Don Segundo Sombra is a nostalgic portrayal of a set of values and a way of life that are shown to be increasingly out of sync with the modern nation state of Argentina at its time of writing. Evaluate this statement with reference to both relevant secondary reading and examples from the text.
Don Segundo Sombra by Ricardo
Guiraldes was published in 1926 and focuses on the life of the gauchos who had
all but disappeared from the Argentine Pampas at the time of his writing. The
novel portrays a nostalgic look at a rural past that no longer existed whereby
Don Segundo is the last and most complete representation of the gaucho, a
vanished class. He is highly idealized in terms of his strong physical
appearance, his love of freedom as well as his nomadic and stoic qualities. He
teaches Fabio, his young protegee and narrator of the novel, what it is to be a
gaucho, including how to master men, hold his liquor and break horses. During
the ‘Golden Age’ in Argentina (roughly 1875-1913),[1] the pampas were fenced into huge estancieras
(landed estates), giving way to a more intensive use of the land. Purebred
animals replaced the free ranging herds that wandered across the land, turning
the gaucho into a stationary farmhand, otherwise known as a peon.[2] Guiraldes explores the past, the present and
the future of the modern Argentine state through the characters of Don Segundo,
Fabio and Raucho respectively in light of such developments. Through the use of
language, he elevates the landscape of the pampa and its relation to the gaucho
into a nostalgic and idealized vision of utopia. The values of the gaucho
became a symbol of Argentine national identity in the modern context, but only
specific traits were selected in the novel in order to present them in the manner
that best served his purpose.
There is a sense of nostalgia for the simple
and free-spirited life of the gaucho that had given way to a sedentary and
monotonous life of the new Argentine state as a result of agricultural
modernization. The gauchos were primarily motivated by their desire for freedom
and wanderlust that drove Don Segundo and young Fabio to roam the landscape of
the Pampas together for five years. This is encapsulated in a number of emotive
observations made throughout the novel, including “por sobre todo, don Segundo
queria su libertad”.[3] At the end of the novel, Fabio discovers
that he is the son of a wealthy landowner and as such is now in possession of
land and property, marking the beginning of modernization in Argentine society.
The sectioning off of the land in the Pampas to allow for private ownership had
given rise to a new class of private landowners known as estancieros. When
Fabio learns about his inheritance, “me entristecia por las pobrezas que iba a
dejar”,[4] he sees his new landed title as a burden
rather than as a positive. It marks a change in his life for he must now stay
and look after his new acquisition, having to give up his “sed de caminoy un
ansia de posesion.. [del] mundo”[5] which is so integral to being a gaucho. The
focus is not on the integration of the gaucho into the new social class, but
rather on their loss of his freedom.
When reflecting on
the concept of nostalgia, it is crucial to examine images of the future and the
sense of ending, instead of exclusively fixating on the past and the present.[10] There is a strong theme of fatalistic
acceptance as part of the gaucho philosophy as seen at the end of the novel in
regards to the decline of the gaucho era. Fabio must attempt to assimilate to
the new world of being a member of the educated estanciero, being
mentored by Raucho who are representatives of such a class and future. At the
same time, he has to preserve his inner authentic gaucho self regardless of
what happens, “si sos gaucho en de veras, no has de mudar, porque andequiera
que vayas, iras con tu alma por delante como madrina e’tropilla”.[11] Being a gaucho means that one must learn to
accept their place in life and they must not pass judgement, but rather learn
to adapt to their new way of life. Fabio is resigned to remembering
his defining past experience of being a gaucho while longing nostalgically for
it, "Aunque no me negara a los nuevos modos de vida y encontrara un acerbo
gusto en mi aprendizaje mental, a inadaptado y hurano me quedaba del pasado.”[12] The
novel ends with the line, “me fui, como quien se desangra”,[13] suggesting that while he had managed to
adapt to his new life and education, there was still a longing for the
satisfaction of life on the pampas that could not be entirely erased.
The novel was a
response by the author to the specific challenges of Argentine history at the
turn of the 19th Century. The commitment of the Argentine government
to development and modernization was associated with the notion of creating a
new class of landed elites. The gaucho became increasingly marginalized in
response to such hegemonic exercises and there was a distinct social separation
between the two classes. Guiraldes spent time among the gauchos, but he could
never be one of them due to the circumstances of his birth as he was a member
of the landed class himself.[14] In many ways his life mirrors the life of
the protagonist Fabio in the novel who suffers the same predicament upon
discovering his heritage, “and yet Fabio was among them
but not of them, and could not be simply because of the circumstances of his
birth.”[15] In this context, the sentence is depicted as
following a moment of separation and exile that had once characterized the
protagonist’s relationship with the world of the gaucho. It is important to
note that there is no oppositional contrast to the class struggle, but there is
a balance of forces that are sentimentally inclined in favour of the gaucho
rather than the other. Don Segundo Sombra effects an air of nostalgia in
its complaint that, “yo habia dejado de ser gaucho”.[16] This quality comes from the narrator’s
rejection of writing which is the only way that he can recapture the adventures
of his youth. While being educated means that he is now able to write down his
story, there is a disconnection between writing and the lived experience of
being a gaucho that can’t be replicated. The distinction between the two
different social classes means that one can’t be the other.
Don Segundo
Sombra doesn’t recreate an accurate historical world of the Pampa at the
time of Guiraldes’s writing at the turn of the nineteenth century. Gollick goes
as far as to suggest that the author has created an idealized depiction or
rural life prior to the modernization of agriculture.[17] This nostalgia of such a life thus creates a
falsely harmonious image of the past and the present whereby the new Argentine
identity can be imagined through the fusion of these idealised rural images and
the new modern urban context.[18] Therefore, even before the author sat down
to write the novel and translate the gaucho experience into a work of art, that
experience had already come to signify to him as being something other than
what it represented for those that had truly lived through it. Although Guiraldes
spent most of his adult life in Paris, he spent his youth on his family’s ranch
in the Pampas and the novel can be seen as a nostalgic return to such a
childhood period in his life. He creates picturesque images of the Pampa for
the urban dweller that had never experienced its wilderness.[19] Ruben Oliven argues that regional novels
were popular in urban zones due to a “nostalgia for rural life…[that] suggests
that the concepts of tradition and modernity should be understood … as a mix of
past and present elements”[20] Indeed, “se ha dicho de Guiraldes que es un
evadido, que no ha pintado el campo actual sino un campo preterito, de otra
época.”[21] The Pampas in the
novel were not the pampas of 1929 but rather that of an earlier generation,
before the time of latifundismo that made it difficult for gauchos to roam
freely due to the appearance of fences and estancieros. Guiraldes wrote a
vision of a nostalgic and ideal world, a world that could be argued didn’t even
quite exist in the first place.
One can’t talk about
the gaucho without referring to the Argentine Pampas which becomes a character
in its own right. Nostalgia is implicit in the montages of utopia when
describing such a landscape in this novel. The limitless space of the pampas is
directly related to the ethos of freedom that is so essential to the gaucho,
forming a link between man and his surroundings. The land inspires feelings of
elation and admiration, elevating the individual with whom its immensity
dwarfs. The gauchos’ relationship with nature reaches transcendental
proportions, almost approaching allegory and myth: man against nature, good
against evil. In this environment of human activity and geography, everything
seems to have its own place and purpose. Potentially disturbing scenes are not
setbacks, but rather they are an integral part of the experience as a gaucho.
Nature is not benevolent for at times it can be cruel and wild as seen in the
instance at the cangrejal, the crab infested march where Fabio almost loses his
life. Franco argues that man reaches maturity by learning how to control
nature, including that of his own.[22] The gauchos love of solitude and
self-reliance are the first changes produced by nature in men, they have to
find consolation within themselves, not from others.[23] Fabio is alone during his encounter at the
cangrejal and he must rely on his own wits to save his life, there is no one
else there to help him. The key character goes through a series of experiences
that allows him to eventually achieve this sense of maturity. It is a universal
process but Guiraldes has related this specifically to a regional experience
that is unique to the gaucho and the pampas. He believed that certain
environments provided more favourable opportunities than others in this
process. The harmony of man with the pampa here is total.
The novel describes
in-depth the day-to-day life of the gauchos, using language to create a
haunting portrait of a bygone rural life that no longer existed. Guiraldes was
writing from a position of personal experience as well as from a position of
affection and nostalgia. While very little happens within the novel, there is a
highly specialized use of vocabulary, especially in terms of describing the
finer points of cattle ranching and horse breaking. This includes scenes of how Fabio “volvi medicoo de mi tropilla… y fui
baquiano para curar el mal del vaso dando vuelta la pisada”.[24] The effect of this is “el tiempo parece detenerse morosamente en
la contemplación de las faenas domésticas.”[25] The mythic language of the gaucho community is used to
demystify their world, forcing the reader to slow down and appreciate the work
of the gaucho. Language is formed by human activity and it brings people who
have the same experiences together as they are able to understand each other.
By using such language in the novel, Guiraldes is bringing the rural and urban
together once more as he is creating a wider understand of their world. It is
this awareness of what it means to be a gaucho which makes their activities
seem far more profound than they first seem on the surface. The references of all
aspects of life on the pampa, ranging from the music of dances, the fashion and
the oral stories, makes the readers feel as though they are a witness to a past
life. Nothing is too small or too insignificant of a detail. Poetic and
regional gauchesque language is also used to captures their particular spirit
around the campfire and their conversations, “respire hondamente el aliento de
los campos dormidos. Era una oscuridad serena
alegrada de luminares lucientes como chispas de un fuego ruidoso.”[26] Much of the novel contains similar descriptive scenes of life
on the pampas and this type of language doesn’t seem to be out of place.
Language is used to create a realistic and nostalgic perspective of such a
life. The novel was “más que novela evocación y más
que evocación responso para despedir a lo que se va. Es el rezo por la pampa de
tradición y por el gaucho que desaparece”.[27]
The gaucho was an
effective agent of Argentine national identity, encompassing the moral
qualities that were still desired in the modern Argentine man, “ya has corrido
mundo y te has hecho hombre, mejor que hombre gaucho.”[28] Don Segundo was
transformed by Guiraldes from a mere rural labourer into an aspirational figure,
partly divorced from the mere materiality of his manual labour.[29] Before 1916, the gaucho was the symbol of
barbarism that the nation attempted not only to eradicate but to obliterate them
from their memories. At the time Guiraldes was writing, there had been a shift
in the cultural constructs of the gaucho and they were seen as representing
desirable national values. The consequences of massive immigration in the
pampas in the 19th century meant that intellectuals began to look for
a way to preserve the traditional aspects of Argentine culture and thus gaucho
and by extension gaucho literature was turned into such a symbol. Over the
course of Argentine history in general, their role has been repeatedly
reinvented due to political circumstances. According to Smith, it is nearly
impossible to entirely rely on depictions of the gaucho, as much of it has been
written through an ideological and romanticized filter.[30]
Guiraldes’s nostalgia
for the past has led to the idealization of the role of the gaucho in the
novel. He explains that “el gaucho dentro de sus
medios limitados es un tipo de hombre completo”[31] and Don Segundo is a perfect representation of such an ‘hombre
completo’. He has his moral principles as he is kind and honest to all
as well as following his own law and way of life. The biggest sentiment is to
‘ser gaucho’, to be gaucho. The novel was a sincere testimony to the
authenticity of being a gaucho, and even the landscape, for they both existed
only to be themselves. Other well-known gaucho figures include Martin Fierro in
Jose Hernandez’s epic national poem, El Gaucho Martin Fierro. It continues the social tradition of describing both the life and the
passing of the gaucho with quotes such as “los hermanos sean Unidos porque esa
es la ley primera; tengan unión verdadera en cualquier tiempo que sea, porque
si entre ellos pelean los devoran los de afuera.”[32] Don Segundo Sombra is a projection of an imagined
reality of the gaucho lifestyle and livelihoods. By describing specific and
identifiable gaucho traits, Guiraldes has focused on select qualities that best
represent the essence of Argentine national character. At the end of the novel,
the move away from the world of the gaucho creates a sense of loss of national
identity as a result of modernization. Being a gaucho was a large part of
Fabio’s identity throughout and he experienced such joy in that experience, a
joy that he would never be able to regain as he has been separated from those
roots by his new social status.
Guiraldes created an
idealized vision of the rural landscape and its residents during a time when
technological and agricultural advances at the turn of the 19th
century had rendered these images as being obsolete. The gaucho became a symbol
of national identity, they had strong ties to the land, a practical philosophy
towards life and a strong sense of autonomy. The shift towards an urban
lifestyle during the time the novel was published meant there was a movement
towards preserving these traits of Argentine traditions. This social shift also
gave rise to the landed elite, leading to the clash between the past and the
present at the end of the novel. Fabio is caught between the two worlds,
whereas Don Segundo is a firm representative of such a past. Nostalgia for the
rural life was expressed through language and in the detailed passages of the
landscape and gaucho activities, allowing the readers to focus on the minute
details of what it meant to be a gaucho. Guiraldes was able to transform the
simple image of the pampas and the life of the gaucho into something much
larger, it became a nostalgic portrayal of a life that was dying.
[1] Eduardo
Elena, ‘Commodities and Consumption in “Golden Age” Argentina’, Oxford
Research Encyclopedia of Latin American History, (2016) https://oxfordre.com/latinamericanhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199366439.001.0001/acrefore-9780199366439-e-
357#:~:text=Although%20agro%2Dpastoral%20goods%20have,frame%20to%20pursue%20this%20inquiry
[accessed: 02/01/2021]
[2] Peter
Fleer and Hans Werner Tobler, ‘Access to Land”: The State and the evolution of
landholding patterns in the U.S. and Argentina in the 19th century’, Iberoamericana,
1.4 (2001), 11-43 (p.20)
[3] Ricardo
Guiraldes, Don Segundo Sombra: Bilingual English and Spanish Edition with
Glossary for English Speakers, trans by Daniel Bernardo (Sojourner books,
2019) p. 74.
[4] Ibid,
p. 216.
[5] Ibid,
p. 216.
[6] Bernardo Gicovate, ‘Notes on Don Segundo
Sombra: The Education of Fabio Cáceres’, Hispania, 34.4 (1951), 366-368
(p.366)
[7]
Ibid, p.366.
[8] Theodore
Murguía, ‘The Timeless Aspect of "Don Segundo Sombra", Hispania,
46.1 (1963), 88-92 (p. 91)
[9] Steven
Wenz, Continuity and Change: National Identity in Twenty-First-Century
Argentine Culture, (Doctoral thesis, Graduate School of Vanderbilt
University, 2016) https://ir.vanderbilt.edu/bitstream/handle/1803/12749/wenz.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
[accessed: 25/12/2020] p. 47.
[10] The
Commonalities of Global Crises: Markets, Communities and Nostalgia ed. by Christian
Karner and Bernhard Weicht (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016) p. 296.
[11] Guiraldes, Don Segundo
Sombra, p. 218.
[12] Ibid,
p. 228.
[13] Ibid,
p.229.
[14] Carlos,
J. Alonso, The Spanish American Regional Novel: Modernity and Autochthony,
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990) p.84.
[15] Ibid, p.84.
[16] Guiraldes, Don Segundo
Sombra, p. 217.
[17] The
Cambridge Companion to the Latin American Novel, ed by Efrain Kristal
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), p. 46.
[18] Ibid,
p.46.
[19] Murguía,
‘The Timeless Aspect of "Don Segundo Sombra"’, p. 88.
[20]
Ruben Oliven, ‘“The Largest Popular Culture Movement in the Western World”:
Intellectuals and Gaúcho, Traditionalism in Brazil’, American Ethnologist,
27.1 (2000) 128–146 (p. 142)
[21] Enrique Alzaga, La
pampa en la novela argentina (Buenos Aires: A. Estrada, 1986), p.245-246.
[22] Jean
Franco, An introduction to Spanish- American Literature, 3rd
ed (Cambridge: Cambridge University press, 1995) p. 226.
[23] John
Donahue, ‘Nature in “Don Segundo Sombra” and “The Virginian”’, Great Plains
Quarterly, 7.3 (1987), 166-177 (p. 171)
[24] Guiraldes, Don Segundo
Sombra, p. 73.
[25] Trinidad López, ‘El campesinado
argentino en la novela de Guiraldes, Don Segundo Sombra’, Philologia
Hispalensis, 1.4 (1989) 47-54 (p. 52).
[26] Guiraldes, Don Segundo
Sombra, p. 48.
[27] German Garcia, La
novela argentina. Un itinerario (Buenos Aires: Editorial Sudamericana,
1952) p. 138.
[28]
Ibid, p. 221
[29] Geneva
Smith, Soy Gaucho: nationalism and modernity (Doctoral thesis,
University of New Mexico, 2013) https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1062&context=anth_etds
[accessed: 01/01/2021] p. 28.
[30] Ibid,
p. 32.
[31] Daian Hoffman, Notas sobre
Martín Fierro y El Gaucho. Ricardo Güiraldes. (2016) https://pampaycielo.wordpress.com/2016/11/18/notas-sobre-martin-fierro-y-el-gaucho-ricardo-guiraldes/
[accessed: 09/01/2021]
[32] Jose Hernandez, El Gaucho
Martin Fierro (Buenos Aires,Imprenta de La Pampa: 1872) The Project
Gutenberg Ebook, http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/14765/pg14765.html [accessed: 22/12/2020]
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