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Technicas narrativas: Polifonia, cinematografia y vision de la anti-historia en "La Casa Grande" de Alvaro Cepeda Samudio
Abstract
Alvaro Cepeda Samudio (1926-78) holds a unique place among contemporary Colombian writers not only for his fictional re-creation of historical events but also for his powerful and innovative narrative strategy. Together with Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Alfonso Fuenmayor, Samudio was a member of the so-called "trio" of young authors that introduced in literature a transnational approach to the history and social problems of Colombia. La casa grande, Samudio's only novel, which was published in 1962, presents two parallel stories: one portrays the internal conflict that brings about the disruption of a family dominated by a patriarchal figure, and the other relates the massacre of banana plantation workers carried out by soldiers in the Magdalena area in 1928. The book consists of ten independent chapters which subvert traditional chronological order. Each chapter is characterized by the use of various techniques, such as polyphony (a term borrowed from Mikhail Bakhtin) and cinematic structure. The novel, that represents the artist's maturity, was written with the purpose of illuminating a dark, turbulent period of Colombian history whose consequences are still present in today's social and economic situation. Samudio tries to disclose the significance of unprecedented decades of violence by showing manifold political practices and systems of exploitation by foreign companies with the complicity of the Colombian government itself. By doing so, he challenges the view supported by historians, military men and statesmen. The fine audacity that distinguishes Cepeda Samudio as a writer is the result of his strong personality which prevents him from lapsing into sentimentality, bombast or swagger. His literary talent and creativity, which produces a skillful blend of fiction, reality and imagination, constitutes a major influence on Colombian literature.
Subject Area
Latin American literature|Literature
Recommended Citation
Palacios Moreno, Hugo, "Technicas narrativas: Polifonia, cinematografia y vision de la anti-historia en "La Casa Grande" de Alvaro Cepeda Samudio" (1997). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9730276.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9730276