National Holidays: Peruvian Independence Through the Eyes of Our National Storytellers

Just one year from Bicentennial, the bells of Peru’s independence process continue to ring in our national literature. Here they are, fresh out of the oven this past July, as a preview of our national holidays, the novels Mariscala by writer Claudia Nunez Flores and 1821. Year of Hope” by Alejandro Neira. both published by Penguin Random House.

Previously, a similar proposal was made by Arsam and the Altazor label, each with their own bicentennial collection that brought together Peruvian writers to explain our emancipation through fiction. This is how names such as “El Barco de San Martin” by Juan Manuel Chavez were born; “1814: The Year of Independence” by Claudia Salazar Jimenez; “Brilliant Hero”, Cosme Saavedra; “Secretary of the Liberator” by Harol Gastelu; “El molle y el sauce” by Zoila Vega, among others.

But the truth is that apart from editorial tendencies, historical romance in Peru According to the writer Mario Suárez Simich, it has been around for a long time, although it has not been properly studied. RPP News. “Production is inversely proportional to critical research,” he said. And critic Jorge Valenzuela noted: “This is a literary subspecies that we meet in the middle of the nineteenth century, in the context of romanticism.”

historical novelIn addition, according to Suarez Simich, it occurs in moments of social crisis, persecution or cataclysms. But, in his opinion, this did not necessarily happen after our release. “Costumbrismo was what we inherited after independence… there were a few historical novels like Manuel Asensio Segura’s Gonzalo Pizarro, but there was no independence novel,” he said.

For this reason, until the birth of epic literature about the battles in which our heroes or liberators faced each other, it was the tradition of Ricardo Palma that was central to the 19th century Peruvian narrative. “His presence is of central importance,” said Valenzuela, for whom the influence of the Lima-based author became prominent in the development of the narrative discourse of historical fiction in the 20th century.

The critic also stated that, despite the fact that at the beginning of the twentieth century there was an increased interest in the cultivation of the historical novel – in 1926, for example, Angelica Palma published “The Times of the Old Motherland”, which deals with the struggle of generations between realistic fathers against their patriotic son, while in 1924 Carlos Camino Calderón produced “Ildefonso” about an Afro-Peruvian soldier enrolled in a patriotic army whose trajectory is “unstable” over time.

From Teresa Gonzalez to Sandro Bossio

Although Mario Suárez pointed out that in our country there are many more novels about other historical processes, such as the uprisings of indigenous peoples against the Spanish crown, in any case there are fictions about our independence that should be taken into account when thinking about national literature.

In this sense, Jorge Valenzuela suggested several titles, in which, in addition to those already mentioned, he called “Roque Moreno” (1917) by Teresa González de Fanning, where “the patriotic story works” through the protagonist, who gives the title to the book, which in ends up being a confused criminal, using the rebellion as an excuse to commit his crimes.

He also took into account the critique of “Cruz de Santiago” (1935) from the novel “Camino Calderon”, the plot of which is centered on Cristobal de la Barca, a man from Lima in whom the revolutionary quest condenses with monarchical values ​​and who adds independence to the cause after , as he heard about the act of Tupac Amaru and met Don José de San Martin in Europe.

Suárez Simic, for his part, recalled El Martir Pescador José Silverio Olaya (1945) by historian Luis Antonio Eguiguren, which recounts in fictionalized form the exploits and sacrifices that a Chorrill sailor put into the 1823 liberation campaign.

“Another important novel is Carlos Thorne’s Señor de Lunahuana (1994), starring Dionisio de Gavidia y Landazuri, a man who lives in the past, is tied to the memory of the colony and resists changing his fortunes,” Valenzuela said. and then added another one that shares the theme: The Marquis in Exile (2016) by Fabrizio Tildo.

In this short list, one cannot fail to mention the work of Sandro Bossio, author of El Aroma de la Dissidencia, which takes place during the last days of Spanish rule in Peru. Neither is Mario Suárez Simic himself a title, who in Time Dying in Our Hands (Letters to Silvia) focuses on independence martyr and poet Mariano Melgar to illuminate a love story.

Valenzuela noted that certain traits, whether at the level of the story or the characters, recur in these books. “They are associated with the confrontation of generations, taking positions of independence, the death of the values ​​of the colony, generated by family crises and the presence of marginal characters,” he said.

Meanwhile, Suárez Simic clarified that the modern historical novel has a mission: “to question the present through the past.” On the eve of our National holidaysthe issue of the independence process remains on the agenda.

“my favorite novel“: Great Works of Classical Literature with Commentary by Nobel Laureate Mario Vargas Llosa. An RPP production for all Hispanic listeners.

The incredible thing about “Rinconete y Cortadillo” is that it conveys so much generosity and optimism about the human condition. Today’s work belongs to Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra’s Exemplary Novels, and with it we will laugh along with petty criminals, colorful types and unscrupulous women.