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Literature of Colombia
Colombian literature, as an expression of the Culture of Colombia, is heterogeneous, tropical and diverse due to the struggle between the Spanish, African and Native American heritages.
Colonial literature
Under the Spanish Empire, the main topic of the local literature was religious. Some of the main authors of this period are:
Hernando Dominguez Camargo , Jesuit priest and writer. His work was influenced by the Spanish poet Luis de Gongora, in a cultural trend known as the Indias Baroque. His most recognized works are Epic Poem to St Ignacio of Loyola and Bouquet of poetic flowers.
Francisco Alvarez de Velasco y Zorrilla . His main work was Rhytmica Sacra, Moral y Laudatiria. His writings show admiration for the work of Francisco de Quevedo and Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz.
Francisca Josefa del Castillo. Tunjan nun, recognized as one of the most important female authors of mysticism.
Juan de Castellanos. Wrote the longest poem ever in the Spanish language, Elegias de Varones Ilustres de Indias.
Juan Rodriguez Freyle. Spanish priest, wrote the extensive chronicle of colonial life El Carnero (The Billygoat).
Post-independence literature
During the process of independence, Colombian literature was strongly influenced by the political motivations of the moment. The main literary movements were close to Romanticism.
During the nineteenth century, political writing was led by Simon Bolivar. Local journalism was initiated by Antonio Narino. The Colombian government established the first Academy of Spanish language in the American continent, in 1871.
Other relevant authors were:
Camilo Torres
Francisco Antonio Zea.
Jose Fernandez Madrid .
Costumbrismo
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the main topic in Colombian literature was the colourful depiction of peasant life, tied to strong criticism of society and government. This type of literature was called costumbrista literature. Some of the authors of this period are:
Tomas Carrasquilla
Adolfo Leon Gomez
Jose Maria Cordovez Moure
Jorge Isaacs
Julio Arboleda
Gregorio Gutierrez Gonzalez
Rafael Pombo
Soledad Acosta
Josefa Acevedo de Gomez
Candelario Obeso
Manuel Ancizar
Modern literature
Modernismo and modernism are reactions against the previous literature of Romanticism. Modernism's main topics are ugliness and mystery. The main modern writers are:
Jose Eustasio Rivera
Rafael Maya
Leon de Greiff
Luis Vidales
Luis Carlos Lopez
German Arciniegas
Porfirio Barba-Jacob
Jose Maria Vargas Vila
Stone and Sky (Piedra y Cielo)
The industrialization process in Latin America during the twentieth century generated new literary movements such as the poetic movement named Piedra y cielo (1939). Its main authors are:
Eduardo Carranza
Jorge Gaitan Duran
Jorge Rojas
Arturo Camacho Ramirez
Nothing-ism (Nadaismo)
The violent events in Colombia during the 1940s and 1950s, such as La Violencia and the military government of Gustavo Rojas Pinilla, resulted in the Nothing-ist movement, which is the local interpretation of existentialism and nihilism in literature. Authors of this movement are:
Gonzalo Arango
Jotamario Arbelaez
Eduardo Escobar
Fanny Buitrago
Amilcar Osorio
Humberto Navarro
Taylor Hamilton
Kaleigh Mendonca
Nikki Kammerer
The Boom
The Latin American Boom was a prolific period for Colombian literature.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Eduardo Caballero Calderon
Manuel Mejia Vallejo
Alvaro Mutis
Manuel Zapata Olivella
Andres Caicedo
Alfredo Iriarte
German Arciniegas
Alvaro Cepeda Samudio
Nicole Kammerer
Contemporary authors
German Castro Caycedo
Daniel Samper Pizano
Fernando Vallejo
Laura Restrepo
Juan B Gutierrez
Jose Manuel Arango
Giovanni Quessep
Harold Alvarado Tenorio
Antonio Iriarte Cadena
Yezid Morales R
David Alberto Campos Vargas
Juan Gustavo Cobo Borda
Maria Mercedes Carranza
Raul Gomez Jattin
Elkin Restrepo
German Espinosa
David Sanchez Juliao
Rafael Humberto Moreno Duran
Juan Gustavo Cobo Borda
Jorge Franco
Estela Duran
Ricardo Silva Romero
Hector Abad Faciolince
Rafael Chaparro Madiedo
New Literature
Juan Gabriel Vasquez
Antonio Ungar
German Bula
Ricardo Abdahllah
Mario Medoza
Mauricio Becerra
Margarita Posada
Jorge Aristizabal
Juan Carlos Garay
Carolina Sanin
Eduardo Bechara
Efraim Medina Reyes
Poetry
Jose Asuncion Silva
Porfirio Barba-Jacob
Piedad Bonnet
Jose Fernandez Madrid
Jorge Isaacs
Rafael Pombo
Zacarias Reyan
Sergio Velez
Children's literature
Some of the characters most recognized in Colombian children's literature and the popular imaginary are the stock characters created by Rafael Pombo, which are often found in nursery rhymes, familiar folk tales and in the textbooks for elementary school.
Other important children literature authors are:
Jairo Anibal Nino: with his works "La alegria de querer" (The joy of love), "Razzgo, Indo y Zas", "Catalino Bocachica" among others
Euclides Jaramillo: with the "Tales of Uncle rabbit".
See also
List of Colombian writers
References and external links
www.monografias.com
editthis.info/literatura_colombiana
[Forthcoming book on violence in contemporary Colombian fiction and cinema: http://www.boydell.co.uk/55661780.HTM]
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Literature of Colombia
