Chilean literature refers to all written or literary work produced in Chile or by Chilean writers. The literature of Chile is usually written in Spanish. Chile has a rich literary tradition and has been home to two Nobel prize winners, the poets Gabriela Mistral and Pablo Neruda. It has also seen three winners of the Miguel de Cervantes Prize, considered one of the most important Spanish language literature prizes: the novelist, journalist and diplomat Jorge Edwards (1998), and the poets Gonzalo Rojas (2003) and Nicanor Parra (2011).Chile's Nicanor Parra wins prestigious Cervantes Prize for literature www.thisischile.cl Thursday, December 01, 2011 retrieved September 17, 2013
Chilean literature during conquest and colonial times As the native cultures of the territories known today as Chile had no written tradition, (please see Mapudungun alphabet), Chilean literature was born during the Spanish conquest of the 1500s. The conquistador Pedro de Valdivia wrote letters to the king, Charles V (Carlos Primero de España), and in one of these letters, of 1554, he admiringly describes the natural beauty and landscape of the country. Along with the conquerors came missionaries to teach and convert the native peoples to Christianity, spreading not only their religion but also their language, writing and other arts and artisan skills.Crónicas patrias - La Literatura Chilena, bosquejo histórico, desde la colonia hasta nuestros días escrito para "La América Literaria" - Pedro Pablo Figueroa page 12 to 15, retrieved September 01, 2013 Chilean literature in the time of the Spanish conquest consisted mainly of chronicles of the war of Arauco. Most soldiers with the ability to write had to use the sword more often than the pen, so during the conquest and colonisation, the main role of literature was to keep historical records of the campaign. One exception to this, however, was the poem La Araucana, published in Spain in 1569, 1578, and 1589 and also known as The Araucaniad in English. La Araucana, written by Alonso de Ercilla, is the most significant epic poem in the modern Spanish language and is one of the most important works of the Spanish Golden Age (Siglo de Oro), describing the conquest of Chile in hendecasyllable verse. Later, Pedro de Oña, the first poet born in Chile, published an imitation of Ercilla, El Arauco domado (The Tamed Arauco) in 1596.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, historical work prevailed, including Historia del Reino de Chile (History of the Realm of Chile) by Alonso de Góngora Marmolejo, Histórica relación del Reino de Chile (Historical Account of the Realm of Chile) by Alonso de Ovalle; and Cautiverio feliz (Happy Captivity) by Francisco Núñez de Pineda y Bascuñán. This period also saw scientific writers like Juan Ignacio Molina, who wrote the "Ensayo sobre la Historia Natural de Chile" (An Essay on the Natural History of Chile), and the epic historical poem El Purén indómito (The Indomitable Purén), written by Fernando Álvarez de Toledo.
During the colonial period until the 19th century, literary works written by Chilean nuns spotlighted: there were spiritual letters, diaries, autobiographies and epistolaries; several writers stood out, including Tadea de San Joaquín, Úrsula Suárez and Josefa de los Dolores, whose works became the best known of its kind in the South American region.Castro Buarque, Virginia A. (2007). «Mujeres consagradas y sus prácticas de escritura en Brasil». In Alves Pereira, Ronan. Ciencias Sociales y Religión en América Latina: Perspectivas en Debate . Editorial Biblos. pp. 223. .
Independence The excitement of the independence movement inspired Camilo Henríquez to launch "La Aurora de Chile" (The Dawn of Chile), Chile's first newspaper or printing operation of any kind, mostly covering politics and political philosophy. It was in print from February 13, 1812, to April 1, 1813, at which point it became El Monitor Araucano. The paper had four printed pages with two columns each, and was published weekly, every Thursday. Other journalists of the period included Manuel de Salas, José Miguel Infante, Juan Egaña Risco and Antonio José de Irisarri. In the following years, Mercedes Marín del Solar wrote the poem "Canto fúnebre a la muerte de don Diego Portales" (Dirge for the death of Don Diego Portales), and glimpses of drama appeared with Manuel Magallanes and his "La Hija del Sur" (The Daughter of the South). Critics have seen the period as one of very active and enthusiastic writers, but with limited artistic technique. www.patrimoniochileno.net Retrieved September 11, 2013
Romanticism
Romanticism in Chile can be classified in three literary generations, according to the critic Cedomil Goic: the 1837 generation, the 1842 generation and the 1867 generation, the latter of which had many parallels with realism and is considered by some critics to actually be part of the realist movement.
The generation of 1837 Made up of writers born between 1800 and 1814 and also known as the "Generación Costumbrista", the 1837 generation developed a literary interpretation of local everyday life and manners.
Its main feature was a special emphasis on observing the picturesque and local, approaching it from a satirical and critical point of view. The group included Mercedes Marin del Solar, Vicente Pérez Rosales and José Joaquín Vallejo.
The 1842 generation Made up of writers born between 1815 and 1829, this group was also known as the "Romantic-social" generation. Like their predecessors, they portrayed everyday life but added an extra layer of social critique to their work. The group were influenced by foreign intellectuals in Chile such as José Joaquín de Mora, Andrés Bello, Domingo Faustino Sarmiento and Vicente Fidel López and made the first attempts to found a characteristically Chilean national literature movement. The poetry of this generation resembled European Romanticism in style and included Salvador Sanfuentes' "Inami", Guillermo Matta Goyenechea'sGuillermo Matta Goyenechea http://historiapolitica.bcn.cl/ retrieved September 11, 2013 "Poesías líricas" (Lyrical poems), Guillermo Blest Gana's "Armonías" (Harmonies) and José Antonio Soffia'sJosé Antonio Soffia © Escritores.cl retrieved September 11, 2013 "Hojas de otoño". Narrative literature had a more original style and included works such as José Victorino Lastarria's "Peregrinación de una vinchuca"; Alberto Blest Gana's "Durante la reconquista" (During the reconquest) and "El loco Estero" (Estero the Mad, 1909); José Joaquín Vallejo's "Artículos de costumbres" (Essays on customs); Vicente Pérez Rosales' "Recuerdos del pasado" (Memories of the past); and Daniel Riquelme's "Bajo la tienda" (Under canvas). Dramatic works of the period included Daniel Caldera'sCaldera, Daniel (1852-1896) www.mcnbiografias.com by Andrea VieraRené Salinas Meza retrieved September 12, 2013 "El tribunal del honor" (The court of honor).
From 1850, great historical works emerged such as Diego Barros Arana's Historia general de Chile (General history of Chile), Miguel Luis Amunátegui's Descubrimiento y conquista de Chile (Discovery and conquest of Chile), Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna's El ostracismo del jeneral D. Bernardo O'Higgins (The ostracism of general D. Bernardo O'Higgins) and Ramón Sotomayor Valdés' "Historia de Chile durante 40 años" (40 years of Chilean history).
In 1886, the Nicaraguan poet Rubén Darío moved to Valparaíso, Chile, where he stayed with fellow poets Poirier and Eduardo de la Barra. Together they co-authored a sentimental novel titled "Emelina". Although the novel was not an immediate success, Rubén Darío is credited with the re-emergence of Chilean lyric poetry with "Azul" (Blue) in 1888. This was followed by Carlos Pezoa Véliz' "Entierro de campo" (Country funeral) and "Tarde en el hospital" (Afternoon in the hospital), and Manuel Magallanes Moure's "La casa junto al mar" (Seaside house) and others. Carlos Pezoa Véliz only became famous after his early death at the age of 28.
Realism
The generation of 1867
Realist writers depicted everyday and banal activities and experiences instead of the more traditional romanticized or stylized representations, distinguishing them from their predecessors. This movement was made up of writers born between 1830 and 1844. Alberto Blest Gana is considered a pioneer of realist style in Chile, starting with Martín Rivas in 1862, a portrait of the Chilean society of the time. Blest Gana describes what he saw as positive changes in Chilean society, which, at the time, was moving towards capitalism. He believed it was inevitable that local traditions would disappear and be replaced with European customs, and felt that opposition to these changes was old-fashioned and futile. In contrast, fellow writer Luis Orrego Luco observed the transformations with sadness and denounced the moral consequences of this process of change. The opposing views of Blest Gana and Orrego Luco are the most important representation of the realism movement in Chile. Other important writers of the generation were Daniel Barros Grez, Eduardo de la Barra, Zorobabel Rodríguez, José Antonio Soffia, Moisés Vargas and Liborio Brieba. During this period, narrative literature advanced more than poetry or drama, although the construction of new theatres encouraged some development in the latter. Important theatres include the Victoria in Valparaíso, inaugurated in 1844, the República in Santiago, inaugurated in 1848, and Teatro Municipal de Santiago, inaugurated in 1857.
20th century
Criollismo
Also known as Costumbrismo, Criollismo was a literary movement that was active from the end of the 19th century to the first half of the twentieth century. An extension of Realism, it portrayed the scenes, customs and manners of the writer's country, with some hints of patriotism. The first centenary of Chilean independence in 1910 fed the patriotic spirit of the nation and its writers, and saw a renewed emphasis of rural life in contrast to the traditional focus on urban life as the only source and background of stories. In prose literature, Baldomero Lillo's Sub Terra and Sub Sole were among the most important, as well as Mariano Latorre's Zurzulita and Cuna de cóndores (Cradle of condors) and Federico Gana's Días de campo (Country days). Key drama works included Antonio Acevedo Hernández' Árbol Viejo (Old Tree), and Chañarcillo.
Chilean poetry 1900–1925
During the first quarter of twentieth century, a new Chilean literary scene emerged: an Avant-garde movement. The first manifestation of this movement was "Flores de cardo" (Thistle flowers) by Pedro Prado in 1908, a work that broke with metric restraints and the rules of poetry. Prado also published "El llamado del mundo" (The call of the world) and "Los pájaros errantes" (The wandering birds) in 1913 and 1915, and founded artistic group "Los Diez" with architect Julio Bertrand. in 1916.
On December 22, 1914, Gabriela Mistral - who would later win the Nobel Prize in Literature - won the "Juegos Florales de Santiago" poetry contest, her first recognition as a great talent. In 1919, Gabriela Mistral published Desolación, the work that won her the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1945. Desolación, Tala, Lagar were some of her most important poetic works. In 1914, Vicente Huidobro published El arte del sugerimiento (The art of suggestion) and Non serviam, two works that initiated the Creacionismo movement which saw a poem as a truly new thing, created by the author for the sake of itself. Huidrobro published the "manifesto" of the movement in his book El espejo de agua (The water mirror) in 1916. Ángel Cruchaga, another poet of this generation, took "love" as his main topic and was known for the sadness of his poems. In 1915, he published "Las manos juntas" (Holding hands), his most characteristic work.