Table Of ContentThe Image of the River in Latin/o
American Literature
Ecocritical Theory and Practice
SeriesEditor:DouglasA.Vakoch,METI
AdvisoryBoard
BruceAllen,SeisenUniversity,Japan; HannesBergthaller, NationalChung-HsingUni-
versity,Taiwan;ZéliaBora,FederalUniversityofParaíba,Brazil;IzabelBrandão,Feder-
al University of Alagoas, Brazil; Byron Caminero-Santangelo, University of Kansas,
USA; Simão Farias Almeida, Federal University of Roraima, Brazil; George Handley,
Brigham Young University, USA; Isabel Hoving, Leiden University, The Netherlands;
Idom Thomas Inyabri, University of Calabar, Nigeria; Serenella Iovino, University of
Turin,Italy;DanielaKato,KyotoInstituteofTechnology,Japan;PetrKopecký,Univer-
sityofOstrava,CzechRepublic;SerpilOppermann,HacettepeUniversity,Turkey;Chris-
tianSchmitt-Kilb,UniversityofRostock,Germany;HeikeSchwarz,UniversityofAugs-
burg, Germany; Murali Sivaramakrishnan, Pondicherry University, India; Scott Slovic,
Universityof Idaho,USA;J.EtienneTerblanche, North-WestUniversity,South Africa;
Julia Tofantšuk, Tallinn University, Estonia; Cheng Xiangzhan, Shandong University,
China;HubertZapf,UniversityofAugsburg,Germany
Ecocritical Theory and Practice highlights innovative scholarship at the interface of
literary/cultural studies and the environment, seeking to foster an ongoing dialogue be-
tweenacademicsandenvironmentalactivists.
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The Image of the River in Latin/o
American Literature
Written in the Water
Edited by Jeanie Murphy and
Elizabeth G. Rivero
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ExcerptsfromLosfuegosdeSanTelmobyJoséPedroDíaz,©JoséPedroDíaz.Originallypublished
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ExcerptsfromArtistStatement(1999)aboutReconstruccióndelretratodePabloMíguez,courtesy
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Names:Murphy,Jeanie,editor,author.|Rivero,ElizabethG.,editor,author.
Title:TheimageoftheriverinLatin/oAmericanliterature:writteninthewater/editedbyJeanie
MurphyandElizabethG.Rivero.
Description:Lanham,Maryland:LexingtonBooks,2017.|Series:Ecocriticaltheoryandpractice|
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
Identifiers:LCCN2017049361(print)|LCCN2017053051(ebook)|ISBN9781498547307(elec-
tronic)|ISBN9781498547291(cloth:alk.paper)
Subjects:LCSH:LatinAmericanliterature--Historyandcriticism.|Riversinliterature.|Waterin
literature.|Water--Symbolicaspects.
Classification:LCCPQ7081(ebook)|LCCPQ7081.I3572017(print)|DDC860.9/36--dc23
LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2017049361
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Materials,ANSI/NISOZ39.48-1992.
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
Contents
Introduction:WrittenintheWater:TheImageoftheRiverin
Latin/oAmericanLiterature 1
ElizabethG.RiveroandJeanieMurphy
I:MemoryofWater:RiversandthePoliticsandPraxisof
Remembrance 13
1 AlongtheRiverofMemory:LosfuegosdeSanTelmobyJosé
PedroDíaz 15
ElizabethG.Rivero
2 FloatingStatuesandStreamsofConsciousness:Memory
WorkinArgentina’sRíodelaPlataandRíoSalí 35
BridgetV.Franco
3 From“ObstinateMemory”toExplosionsofRecollections:
RiversasCulturalSitesofRemembrance 55
JuliaA.Kushigian
II:RiversattheCrossroads:Borders,Land/Cityscapes,and
SocialImaginariesasContestedSpaces 77
4 TheRiverasPoliticalQuagmire:MempoGiardinelli’sAn
ImpossibleBalance 79
JeanieMurphy
5 RipplingBordersinLatinaLiterature 95
RebecaL.Hey-Colón
6 SocialandGeographicalLandscapes:TheRiveras
MetaphorforFemaleSexuality 117
KathrynQuinn-Sánchez
7 MythandReality:ImagingtheRiverinEarlyColonial
SpanishWritings 139
J.ManuelGómez
8 WritingtheRiverbanksinEllibroflotantedeCaytranDölphin
byLeonardoValencia 165
RenataÉgüez
Index 187
AbouttheContributors 191
v
Introduction
Written in the Water: The Image of the River
in Latin/o American Literature
Elizabeth G. Rivero and Jeanie Murphy
This volume includes scholarly works that explore the use of the river
imagery in Latin/o American literature from the colonial period to con-
temporary works, creating a space in which to study both its literal and
figurative meanings, associated as much with processes of a personal
nature as with those of the collective experience and significant periods
of transformation in the region. Although there are individual scholarly
publications that discuss these themes, this book seeks to offer a more
inclusive collection that,throughatranshistoricalandtransgeographical
perspective,allowsus,fromthevantagepointofthetwenty-firstcentury,
toreflectontherichanddynamicimageoftheriverand,byextension,on
thevitalcontextofLatin/oAmerica,itspeopleandsocieties.
Thedepictionofnaturalenvironmentshasbeenaconstantpreoccupa-
tion of Latin/o American literature. From pre-Columbian narratives to
postmodern,newmillenniumliterarymanifestations,thetropeofnature
isapowerfulmetaphorthatreflectstheshiftingtimesinwhichtheywere
produced.Throughtheanalysisofselectedtextsrangingfromthelitera-
ture of discovery and conquest to late twentieth-century narratives,
Becky Boling has pointed out that the conception of the natural world
undergoes several modifications that are aligned with its contextual po-
liticalandculturalpanorama.1Fromasimilarperspectiveandasamode
of example, in this introduction we refer to five works that, besides
underscoringthefluidityoftheperception ofnatureandbeingparadig-
maticoftheirideologicalsettings,aremarkedbysignificantreferencesto
water imagery: Christopher Columbus’s Diario [Journal] of his first voy-
age(1492–1493),DomingoFaustinoSarmiento’sFacundo(1845),JoséEus-
taquio Rivera´s La vorágine [The Vortex] (1924), Rómulo Gallegos´s Doña
Bárbara(1929),andaselectionofshortstoriesfromEduardoGaleano´sEl
librodelosabrazos[BookofEmbraces](1989).Fromtheconceptualization
ofnatureasproviderofmarketablesuppliesinthewritingsoftheexplor-
ersandconquerors,2throughitsperceptionaspropertyofthenewinde-
pendentStatesinthefoundationaltexts3andasobstacletodevelopment
1
2 ElizabethG.RiveroandJeanieMurphy
asconceivedintheregionalistnovels,4tothenotionofinterdependence
between man and natural world in recent ecological writings,5 these se-
lected works underscore the shifting ideological tenets of the Latin
Americanworld.
The literature of discovery and conquest emphasized the abundance
ofnaturewhileperceivingitasaresource.6SincehisfirsttriptotheNew
World in 1492, Christopher Columbus was overwhelmed by the beauty
and bounty of its natural environment, which he described as “marve-
lous.”7Withintherhetoricalapparatusoftravelliterature,inhisDiarioof
thefirstvoyageandinhislettersheconstructeda“figurativegeography”
that,inordertomaketheaccountsofhisjourneysmeaningfulandcom-
prehensible to his intended audience, defined the relationship between
thenewlyfoundlandsandtheold,familiarspaces.8Bydescribingthese
environmentsthroughthediscoursepracticesofexplorationandpilgrim-
age,9Columbuselaborateda“metaphoricalmapping”thatestablisheda
certainwayofapprehendingandimaginingthem.10Bothnarrativeecon-
omiesallowedhimtodealwiththeextraordinary11characterofthenew
spaces.However,whilethepilgrimagegrammarbestsuitedthespiritual
objective of the enterprise, the narrative of exploration adapted to the
mercantilistideologythatinformedhisjourney.12
AsrecordedinhisDiarioofthefirstvoyage,uponhisencounterwith
the first island that they touched on October 12, 1492, Columbus was
amazed by the exuberance and splendor of the local flora,13 which he
described in terms of its lack of resemblance to European species.14 In
view of the materialistic side of the expedition, he tried to justify the
enterpriseintheeyesoftheSpanishsovereignsbyhighlightingtheabun-
dantrichesthatthisnaturalenvironmentcouldprovide.15Tothatend,he
described the variety of the native herbs and trees, which he believed
could provide valuable dyes and medicinal spices.16 When they arrived
at the island of Cuba, being now more familiar with the new territories,
Columbus’s attitude toward nature started to shift, as he found similar-
itiesbetweentheautochthonousfloraandfaunaandthatofSpain.With
the economic objective of the voyage in mind once again, he described
the island’s numerous pine trees, which represented both a source of
richesandofnavalmight.17BythetimetheyreachedHaiti,theAdmiral
found a striking resemblance between the island and Castile in terms of
itsclimate,geography,andlandandseaproduce.Hispaniola,the“Span-
ish island” as Columbus named it, even surpasses Castile in beauty and
abundance,anditisawelcomingplacewheretheSpanishcansmoothly
acclimate.18Inshort,Columbus’sDiarioofthefirstvoyagedepictsafluc-
tuatinganddynamicspacethatsynthesizeshisamazementinfrontofthe
splendorous nature of the new territories, filtered by the ever-present
utilitariangoalofhisexpedition.
The nineteenth century brought about independence for the Latin
Americannationsand,inthatsense,theirterritoriescould,onceagain,be
Introduction 3
branded as the “New World.”19 Within their foundational narratives, in
order to consolidate the new nations, nature needs to be contained and
domesticated.20 Paradigmatic among the literary productions emanated
from these young states is Argentinean intellectual and statesman Do-
mingoFaustinoSarmiento’sFacundo.Producedwithintheframeworkof
theEnlightenmentandRomanticism,Facundoelaboratesa“cartography”
ofthenewnationinwhichthedepictedterritoriesandlandscapesareas
much real as imagined spaces in their capacity as foundations for the
cultural, social, political and economic organization of the novel State.21
With nature in the focal point, Sarmiento’s “mapping” of the vast and
isolated lands aims to structure and set limits to those fascinating but
unruly territories in an effort to ensure their governability and their
progress.22 In other words, the “barbaric” nature of the Argentinean
desert has to be “civilized” through its subjection to the precepts of cul-
tureinordertoguaranteenotonlythepoliticalconsolidationofthenew-
lyindependentnationbutalsoitsproductivity,therenderingofthefruits
of the land.23 With this view in mind, Sarmiento casts his narrative as a
brochure addressed to two different readerships.24 On the one hand,
he elaborates a “didactic geography” aimed at Argentinean citizens and
withthepurposeofpersuadingthemthat,inordertoknowthenation,it
is essential to know the Argentine land.25 Interestingly enough, he con-
sideredthatnavigatingitsnumerousriverswouldreducetheisolationof
theterritoriesand,therefore,theirbarbarism.26Sarmientoclaimsthatthe
efficient navigation of rivers would bring about the much-needed intel-
lectual and commercial traffic between the city and the countryside,27
showing in this way his conviction that trade fosters the modernizing
project and is the motor of industrial progress.28 On the other hand, he
composeshisnarrativeasa“marketablegeography”intheefforttolure
foreignreaders(especiallyEuropeanandNorthAmericanimmigrants)to
come and populate the exuberant Argentine lands,29 thus bringing with
themnewideasthatwouldshakeupthestagnancyoftradition.30
AsexemplifiedbyFacundo,therhetoricofnaturepermeatedthefoun-
dationaldiscoursesofSpanishAmericasincenature,bothintheperspec-
tive of European capitalists and the Creole elites that shaped the new
republics, was the source of prospective wealth and the ground for eco-
nomic growth and development.31 This cultural metaphor of nature tra-
verses different periods and literary styles and is easily identified in the
regionalist novels of the 1920s.32 In them, modernization and progress
depended on the domination of man over nature, regarded as evil and
primitive.33
Unfairly regarded by many critics as mere simplistic representations
of life as manifested in a particular natural environment, the regional
novelspresentanuanceddepictionoftherelationshipbetweenenviron-
mentandcultureinSpanishAmerica.34Ratherthanofferinganidealized
or bucolic image of rural life,35 they project the profound effects of
