LA EVOLUCION DE LA NOVELA HISPANOAMERICANA: COLONIA Y SIGLO XIX. (SPANISH TEXT)

Utilizing the foundations established by traditional literary criticism, I combined contemporary methods of analysis, normally ignored by traditional critics, in order to point out several phenomena in the evolution of the novel in Spanish America.;The novel of the Colonial era had several manifestations. One of these was El desierto prodigioso y el prodigio del desierto, by Pedro de Solis y Valenzuela (Santa Fe, 1650), which showed a significant synthesis of the procedures underlying the narrative trends of the 17th century. These methods and techniques were read and interpreted by "los criollos" in the New World. The problem of traditional criticism stems from a desire to find mature characteristics in an incipient literature.;The critical metatext has been ignored by literary historians, though novelists since the formation of the modern Spanish American societies have always been aware of it. An early critical text, written by Manuel del Socorro Rodrigues in 1792 exemplified characteristics which were further developed by 19th and early 20th century critics. This work deals with the literature of the viceroyship of Nueva Granada and demonstrates the existence of a literary tradition in the American colonies, while elaborating the differences between the colonial and Spanish literatures.;During the 19th century Spanish American intellectuals developed an autocritic, valorative conscience, enabling them to rediscover forgotten literary zones, such as the novel. In the 1830's they began disseminating European concepts, especially those of the French, that contributed to the novel's being used as an instrument for the imposition of social advancement. As time passed, this type of criticism showed, undeniably, that the Spanish American novel followed the European novel, particularly the French, Spanish and English, in a parallel manner, yet consistently boasted distinctly American characteristics. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.).;Criticism of the last fifty years has definitively proven the existence of this genre during the Colonial period. During this epoch, prose manifested different trends, those in which the intended use of the language was veracity, as in the case of The Chronicles of Indias, and especially those like El Carnero. Such narrative texts, because of the expression of "imaginary" or "invented" elements, have superseded the novel, because they show typically American characteristics, such as the description of the landscape and customs.