Panamanian literature
Encyclopedia
Panamanian literature comprises the whole of literary works written in Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...

. Panamanian historian and essayist Rodrigo Miró (1912-1996) cites Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés as the author of the first Panamanian literary work, the story of a character named Andrea de la Roca, which was published as part of the "Historia General y Natural de Las Indias" (1535). However, the first manifestations of literature written in Panama come from the 17th century with the title of "Llanto de Panamá a la muerte de don Enrique Enríquez" (Crying from Panama at the Death of Don Enrique Enríquez). Although this anthology was formed during the Colony, most of the poems in it were written by authors born in Panama. But it was not until the mid-19th century when the activity of Panamanian authors reached its maximum, and when literary production laid its foundations until the present time.

During the Colony

Rodrigo Miró in his "Itinerario de la Poesía en Panamá" (Itinerary of Poetry in Panama) talks about various Spanish authors: Mateo Rosas de Oquendo, author of an autobiographic romance; Juan de Miramontes y Zuázola, author of "Armas Antárticas" (Antarctic Weapons); Juan de Páramo y Cepeda, author of "Alteraciones del Dariel" (Alterations of Darien); etc. Also, in this period arose the author of "La Política del Mundo" (Politics of the World), Víctor de la Guardia y Ayala. "La Política del Mundo" is a "stage play" that was performed for the first time in 1809. The importance of Víctor de la Guardia y Ayala is that he was born in Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...

, contrary to others that came from Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 and, for this reason, for a while he was considered the "first Panamanian poet".

However, the discovery of some manuscripts which come from the 17th century caused the revision of this idea, because the first reference from this period which indicates a written production by Panamanian authors (in other words, born in Panama) dates from 1638 and it is an anthology called "Llanto de Panamá a la muerte de don Enrique Enríquez" (Crying from Panama at the Death of Don Enrique Enríquez). This anthology groups works written for the death of Enrique Enríquez, governor of Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...

. It was edited for the first time in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

 (1642) and its author was Mateo Ribera (Panamanian); also he wrote many poems in this work. Although most of "Llanto de Panamá"´s poems were written by Panamanians, it has many works written by Spanish authors.

This discovery was accomplished by the Spanish diplomat Antonio Serrano de Haro, who also studied these manuscripts. A new version of this anthology was published at 1984 in a combined job between the Universidad de Panamá
University of Panama
The University of Panama was founded on October 7, 1935, with a student body of 175 in the fields of Education, Commerce, Natural Sciences, Pharmacy, Pre-Engineering and Law. , it maintains a student body of 74,059 distributed in 228 buildings around the country.The University of Panama was founded...

 and the "Instituto de Cultura Hispánica". This discovery confirms, in fact, that the first Panamanian literary manifestations (found until now) come from 17th century.

Romanticism

Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...

 was not isolated from revolutionary movements which were seeking the independence of colonies from Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

. The feeling of independence was growing up and it was accomplished with the Independence
Independence
Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state in which its residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory....

 of Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...

 from Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 on November 28, 1821. Like the other colonies, in Panama the Romanticism
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...

 was related to liberal and nationalist ideas and the literary works are influenced by these in this period. Although there was more participation of authors in this era, most of them are amateurs and not persons who spent their whole time in artistic creation.

Among the first romantic
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...

 Panamanian poets we can mention are Manuel María Ayala (1785–1824) and Tomás Miró Rubini (1800–1881). Subsequently appeared José María Alemán (1830–1887), Gil Colunje (1831–1899), Tomás Martín Feuillet (1832–1899), José Dolores Urriola (1834–1883), Amelia Denis de Icaza (1836–1911), Manuel José Pérez (1837–1895), Jerónimo Ossa (1847–1907), Federico Escobar (1861–1912) and Rodolfo Caicedo (1868–1905).

In conclusion, the cultivation of poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...

 was established (in fact) in Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...

 with the romantic generations and it acquired a nationalist character that would be the main theme in poetic works until mid-20th century when avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....

 poetry arrived in Panama.

Modernism

In 1903, Panama separated from Colombia; this time saw the peak of modernism in Hispanic literature. The first modernist was Darío Herrera
Dario Herrera
Dario Herrera is a former Democratic politician from Nevada. Herrera was considered a rising star in the Democratic Party until his defeat for election to the United States House of Representatives in 2002 and his subsequent convictions on federal public corruption charges.-Political...

 (1870–1914), friend and follower of Rubén Darío
Rubén Darío
Félix Rubén García Sarmiento , known as Rubén Darío, was a Nicaraguan poet who initiated the Spanish-American literary movement known as modernismo that flourished at the end of the 19th century...

, whom he met in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

. Another important poet was León Antonio Soto (1874–1902), who died at a young age when tortured by the police for having championed the cause of Panama.

Two literary magazines focused mainly on the dissemination of the modernist movement: El Heraldo del Istmo (1904–1906), directed by Guillermo Andreve (1879–1940), and Nuevos Ritos (1907), founded by Ricardo Miró
Ricardo Miró
Ricardo Miró , is a Panamanian writer and is considered to be the most noteworthy poet of this country....

 (1883–1940). Ricardo Miró is perhaps the most prominent poet of Panamanian modernism. His poem "Patria" (1909) is also famous.

At this time, Gaspar Octavio Hernández (1893–1918), author of Melodías del pasado (1915) and La copa de amatista (1923), was also active. Other notable poets of the same generation were María Olimpia de Obaldía
María Olimpia de Obaldía
María Olimpia de Obaldía , was a Panamanian poet. The daughter of Manuel del Rosario Miranda and Felipa Rovira, she was born in Dolega, in the province of Chiriquí Province...

 (1891–1985) and Demetrio Korsi (1899–1957).

1930 to present

Since 1930, coinciding with the "Communal Action" (Acción Comunal) youth revolution, a new generation of poets, grouped around the magazine Antena, distanced itself from modernist rhetoric, instead approaching the avant-garde. The main reference for this transformation was Rogelio Sinán
Rogelio Sinán
Rogelio Sinán was the pseudonym Panamanian writer Bernardo Domínguez Alba used for his writing. He went to universities in Chile and Italy before becoming a consul to Calcutta. He has written plays and a novel, but is known for his short fiction. His work has been termed Avant-garde and he is a...

 (Taboga, 1902 – Panamá, 1994), an author who had traveled in Europe and visited the surrealists in Paris. Onda
Onda
Onda S.p.A. is an Italian cellular phone manufacturer. The company′s headquarter is in Roveredo in Piano with a subsidiary in Rome and in Nanjing .Telecom Italia is a major distributor of Onda handsets.- Mobile Phones :* N1000iB...

(1929) shows the influence of pure poetry; other major works by Sinan include Incendios (1944) and Semana Santa en la niebla (1949), in which dreamlike elements show his surrealist affiliation.

Surrealism is also evident in the work of Ricardo J. Bermúdez (1914), whose most famous work is Laurel de cenizas (1951). The work of Demetrio Herrera Sevillano (1902–1950) is also a part of this avant-garde movement; his work was greatly influenced by ultraísmo.

Another poet of this era, who was also a short-story writer and journalist, was Mario Augusto Rodríguez (1917). In 1957, he published his poetry collection Canto de amor para la Patría novia, a poetic history of the Panamanian nation.

Other major poets of this era include Stella Sierra, Roque Javier Laurenza, Ofelia Hooper, Tobías Díaz Blaitry (1919–2006), Tristán Solarte (1934), José de Jesús Martínez, Diana Morán
Diana Moran
Diana Moran is a British model, fitness expert and journalist.In the 1960s and 1970s, Moran was a successful print and catwalk model. She also appeared as a TV announcer and newsreader for HTV West.-Career:...

 (1932), Alvaro Menéndez Franco (1932), Luis Carlos Jiménez Varela, José Guillermo Ross-Zanet (1930), José Franco
José Franco
-Literary works:*Smilla en Flor, 3 editions *La Sangre Derramada *Una Cruz Verde en el Camino *Coplas y Fábulas a Pelusa *Redobles al Amanecer *Horas Testimoniales *Poemas a mi Patria *Patria Sagrada...

 (1931), and Elsie Alvarado de Ricord (1928–2005).

Major poets of the next generation included Benjamín Ramón (1939), Bertalicia Peralta (1939), Ramón Oviero (1939–2008), Moravia Ochoa López (1941), Dimas Lidio Pitty (1941), Roberto Fernández Iglesias (1941), Eric Arce (1942), Enrique Jaramillo Levi (1944), Jarl Ricardo Babot (1945), Giovanna Benedetti (1949), Manuel Orestes Nieto (1951), Viviane Nathan (1953), Moisés Pascual (1955), Consuelo Tomás
Consuelo Tomás
Consuelo Tomás Fitzgerald is a Panamanian actress in puppet shows, playwright, poet, novelist and radio and television co-ordinator....

 (1957), Héctor M. Collado (1960), and Pablo Menacho (1960).

At the end of the 20th century emerged a new generation of poets, who began to publish after 1990. Major poets of this era include Javier Romero Hernández (Chorrera, 1983), Sofía Santim (Panamá, 1982), Javier Alvarado (Santiago de Veraguas, 1982), Salvador Medina Barahona (Mariabé de Pedasí, 1973), Eyra Harbar Gomez (Bocas del Toro, 1972), Porfirio Salazar (1970), Katia Chiari (Panamá, 1969), and Alexander Zanchez (Panamá, 1968).

Modernism and the first Panamanian books

The short story in Panama can be said to have begun formally in 1903, when Darío Herrera
Dario Herrera
Dario Herrera is a former Democratic politician from Nevada. Herrera was considered a rising star in the Democratic Party until his defeat for election to the United States House of Representatives in 2002 and his subsequent convictions on federal public corruption charges.-Political...

 (1870–1914) published the first book of stories by a Panamanian author, Horas Lejanas, in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

. Since this time, the short story has been the most important literary genre in Panama.

Nearly all modernist and postmodernist poets in Panama published stories during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Of these, Salomón Ponce Aguilera (1868–1945), Guillermo Andreve, Gaspar Octavio Hernández (1883–1940), and Ricardo Miró
Ricardo Miró
Ricardo Miró , is a Panamanian writer and is considered to be the most noteworthy poet of this country....

 (1883–1940) stand out as poets whose short stories, often scattered and unpublished, were picked up and commented on by writer Mario Augusto Rodríguez in 1956. Other important authors of this period include José María Núñez (1894–1990), Moisés Castillo (1899–1974), Gil Blas Tejeira (1901–1975) and Alfredo Cantón (1910-1967).

Themes of the countryside and the canal in narrative

One notable author of the next generation was Rogelio Sinán
Rogelio Sinán
Rogelio Sinán was the pseudonym Panamanian writer Bernardo Domínguez Alba used for his writing. He went to universities in Chile and Italy before becoming a consul to Calcutta. He has written plays and a novel, but is known for his short fiction. His work has been termed Avant-garde and he is a...

, author of the novel Plenilunio and the collections of stories A la orilla de las estatuas maduras (1946), La boina roja y cinco cuentos (1954), Cuentos de Rogelio Sinán (1971), and El candelabro de los malos ofidios (1982). Other authors of this generation included Lucas Bárcenas (1906–1992), César Candanedo (1906–1993), Renato Ozores (1910–2001), Ricardo Bermúdez (1914–2000), Mario Augusto Rodríguez (Santiago de Veraguas, 1917) (author of Campo Adentro (1947), Luna en Veraguas (1948), and Los ultrajados (1994)), José María Sánchez (1918–1973), Ramón H. Jurado (1922–1978), Joaquín Beleño (1921), Carlos Francisco Changmarín (1922), Jorge Turner (1922), Tristán Solarte (1924) and José Guillermo Ros-Zanet (1930). In this generation, authors cultivated nationalistic themes, either from the point of view of the cities at each end of the Panama Canal and their relation to the Canal Zone, or from rural point of view from the interior of the country.

Universal themes

The next generation is that of authors born since 1932. Many of these authors are still producing literary works. Major authors of this generation include Ernesto Endara (1932), Álvaro Menéndez Franco (1932), Enrique Chuez (1934), Justo Arroyo
Justo Arroyo
Justo Arroyo is a Panamanian writer and scholar, author of several award-winning stories and novels in his country and abroad.-Trajectory:...

 (1936), Rosa María Britton
Rosa María Britton
Rosa María Britton is a Panamanian novelist born on July 28, 1936 in Panama City.-Background and education:Her father was Cuban and her mother was Panamanian. She attended school in Panama City and her secondary studies in Havana, Cuba...

 (1936), Victoria Jiménez Vélez (1937), Pedro Rivera (1939), Benajamín Ramón (1939), Beatríz Valdés
Beatriz Valdés
Beatriz Valdés Fidalgo is a Cuban-Venezuelan actress.She was born in Cuba, where she studied drama and worked as an actress before she arrived to Venezuela as a guest at the Cinema Interamerican Forum in 1989...

 (1940), Gloria Guardia
Gloria Guardia
Gloria Guardia is a Panamanian novelist, essayist and journalist. A Fellow of the Panamanian Academy of Letters and Associate Fellow of the Spanish Royal Academy, the Colombian and the Nicaraguan Academy of Letters.-Education:...

 (1940), Dimas Lidio Pitty (1941), Moravia Ochoa López (1941), Mireya Hernández (1942–2006), Enrique Jaramillo Levi (1944), Isabel Herrera de Taylor (1944), Raúl Leis (1947), Giovanna Benedetti (1949), Lupita Quirós Athanasiadis (1950), Rey Barría (1951), Ramón Fonseca Mora (1952), Herastro Reyes (1952–2005), Claudio de Castro (1957), Consuelo Tomás
Consuelo Tomás
Consuelo Tomás Fitzgerald is a Panamanian actress in puppet shows, playwright, poet, novelist and radio and television co-ordinator....

 (1957), Yolanda Hackshaw (1958), Allen Patiño (1959), Rafael Alexis Álvarez (1959), Ariel Barría Alvarado (1959), Héctor Collado (1960), David Robinson Orobio (1960), Erika Harris (1963), and Rogelio Guerra Ávila (1963), Javier Stanziola (1971). This generation is notable for its abandonment of criollismo
Criollismo
Criollismo is a literary movement, also called costumbrismo, that took place between the end of the 19th century and the first part of the 20th century in Latin America, and is considered equivalent to regionalism in the USA literature. It is based on realism to describe the scenes, customs and...

as a narrative theme in favor of universal themes, and in some cases, emphasizing dream and fantasy.

Twenty-first century narrative

Publishing for the first time after 1996, the newest generation of Panamanian storytellers has emerged. Among these writers are Carlos Fong (1967), Francisco J. Berguido (1969), Carlos Oriel Wynter Melo (1971), José Luis Rodríguez Pittí
José Luis Rodríguez Pittí
José Luis Rodríguez Pittí is a contemporary writer and documentary photographer. He was born in Panamá.He is the author of short stories, poems and essays and published the books "Panamá Blues" , "miniTEXTOS" , "Sueños urbanos" , "Crónica de invisibles" José Luis Rodríguez Pittí (born 29 March...

 (1971), Melanie Taylor (1972), Roberto Pérez-Franco (1976), Gloria Melania Rodríguez (1981), and Annabel Miguelena
Annabel Miguelena
Annabel Miguelena was born in Chitré in 1984. She is a Panamanian writer, actress and lawyer. Has published "Amo tus pies mugrientos" , "Punto final" and "Pedacito de luna"...

(1984).
This generation is characterized by the use of short fiction, poetic and imaginative language, and human themes, in which the individual stands out above a chaotic, typically urban environment.

External links

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