Doña Bárbara
Encyclopedia
Doña Bárbara is a novel by Venezuela
n author
Rómulo Gallegos
, first published in 1929. It was described in 1974 as "possibly the most widely known Latin American novel".
This regionalist
novel deals with the confrontation between civilization and the barbaric aspects of the rural environment and its inhabitants. It is written in the third person and mixes vernacular language and regionalisms with literary narrative, making the main conflict more obvious and at the same time more tangible. This novel is considered a masterpiece of Venezuelan literature
and a classic in Latin American literature
. It establishes a psychological study of the people of the Venezuelan plains: victims of unfortunate situations, but at the same time strong and courageous.
of Apure
, central Venezuela at Easter 1927, in order to gather material for the book he was writing, staying on a ranch near San Fernando de Apure
. His previous book, La Trepadora, had been well-received. He gathered many details of the local idiom, scenery, and daily life, and was inspired by the real people he encountered; Doña Bárbara herself is derived at least in part from the local landowner Doña Pancha. Of the fifty place names mentioned, over half are easily identifiable in the area, and many more can be associated with existing sites with a little more effort.
Within a month of returning to Caracas
the first pages of the resulting novel, La Coronela, were being printed. Yet dissatisfied with the title and the first printed pages, Gallegos called the printing off. Gallegos then took his wife to Bologna
, Italy, for an operation, and returned to the manuscript, making substantial revisions and coming up with a better title: Doña Bárbara. The novel was then first published in Barcelona
, Spain, in February 1929, by Spanish publisher Editorial Araluce. It was substantially revised for its January 1930 second edition, Gallegos adding five chapters amounting to 20,000 words, re-ordering chapters, and making various other changes. Gallegos later made further changes, until the author was finally satisfied with his work in 1954.
was under the dictatorial regime of Juan Vicente Gómez
. His rule saw wealth from oil discovered in the early twentieth century, and he used it to develop modern infrastructure and end the era of caudillismo, fully and completely uniting the country for the first time. However his rule was also brutal and corrupt.
, returns to his father's land in the plains of Apure
to sell the land but desists when he discovers that it is controlled by a despotic woman, Doña Bárbara, also known as the men's devourer; it is said that she uses seduction and pacts with demonic spirits to satisfy her whims and achieve power.
Santos Luzardo meets his cousin Lorenzo Barquero and discovers that he was a victim of the femme fatale, who left him bankrupt and a daughter, Marisela, whom she abandoned and who became quickly a vagrant. Lorenzo lives in poverty in a miserable house consumed by his own constant drunkenness.
Doña Bárbara falls in love with Santos Luzardo but he is charmed by Marisela, no longer living in abandonment and taken under Luzardo’s care.
The novel ends with the “defeat” of Doña Bárbara, who is able to obtain neither the land nor Luzardo’s heart, and finally departs to an unknown location.
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
n author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
Rómulo Gallegos
Rómulo Gallegos
Rómulo Ángel del Monte Carmelo Gallegos Freire was a Venezuelan novelist and politician. For a period of some nine months during 1948, he was the first cleanly elected president in his country's history....
, first published in 1929. It was described in 1974 as "possibly the most widely known Latin American novel".
This regionalist
Regionalism (literature)
In literature, regionalism or local color refers to fiction or poetry that focuses on specific features – including characters, dialects, customs, history, and topography – of a particular region...
novel deals with the confrontation between civilization and the barbaric aspects of the rural environment and its inhabitants. It is written in the third person and mixes vernacular language and regionalisms with literary narrative, making the main conflict more obvious and at the same time more tangible. This novel is considered a masterpiece of Venezuelan literature
Venezuelan literature
Venezuelan literature can be traced to pre-Hispanic times with the myths and oral literature that formed the cosmogonic view of the world that indigenous people had. Some of these stories are still known in Venezuela. Like many Latin American countries, the Spanish conquerors have had the greatest...
and a classic in Latin American literature
Latin American literature
Latin American literature consists of the oral and written literature of Latin America in several languages, particularly in Spanish, Portuguese, and indigenous languages of the Americas. It rose to particular prominence globally during the second half of the 20th century, largely due to the...
. It establishes a psychological study of the people of the Venezuelan plains: victims of unfortunate situations, but at the same time strong and courageous.
Publication
Gallegos took his first trip into the llanosLlanos
The Llanos is a vast tropical grassland plain situated to the east of the Andes in Colombia and Venezuela, in northwestern South America. It is an ecoregion of the Flooded grasslands and savannas Biome....
of Apure
Apure
Apure State is one of the 23 states into which Venezuela is divided. Its territory formed part of the provinces of Mérida, Maracaibo, and Barinas, in accordance with successive territorial ordinations pronounced by the colonial authorities. In 1824 the Department of Apure was created, under...
, central Venezuela at Easter 1927, in order to gather material for the book he was writing, staying on a ranch near San Fernando de Apure
San Fernando de Apure
San Fernando de Apure is a city in Apure State in Venezuela. The population of the municipality area is 175,056 . The 18th century exports included heron feathers and animal hides....
. His previous book, La Trepadora, had been well-received. He gathered many details of the local idiom, scenery, and daily life, and was inspired by the real people he encountered; Doña Bárbara herself is derived at least in part from the local landowner Doña Pancha. Of the fifty place names mentioned, over half are easily identifiable in the area, and many more can be associated with existing sites with a little more effort.
Within a month of returning to Caracas
Caracas
Caracas , officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela; natives or residents are known as Caraquenians in English . It is located in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range...
the first pages of the resulting novel, La Coronela, were being printed. Yet dissatisfied with the title and the first printed pages, Gallegos called the printing off. Gallegos then took his wife to Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, Italy, for an operation, and returned to the manuscript, making substantial revisions and coming up with a better title: Doña Bárbara. The novel was then first published in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, Spain, in February 1929, by Spanish publisher Editorial Araluce. It was substantially revised for its January 1930 second edition, Gallegos adding five chapters amounting to 20,000 words, re-ordering chapters, and making various other changes. Gallegos later made further changes, until the author was finally satisfied with his work in 1954.
Reception
The novel was published to worldwide acclaim, and despite Gallegos' research in the llanos taking just 8 days, those familiar with the Venezuelan llanos were almost without exception convinced of its authenticity, convinced Gallegos was very familiar with them, if not born there.Historical context
In the 1920s, VenezuelaVenezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
was under the dictatorial regime of Juan Vicente Gómez
Juan Vicente Gómez
Juan Vicente Gómez Chacón was a military general and de facto ruler of Venezuela from 1908 until his death in 1935. He was president on three occasions during this time, and ruled as an unelected military strongman for the rest of the era.-Early years:Gómez was a barely literate cattle herder and...
. His rule saw wealth from oil discovered in the early twentieth century, and he used it to develop modern infrastructure and end the era of caudillismo, fully and completely uniting the country for the first time. However his rule was also brutal and corrupt.
Plot summary
Santos Luzardo, a graduate lawyer of the Central University of VenezuelaCentral University of Venezuela
The Central University of Venezuela is a premier public University of Venezuela located in Caracas...
, returns to his father's land in the plains of Apure
Apure
Apure State is one of the 23 states into which Venezuela is divided. Its territory formed part of the provinces of Mérida, Maracaibo, and Barinas, in accordance with successive territorial ordinations pronounced by the colonial authorities. In 1824 the Department of Apure was created, under...
to sell the land but desists when he discovers that it is controlled by a despotic woman, Doña Bárbara, also known as the men's devourer; it is said that she uses seduction and pacts with demonic spirits to satisfy her whims and achieve power.
Santos Luzardo meets his cousin Lorenzo Barquero and discovers that he was a victim of the femme fatale, who left him bankrupt and a daughter, Marisela, whom she abandoned and who became quickly a vagrant. Lorenzo lives in poverty in a miserable house consumed by his own constant drunkenness.
Doña Bárbara falls in love with Santos Luzardo but he is charmed by Marisela, no longer living in abandonment and taken under Luzardo’s care.
The novel ends with the “defeat” of Doña Bárbara, who is able to obtain neither the land nor Luzardo’s heart, and finally departs to an unknown location.
Characters
- Santos Luzardo: represents civilization and progress. He is an advanced plainsman and, at the same time, a graduate lawyer of the Central University of VenezuelaCentral University of VenezuelaThe Central University of Venezuela is a premier public University of Venezuela located in Caracas...
. Luzardo is a man of great psychological depth and essentially good.
- Doña Bárbara Guaimarán: representing barbarism, is Luzardo's antithesis; she is arbitrary, violent, cunning and whimsical. However, in her there is not an absolute absence of feelings, which are intensely awakened by Santos Luzardo. Her contradictory manners reflect the wild behavior of her environment. Her behaviour is a reaction to the trauma she suffered in her childhood, victim of high levels of abuse.
- Marisela: represents good raw material that civilization can mold. Born from a loveless union she is rescued from a degraded condition by Luzardo.
- Lorenzo Barquero: Orphan whose future was destroyed by misfortune and vice.
- Míster DangerMíster DangerMíster Peligro, or Señor Peligro , is the name of a character in the novel Doña Bárbara, written by Venezuelan novelist and former president Rómulo Gallegos. Both forms of the name appear in the novel, though the first is more prevalent. Mister Danger and Mr...
: represents the contempt foreigners harbor toward Venezuelans. He is Doña Bárbara's accomplice.
- Juan Primito: represents superstition and the pagan beliefs of the plainsmen.
Adaptations
- Doña Bárbara (1943 film)Doña Bárbara (1943 film)Doña Bárbara is a 1943 Mexican romantic drama film directed by Fernando de Fuentes and starring María Félix and Julián Soler. The film is based on the novel Doña Bárbara by Venezuelan author Rómulo Gallegos, who also co-wrote the screenplay.-Plot:...
- Doña Bárbara (Venevisión TV series)Dona Barbara (Venevision TV series)Doña Bárbara is a Venezuelan telenovela written by Délia Fiello. It is based on the novel by Rómulo Gallegos. Production by Venevisión.-Cast:*Lupita Ferrer as Doña Bárbara*Esperanza Magaz as Marisela Barquero...
(1967-8) - Doña Bárbara (RCTV TV series) (1975)
- Doña Bárbara (1998 film)Doña Bárbara (1998 film)Doña Bárbara is a 1998 Argentine-Spanish romantic drama film directed by Betty Kaplan adapted from the novel Doña Bárbara by Venezuelan author Rómulo Gallegos...
- Doña Barbara (2008-2009 Telemundo series)Doña Bárbara (Telemundo series)Doña Bárbara is a Spanish-language telenovela produced by the United States-based television network Telemundo, Sony Pictures Television International and RTI Colombia. Edith González and Christian Meier star in this adaptation of the 1929 novel by Venezuelan author Rómulo Gallegos...