Costumbristas: A Narrative Analysis

Jorge Iscaas wrote the Latin American Maria between the years of 1864 and 1867, which would have been during the 19th century Colombia. Furthermore, this novel is considered to be one of the most important pieces of Spanish American literature due to its use of representative features of every day life, thus creating the literary term of costumbrist novel. A novel, which Jeanee Smoot, defines the as; “…recurrent glorification of the people of the provinces, seen in virtually all the writers of the nineteenth century and particularly in those most often called »costumbristas«, or regional realists” (Smoot 588). Nonetheless, this novel can be examined with a different model apart from the costumbrist features, a model that has been developed by Mikhail Bakhtin. Mikhail Bakhtin, was a Russian philosopher, literary critic, semiotician and scholar who worked on literary theory, ethics, and the philosophy of language. In one of his work, “Discourse in the Novel (1934-35),” he references the novel by stating; “The novel can be defined as a diversity of social speech types, sometimes even diversity of languages and a diversity of individual voices, artistically organized” (Bakhtin 32). Using this quote to formulate the basis of the vantage point towards the Maria novel. Maria contains critical components that fortify this citation of Bakhtin. The novel has ownership of regional vocabulary throughout the entire novel, followed by the characters’ correct and incorrect pronunciation of the language, combined with usage of famous romantic elements and connection between the text and the author. This perception of the miscellany of words, which Bakhtin references to in his work can define a novel. …show more content…
In this novel the examples are clear when the examination of regional language as well as cultural references are found within the novel. Given that the author was Colombian, the vocabulary will stress the importance of the novel’s regional diversity. The author’s editor must deciphered the continuous regional language usage for the purpose of fully comprehending the scenes and events occurring while the narrative voice narrates, further supporting this concept by Bakhtin. Additionally, strengthening the connection between the costumbrist element of the language and the society of the novel as mentioned in the article “For a History of Spanish Literature ‘Against the Grain’” written by Gumbrecht; the article states that “The costumbrist texts describe scenes from daily life, without having a plot” (Gumbrecht 290). For example, in the novel the word bravo is used to, when translated using the Donald McGrady’s edition of Maria, labels it as when one is angry (Isaacs 333). Also, the example su merced, which according to the Donald McGrady’s edition is used within the entire family and for the servants to their masters (Isaacs 61). Finally, the narratives voice narrates the novel with explicit detail the description of most meals with the family, including the name of dishes and fruits. Following Bakhtin’s work, another statement that is present in the novel of Maria, are the individual voices, and in the novel are the main as well as minor characters with their characteristics. Bakhtin states; “The novel orchestrates all its themes, the totality of the world of objects and ideas depicted and expressed in it, by means of the social diversity of speech types [raznorecie] and by the differing individual voices that flourish under such conditions” (Bakhtin 32). This concept of social diversity with speech types flourishes within the novel in the presentation of the character and social comparison. When the evaluation is made between Efarín, the son of a wealthy family and Juan Angel, son of a woman slave, various differences are evident. First, The characters who are part of Efarin’s family, the higher social class, who travels to pursue his studies including trips to London and Bogotá. Then there is Juan Angel, is the son of the peasant woman who’s job is to take care of the house keys and who posses very few of the attributes that Efrain possess. Then, highlighting Jorge Isaacs’s emphasis the typical incorrect pronunciation and vocabulary of the lower class. Efarin and various other characters with education tend to speak with an academic language, while there is incorrect pronunciation and vocabulary of the lower class. Thus, the author writes