Fiction, World Literature

Dona Barbara (Spanish Edition)

Name: Dona Barbara (Spanish Edition)
Author: Romulo Gallegos
ISBN: 9789700769646

by Romulo Gallegos

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Overview

Deeply involved with the social issues of his times Romulo Gallegos crafted his representation of the stratified society around him by building upon firmly grounded and widespread images.
These images highlight the underlying cultural and metaphysical beliefs (basis for a legitimized social order) from which the fictional world is finally drawn.
But while doing so Romulo Gallegos offered new alternatives to those visions as he established and widened gaps in those socially accepted perceptions and values.
The essential aspects of the social imaginaries and the characterization of the central feminine character are present in La Coronela, the first text that evolved into Doña Bárbara.
This edition, carefully annotated by prof Flor Maria Rodriguez-Arenas, also includes entire sections of that previous text, as it shows the intrinsic aspects of "the terrible stalwart woman". Also present are the structuring, discursive and functional elements as the character develops to become "the devourer of men" as portrayed in the final version of Doña Bárbara. These aspects of the social imaginary allow readers from different eras, almost a century after its publication, to understand the novel and continue to generate interpretations that will certainly enrich its reception.

About the Author, Romulo Gallegos

Rómulo Gallegos was born in Caracas into a family of humble origin. He began his work as a schoolteacher, writer, and journalist in 1903. His novel Doña Bárbara was first published 1929, and as a result was forced to flee Venezuela since he criticized the military regime at the time. He took refuge in Spain, where he continued to write: his acclaimed novels Cantaclaro (1934) and Canaima (1935) date from this period.

He returned to Venezuela in 1936 and served in a variety of senior positions in the government. In 1947 he ran for the presidency of the republic, won the election, took office in February 1948, and was overthown by a military coup d'état the following November. He took refuge first in Cuba and then in Mexico.

He was able to return to Venezuela in 1958. He was appointed a Senator for life, awarded the National Literature Prize, and elected to the Venezuelan Academy of the Language (the correspondent agency in Venezuela of the Spanish Royal Academy). The Rómulo Gallegos International Novel Prize was created in his honor in 1964, with the first award being made in 1967. He died in Caracas on on April 7, 1969.