Nara Fuentes Crispín
narafuentes@hotmail.com
Universidad Nacional de Colombia
Abstract:
Supported by James Scott and Robert Stam among others, this article represents a proposal for reading the Colombian classic by Maria de Jorge Isaacs. The novel’s narrator creates a discourse that hinders the appreciation of the voices and culture of the black slaves. This concealment might be due to two distinct reasons. First, the setting is a «hacienda» in the 18th century, an insitution that preserves its mentality of landowner and paternal attitude of the colonial period of Nueva Granada. Second, the romantic fictionalization recreates special cultural conditions: the view of the narrator describes the slaves’ culture, privileging only the elements that are compatible with the world of the masters. This is about two world views and the imposition of the dominant one. Even so, in this proposal we will be able to see some subordinate strategies.
Keywords: Afro-Culture, «hacienda», subordinate, slaves, civilizing discourse
