III.

The Colonial Period

The period of conquest and colonization started at the end of the 15th century and continued until the beginning of the 19th century. It includes writings by European settlers and their American-born descendants, known as Creoles. Literary histories of Spain and of Latin America each claim many of these writers.

During the colonial period much of the writing in Latin America by Spaniards and Creoles imitated Spanish literature, which then enjoyed a period of outstanding creativity now known as its Golden Age (see Spanish Literature: Renaissance and Golden Age). At the same time, numerous other works demonstrated that Latin American writers were already establishing their cultural independence from Europe. Universities, which were established in many areas of Latin America as early as the 16th century, guaranteed that erudition and learning flourished with little interruption throughout the colonial period.

Many writers of Spanish origin chronicled the European conquest of Latin America. Among these writings is a work by Dominican missionary Bartolomé de Las Casas, Brevísima relación de la destrucción de las Indias (1542, 1552; The Devastation of the Indies, 1974). Most historians view this piece as a defense of the native peoples and their way of life, and therefore as the first major text about the Latin American resistance to European culture. At the same time, however, it documents the struggle between those who wanted to use the Indians as slave labor and those like Las Casas who saw them as souls to be converted to Christianity. Also notable is a three-volume history of the conquest of Mexico written by conquistador Bernal Díaz del Castillo, Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España (written 1568-1580; published 1632;translated as The True History of the Conquest of Mexico, 1800). La Araucana (1569-1589; translated 1945) is an epic poem about the conquest of Chile written by Alonso de Ercilla y Zúñiga, a soldier. It is noteworthy for its portrayal of the indigenous peoples as courageous and worthy opponents of the Spaniards.

Two cultural centers developed in the Spanish Empire in the Americas during the 16th century: Lima, the capital of the region known as the vice-royalty of Peru, and Mexico City, the capital of the vice-royalty of New Spain. Peru produced two highly significant writers during the colonial period. Garcilaso de la Vega, of royal Inca lineage on the side of his mother and Spanish ancestry on the side of his father, was a military official. Known as El Inca Garcilaso, Garcilaso de la Vega interpreted in Spanish the oral legends of Inca culture, which he published in Spain as Comentarios reales de los Incas (1609 and 1617; TheRoyal Commentaries of Peru, 1688). In this way he bridged the pre-Columbian and Creole cultures and made an aspect of Latin American culture accessible to Spaniards. The other significant writer to emerge in Peru was Juan del Valle Caviedes. His Diente de Parnaso (The Tooth of Parnassus, published posthumously in 1873) is a collection of biting, satirical poetry about the pretensions and foibles of colonial society. The outrageousness of his writing led to its censorship and little of it was published during his lifetime.

In Mexico City, scholar Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora published a novel that also made light of the supposed glories of Spanish society in the Americas, Los infortunios de Alonso Ramírez (The Misfortunes of Alonso Ramírez, 1690). But all writing from this cultural center pales in comparison to the poetry, drama, and intellectual discourses produced in a convent by Mexican nun Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz. She stands out not only as the foremost literary figure of the Latin American colonial period, but as the forerunner of feminist writing in Latin America. In addition to philosophical poetry, exquisite sonnets, and brilliant dramas, Sor Juana wrote Respuesta a Sor Filotea (written 1691; published in Spain in 1701; translated as A Woman of Genius: The Intellectual Biography of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, 1982). This essay, marked by an exceptionally subtle level of irony, analyzes discrimination against women, especially women artists and intellectuals. Sor Juana defends the creative rights of women with dazzling displays of ingenuity and learning. Respuesta has achieved legendary status in Latin America, as both a document of resistance to the authority of the Spanish church and a founding document of feminism.

Another literary giant of the colonial period is Mexican-born dramatist Juan Ruiz de Alarcón y Mendoza, who achieved recognition in Spain as one of the key figures of Spanish Golden Age drama (see Spanish Literature: Drama). Known primarily for comedies of manners that offer moral lessons, he is claimed by both Spanish and Mexican literary histories.

The 18th century produced a number of intellectual luminaries who followed European intellectual and cultural currents; it is remembered for the development of a popular culture with distinctly regional colorations. The best known work in this vein is the travelogue El lazarillo de ciegos caminantes (The Guide for Blind Wayfarers, 1776), attributed to Spanish-born author Concolorcorvo. In it, Concolorcorvo describes a journey by a Spanish colonial inspector from Buenos Aires, Argentina (at that time considered to be a cultural backwater), to Lima, Peru, then a political and cultural center of the Spanish Empire. The work uses humor to criticize Spain’s colonial government.