The first half of the twentieth century witnessed a dramatic
increase in literary activity in Latin America, a result
in part of its ambivalent relationship with Europe and
the United States. Many authors, while experimenting
with imported modernist styles, felt compelled to proclaim
Latin America’s unique identity through the adoption of
native themes and social issues. In The Underdogs (1915),
for example, Mariano Azuela (1873–1952) presented a
sympathetic but not uncritical portrait of the Mexican revolution
as his country entered an era of unsettling change.
In their determination to commend Latin America’s
distinctive characteristics, some writers extolled the
promise of the region’s vast virgin lands and the diversity
of its peoples. In Don Segundo Sombra, published in 1926,
Ricardo Guiraldes (1886 –1927) celebrated the life of
the ideal gaucho (cowboy), defining Argentina’s hope and
strength through the enlightened management of its fertile
earth. Likewise, in Dona Barbara, Rómulo Gallegos
(1884 –1969) wrote in a similar vein about his native
Venezuela. Other authors pursued the theme of solitude
and detachment, a product of the region’s physical separation
from the rest of the world.
Latin American artists followed their literary counterparts
in joining the modernist movement in Europe, yet
they too were eager to promote the emergence of a new
regional and national essence. In Mexico, where the government
provided financial support for painting murals
on public buildings, the artist Diego Rivera (1886 –1957)
began to produce a monumental style of mural art that
served two purposes: to illustrate the national past by portraying
Aztec legends and folk customs and to popularize
a political message in favor of realizing the social goals of
the Mexican revolution. His wife, Frida Kahlo (1907–
1954), incorporated Surrealist whimsy in her own paintings,
many of which were portraits of herself and her
family.
World History
