We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 December 2015
Economic progress of the late nineteenth century afforded the upper class of Colombian society the opportunities to pursue new business goals and to improve its standard of living. Exports of coffee, steam navigation on the Magdalena River, the fitful building of railways, growth of urban populations, and the heightened tempo of foreign and domestic commerce all converged to the economic and social benefit of Colombia's landed and educated elite. Economic progress supported not only new elite professions in commerce and engineering but also traditional pursuits in medicine, law, and notably literature. In fact, nineteenth century Colombia witnessed a proliferation of cultural affectation which, because it was so divorced from reality, may be described as “the genteel tradition.”
1 George Santayana, the Spanish-born scholar and critic, coined the term “genteel tradition” to describe the state of cultural output in the United States at the turn of the century. The concept also seems applicable to Colombia. See Santayana, George, The Genteel Tradition: Nine Essays (Cambridge, Mass., 1967).Google Scholar For the economic development of Colombia in the nineteenth century, see Safford, Frank, “Foreign and National Enterprise in Nineteenth-century Colombia,” Business History Review, 39:4 (Winter 1965) 503–26;CrossRefGoogle Scholar Nieto Arteta, Luis Eduardo, Economía y cultura en la historia de Colombia (Bogotá, 1962);Google Scholar and McGreevy, William P., An Economic History of Colombia, 1845–1930 (Cambridge, Eng., 1971).Google Scholar
2 Samper, José María, Selección de estudios (Bogotá, 1953), p. 192;Google Scholar and Arboleda, Julio, Poesías de Julio Arboleda (Bogotá, 1883), p. lxxiii.Google Scholar
3 See Calderón, Eduardo Caballero, Historia privada de los colombianos (Bogotá, 1960);Google Scholar Gutiérrez, José, De la pseudo-aristocracía a la autenticidad psicología social colombiana (Bogotá, 1961);Google Scholar Maya, Rafael, Consideraciones críticas sobre la literatura colombiana (Bogotá, 1944);Google Scholar and Santa, Eduardo, “Reflexiones sobre la literatura y el arte colombianos,” Bolívar: Revista Colombiana de Cultura, 14:59–60 (January-June, 1961), 111–8.Google Scholar
4 Wilson, Erastus, A Ramble in New Granada (New York, 1878), pp. 67, 72–3;Google Scholar and Holton, Isaac F., New Granada: Twenty Months in the Andes (New York, 1857), pp. 152–65.Google Scholar
5 Cordovez Moure, José Maria, Reminiscencias de Santafé de Bogotá (Madrid, 1957), p. 30.Google Scholar
6 Wilson, , Ramble, pp. 10, 14, 85;Google Scholar Brisson, Jorge, Viajes por Colombia en los años de 1891 a 1897 (Bogotá, 1899), pp. 157–8;Google Scholar Röthlisberger, Ernst, El Dorado: estampas de viaje y cultura de la Colombia Suramérica, trans. by Zubiaurre, Antonio de (Bogotá, 1963), pp. 20–3;Google Scholar Moure, Cordovez, Reminiscencias, p. 1533;Google Scholar and Ibáñez, Pedro María, Crónicas de Bogotá, 4 vols. (Bogotá, 1952), 4, 612–4.Google Scholar In 1904, Colombia as yet had no railway “system” but only 340 miles of track divided into ten unconnected lines. Bogotá was not connected by rail to the Magdalena River until 1908 and not to the second most populous city, Medellín, until 1929. See Loraine Petre, F., The Republic of Colombia (London, 1906), pp. 194–6;Google Scholar and Safford, Frank, The Ideal of the Practical: Colombia’s Struggle to Form a Technical Elite (Austin, 1976), p. 191.Google Scholar
7 Petre, , Republic, pp. 130–1, 134;Google Scholar Wilson, , Ramble, p. 63;Google Scholar and Holton, , New Granada, pp. 152–3Google Scholar. For the population of Bogotá, see Moure, Cordovez, Reminiscencias, p. 1542.Google Scholar
8 “La Tienda de Don Antuco,” in Groot, José Manuel, La tienda de Don Antuco y Otros (Bogotá, 1961), pp. 17–29.Google Scholar
9 “Lenguaje de las casas,” Las tres tazas y otros cuadros (Bogotá, 1936), pp. 35–45.
10 “Los pepitos,” in Kastos, Emiro, Mi compadre Facundo y otros cuadros (Bogotá, 1936), pp. 127–37.Google Scholar
11 Duffey, Frank W., The Early “Cuadro de Costumbres” in Colombia (Chapel Hill, 1956), pp. 46–7.Google Scholar
12 Ortiz, Laureano García, “Las viejas librerías de Bogotá” Boletín de Historia y Antigüedades, 33:385 (November 1946), p. 785 Google Scholar; and Carlos García Prada in the introduction to Silva, José Asunción, Prosas y versos (Madrid, 1960), pp. 18–9.Google Scholar
13 “Siluetas y esbozos” in Rivera, Luciano y Garrido, , Impresiones y recuerdos (Bogotá, 1897), pp. 476–7.Google Scholar
14 León, Fernán Torres, ed., La cultura en Colombia, 1963–1964 (Bogotá, 1964), pp. 35–6.Google Scholar
15 Isaacs, Jorge, María, novela americana y poesías completas (Buenos, Aires, 1966), p. 73.Google Scholar
16 Eder, Phanor James, Colombia (London, 1913), p. 262 Google Scholar. For a useful reference to the political and cultural personalities of the era, see Henao, Jesús María and Arrubla, Gerardo, Historia de Colombia, 7th ed. (Bogotá, 1952).Google Scholar
17 Gutiérrez, , Pseudo-aristocracia, p. 19 Google Scholar. The poll appeared in Papel Periódico Ilustrado (Bogotá), 20 July 1884, p. 370. In order, the poll listed M. A. Caro, R. J. Cuervo, Mariano Ospina, José Joaquín Ortiz, R. Núñez, José Triana, D. J. Telésforo Paúl, Santiago Pérez, J. M. Marroquín, and S. Arboleda.
18 Eduardo Rivas, “Mi sobrino” as quoted in Duffey, , “Cuadro de Costumbres”, p. 40.Google Scholar
19 For statistics on schools and student population, see Röthlisberger, , El Dorado, p. 134 Google Scholar; Eder, , Colombia, p. 251 Google Scholar; and Safford, , Ideal, p. 32.Google Scholar
20 See the advertisements for private schools in El Día (Bogotá), 6 May 1848, p. 4; ibid., 11 October 1848, p. 4; ibid., 22 February 1851, p. 4; and ibid., 20 May 1851, p. 4; and El Trabajo, Comercio en General, Ciencias, Artes, Literatura, Industria y Avisos (Popayán), 5 October 1889, p. 4; and ibid., 28 September 1889, p. 4.
21 Arboleda, Sergio, Las letras, las ciencias y las bellas artes en Colombia (Bogotá, 1936), p. 75 Google Scholar. Also see El Trabajo, 29 October 1887, p. 4; and El Catolicismo, Periódico Oficial del Arzibispado (Bogotá), 27 March 1860, p. 198.
22 Moure, Cordovez, Reminiscencias, pp. 38–49 Google Scholar; Röthlisberger, , El Dorado, p. 135 Google Scholar; and de Alba, Guillermo Hernández, Aspectos de la cultura en Colombia (Bogotá, 1947), pp. 57, 63.Google Scholar
23 El Día, 30 August 1840, p. 7; “Un año en la corte,” in Silva, Ricardo, Artículos de costumbres (Bogotá, 1883), p. 174.Google Scholar
24 Pérez, Felipe, Episodios de un viaje (Bogotá, 1946), pp. 76–8Google Scholar, 184–5; and Samper, José María, Viajes de un colombiano en Europa (Paris, 1862), pp. 88–9.Google Scholar
25 R.J. Cuervo to Dr. Rafael Mariño C. (Paris, 9 September 1889), Epistolarios de Rufino José Cuervo con Luis María Lleras y otros amigos y familiares, ed. by de Alba, Guillermo Hernández (Bogotá, 1969), p. 359.Google Scholar
26 Röthlisberger, , El Dorado, p. 129 Google Scholar; “Lenguaje” in Vergara, y Vergara, , Las tres tazas, p. 159 Google Scholar; and Guillermo Valencia: un autor en un libro, ed. by Mejía, Oscar Echeverri (Madrid, 1965), p. 69.Google Scholar
27 Steuart, J., Bogota in 1836–7 (New York, 1838), p. 133 Google Scholar; and Holton, , New Granada, pp. 158–9.Google Scholar
28 Ortiz, Laureano García, “Las viejas librerías de Bogotá,” Boletín deHistoriay Antigüedades, 33:385 (November 1946), pp. 765–88Google Scholar; and Röthlisberger, , El Dorado, p. 130.Google Scholar
29 Samper, José María , “Un impresor famoso,” Hojas de Cultura popular Colombiana, 5. 77 (May 1957), n.p.Google Scholar
30 El Catolicismo, 13 March 1860, p. 179; and ibid., 27 March 1860, pp. 190–1. For the development of journalism in Colombia, see Múñoz, Gustavo Otero, Historia del periodismo en Colombia (Bogotá, 1936), p. 58.Google Scholar
31 For indexes of these newspapers, see Ortega Torres, José J., Indices de “El Repertorio Colombiano”, (Bogotá, 1961)Google Scholar; and Torres, Ortega, Indice del “Papel Periódico Ilustrado” y de “Colombia Ilustrada” (Bogotá, 1961).Google Scholar
32 Duffey, , “Cuadro de Costumbres”, pp. 10–13, 111.Google Scholar
33 “E1 niño Agapito” in Silva, Ricardo, Un domingo en casa y otros cuadros (Bogotá, 1936), pp. 41–57.Google Scholar
34 Cuervo, Angel, La dulzada: poema en ocho cantos, y un epílogo por el postrer santafereño (Bogotá, 1867).Google Scholar
35 “Indemnizaciones” in Silva, R., Artículos, p. 174 Google Scholar; and “Figuras de segundo término” in Rivera, y Garrido, , Impresiones, p. 49.Google Scholar
36 “El caney de El Totumo” in Díaz, Eugenio, Una ronda de Don Ventura Ahumada y otros cuadros (Bogotá, 1936), pp. 38–57.Google Scholar
37 “Himno a la libertad” in El Día, 8 January 1848, p. 4; “Ante el altar de Su Omnipotente” in El Catolicismo, 15 August 1852, p. 509; and “Elvira” in Papel Periódico Ilustrado, 1 February 1882, p. 141. For poetry in nineteenth century Colombia, see Cano, Baldomero Sanín, Ensayos (Havana, 1964), pp. 68 Google Scholar, 89; Maya, Rafael, Consideraciones críticas sobre la literatura colombiana (Bogotá, 1944), p. 77 Google Scholar; and Scruggs, William L., The Colombian and Venezuelan Republics (Boston, 1901), p. 101.Google Scholar
38 “La protesta de la musa” in Silva, J.A., Prosas, p. 62 Google Scholar. Also see “El poeta” in Conto, César, Versos (Paris, 1891), pp. 34–40.Google Scholar
39 “Estoy en la cárcel” in Arboleda, J., Poesías, p. 83.Google Scholar
40 “Despedida de la patria” in Caro, José Eusebio, Poesías (Madrid, 1885), pp. 79–80.Google Scholar
41 “Gonzalo de Oyón” in Arboleda, J., Poesías, pp. 121–302.Google Scholar
42 Caro, J.E., “Words of the Last Inca,” in Blackwell, Alice Stone, Some Spanish American Poets (New York, 1929), p. 414.Google Scholar
43 “Del valle” in Pombo, Rafael, Antología poética (Bogotá, 1952), p. 130.Google Scholar
44 Scruggs, , Colombian and Venezuelan, pp. 95–7.Google Scholar
45 “La gloria y la poesía,” in Caro, J.E., Poesías, p. 257.Google Scholar
46 “La copa de vino,” in Pombo, , Antología, pp. 50, 53.Google Scholar
47 Rivas, Medardo, Los trabajadores de tierra caliente (Bogotá, 1946), pp. 66 Google Scholar, 73, 79; El Trabajo, 15 October 1887, p. 3; and El Tiempo (Bogotá), 1 January 1855, p. 3.
48 González, Gregorio Gutiérrez, “Memoria sobre el cultivo de maíz en Antioquia,” Hojas de Cultura Popular Colombiana, 5. 14 (February 1952), n. p.Google Scholar
49 “Motivos” in Valencia, Guillermo, Ritos (London, 1914), p. 23 Google Scholar. On Modernism in Colombia, see Maya, Rafael, Los orígenes del modernismo en Colombia (Bogotá, 1961).Google Scholar
50 Silva, J.A., “Un poema” in King, Georgiana Goddard, A Citizen of the Twilight: José Asunción Silva (New York, 1921), p. 23.Google Scholar
51 “Midnight Dreams” in Silva, J.A., Prosas, pp. 187–8.Google Scholar
52 Silva, J.A., “Nocturno” in King, , Citizen, pp. 27–8Google Scholar. Also see Silva, J.A., Obras completas, intro, by Unamuno, Miguel (Bogotá, 1965).Google Scholar
53 Valencia, , “Los Camellos” in Jones, Willis Knapp, Spanish-American Literature in Translation (New York, 1963), p. 94 Google Scholar. Also see Valencia, Guillermo Valencia; and Valencia, , Poesías y discursos (Madrid, 1959).Google Scholar
54 Suárez, Marco Fidel, Obras (Bogotá, 1958), pp. 750–2.Google Scholar
55 Samper, , Selección, p. 172.Google Scholar
56 Uribe, Jaime Jaramillo, El pensamiento colombiano en el siglo XIX (Bogotá, 1964), p. 100 Google Scholar; and Alvarez, Enrique Zuleta, “Miguel Antonio Caro y la emancipación hispanoamericano,” Thesaurus: Boletín del Instituto Caroy Cuervo, 11:3 (September-December 1960), pp. 515–7.Google Scholar
57 Cuervo, Rufino José, El castellano en America, (Bogota, 1935), pp. 43–5.Google Scholar
58 C. C. Holguín to R. J. Cuervo (Madrid, 2 November 1882) in Epistolario de Rufino José Cuervo con los miembros de la Academia Colombiana, ed. by Romero, Mario Germán (Bogotá, 1972), pp. 133–4Google Scholar. Also see Epistolario de Rufino José Cuervo y Emilio Teza, ed. by Hauser, Ana, Pomareda, Jorge Páramo (Bogotá, 1965)Google Scholar; and Epistolario de Rufino José Cuervo y Hugo Schuchardt, ed. by Bross, Dieter (Bogotá, 1968).Google Scholar
59 Jaramillo, Gabriel Giraldo, “Artistas colombianas del siglo XIX,” Bolívar: Revista Colombiana de Cultura, v. 44 (n. d.), pp. 815–9.Google Scholar
60 Ibáñez, , Crónicas, 4, 599 Google Scholar; and Ureña, Pedro Henríques, A Concise History of Latin American Culture, trans, by Chase, Gilbert (New York, 1966), p. 94.Google Scholar
61 Urdaneta, Alberto, “El arte del grabado,” Hojas de Cultura Popular Colombiana, v. 9 (September 1951), n. p.Google Scholar; Ibáñez, , Crónicas, 4, 208–10Google Scholar; Papel Periódico Ilustrado, 15 December 1886, p. 150; and ibid., 29 May 1888, pp. 310, 315–6, 318.
62 Girón, Lázaro M., “Un recuerdo de la Comisión Corográfica,” Hojas de Cultura Popular Colombiana, v. 30 (June 1953), n. p.Google Scholar
63 For his sketches, see Méndez, Ramón Torres, Cuadros de Costumbres (Bogotá, n.d.)Google Scholar. On his life, see Jaramillo, Gabriel Giraldo, “Ramón Torres Méndes,” Hojas de Cultura Popular Colombiana, v. 20 (June 1956), n.p.Google Scholar; and Tamayo, Joaquín, “Ramón Torres Méndez,” Hojas de Cultura Popular Colombiana, v. 20 (August 1952), n. p.Google Scholar
64 Moure, Cordovez, Reminiscencias, pp. 30–1Google Scholar; and Ibáñez, , Crónicas, 4, 597.Google Scholar
65 LA Palestra (Mompos), 17 February 1883, p. 4; and “Indemnizaciones” in Silva, R., Artículos, p. 23.Google Scholar
66 Papel Periódico Ilustrado, 20 December 1883, pp. 104–5; and Perdomo Escobar, José Ignació, Historia de la música en Colombia (Bogotá, 1963), pp. 201–3.Google Scholar
67 Ferrer, Javier Arango, La literatura de Colombia (Buenos Aires, 1940), p. 65.Google Scholar
68 “Una noche in Bogotá”, in Kastos, Emiro, Compadre Facundo, pp. 36–7.Google Scholar
69 Moure, Cordovez, Reminiscencias, p. 51 Google Scholar; and Fajardo, M.M., “Teatro Municipal, datos históricos,” Boletín de Historia y Antigüedades, 6:71 (April 1911), p. 702.Google Scholar
70 El Día, 12 February 1848, p. 4; and Carilla, Emilio, “El teatro romántico en Hispanoamérica,” Thesaurus: Boletín del Instituto Caro y Cuervo, v. 12 (Bogota, 1968), pp. 35, 38.Google Scholar
71 “Por qué no soy autor dramático” in Rivera, y Garrido, , Impresiones, pp. 161,Google Scholar 171; and Eder, , Colombia, p. 265.Google Scholar
72 El Trabajo, 11 June 1887, p. 4; and ibid., 25 April 1891, p. 3.
73 Moure, Cordovez, Reminiscencias, pp. 30–1Google Scholar; Steuart, , Bogota, pp. 135–7Google Scholar; Petre, , Republic, p. 132 Google Scholar; and Brisson, , Viajes, p. 157.Google Scholar
