'Creolism,' whose devotees show in the faithful portrayal of native customs, generally of a rustic character, many elements of rugged strength that promise well for the originality of future literature. During the century there has also occurred a shifting of literary centres in South America. Lima. Quito, and Bogot;'i have been relegated to a secondary rank, while Buenos Ayres. early brought under the direct influence of the French romantic school, and Caracas, influenced as pro- foundly by Zorilla and his followers, and San- tiago, at present the centre of the most inspiring literary productions of the South American continent, far outstrip their rivals of colonial fame. The chief literary figure of Latin America is that of Andrfe Bello (q.v. ), whose mastery of Castilian is illustrated in his manj'-sided ca- reer and whose reputation as a poet rests chiefly upon his georgic La agricultura en la zona tdr- rida. Jose Antonio Maitin (1792-c.18.59), an ■ other native of Venezuela, was one of the first of the ardent followers of Zorilla. Rafael Maria. Baralt (1810-1860), in his Historia antigua y moderiHi de Venezuela, in style and method com- pares favorably with the best of modern Span- ish historians, and also ranks high as a linguist and poet. Among others who have shed lustre on the literary repiitation of Venezuela are the members of the gifted Calcaiio famil.v ; the l.yr- icist .Jacinto Gutierrez Coll (1836 — ), made famous by his A mi angel guardian and Hueiio de amor: Francisco de Sales Perez (1836 — ), whose La lyida del campo is a faithful portrayal of the customs of his native llanos; and the pres- ent day Diaz Rodrigiiez, whose artistic romance, Sangre patrician, recalls the Italian D'Annunzio. Colombia was the home of the lyric poet Jos6 Eusebio Caro. whose Lara (published in 1834) marked an important literar.y period in the his- tory of his native land. His associate, Julio Ar- boleda (died 1862), essayed in Gonzalo de Oyon a notable attempt at epic-writing, but achieved a greater success in his brilliant romance Casi- miro el Montanes. The realistic poet .Jose .Joa- quin Ortiz is favorably known because of his masterpiece, Los colonos. The most noted Span- ish-American novel, Maria, is the work of the Colombian .Torge Isaacs ; while the Historia de la reroliicion de Niieva Granada (1827) of Jos6 Manuel Restrepo is but one of the many histori- cal works that have brought honor to the north- ern republic. Her southern neighbor, Ecuador, boasts of the statesman poet Jose Joaqufn de Olmedo (1782-1847), whose Canto dc Junin is the most stirring of revolutionary poems, but