Melodramatic Modernities: Latin American Serial Fiction and Silent Film Culture, 1914-1929 By Juan Sebastián Ospina León A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the deGree of Doctor of Philosophy in Romance LanGuaGes and Literatures and the DesiGnated Emphasis in Film Studies in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charGe: Professor Natalia Brizuela, Chair Professor Francine Masiello Professor Linda Williams Fall 2015 Melodramatic Modernities: Latin American Serial Fiction and Silent Film Culture, 1914- 1929 © 2015 by Juan Sebastián Ospina León 1 Abstract Melodramatic Modernities: Latin American Serial Fiction and Silent Film Culture, 1914-1929 By Juan Sebastián Ospina León Doctor of Philosophy in Romance LanGuaGes and Literatures with a DesiGnated Emphasis in Films Studies University of California, Berkeley Professor Natalia Brizuela, Chair This dissertation examines how melodrama in early twentieth century ArGentina and Colombia shaped sites of intelliGibility to record multiple processes of modernization— includinG but not limited to massive immiGration, the import of new technoloGies, and the (gendered) reshuffling of social orders. This dissertation also analyzes the ways in which melodrama recast different senses of community. With an archival perspective, it traces how diverse social actors appropriated melodrama for individual and Group aGendas, as they entered the modern political pact, the pact of representation. More specifically, and by bridGinG Latin American and Euro-American theories of melodrama, this dissertation traces key narrative conventions and argues that, across the social spectrum, actors recast the dynamics of representation durinG the period by visualizing classed, raced, and gendered anxieties vis-à-vis change throuGh the interrelated media of literature, illustrated periodicals, and film. The first chapter addresses how the national imaGination and state formations in Latin America were shaped throuGh melodrama, correlatively determininG dominant narrative tropes across media. I focus on José Mármol’s Amalia (1851-1855) and Jorge Isaacs’ María (1867) and the cross-media iterations of both works engendered around the ArGentine and Colombian centennial celebrations. The second chapter turns to 1920s tabloid newspapers and weekly novels. These served as platforms for emerGent writers, many of them immiGrants, who harnessed melodramatic narratives in periodicals to denounce social problems and inequity, particularly regarding destitute subjects who were marGinalized in rapid urbanization processes. TurninG the focus to early cinema, the third chapter eXamines the tense relations between material proGress, tradition, and social change/immobility visualized in three filmic Genres—the ArGentine cine de ambiente campero, the porteño cinedrama, and the Colombian patriarchal family melodrama. These genres told contrastinG tales of modernization: ArGentine cinema capitalized on modernity’s chanGes, its thrills and anXieties, while Colombian cinema depicted tradition and reliGiosity as compulsory conditions for material proGress. This dissertation ultimately proposes that melodrama was not an escapist form, as it is commonly defamed. Rather, it 2 visualized the present moment, unbarred the public sphere, and pointed to an inclusive future. 3 A Muna y Alí i TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………………………………………………………………ii INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….iv CHAPTER 1: María and Amalia: Melodrama, Iteration, and the Nation-State…………………………………………1 CHAPTER 2: Lived Space and the Illustrated Press: Urban EXpansion, Melodrama, and Miseria…………...44 CHAPTER 3: MovinG ImaGes, ImaGes in Movement: ProGress, Tradition, and Circulation………………….....76 CONCLUSION..…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….122 BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..127 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to eXpress my Gratitude to the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, which provided fellowship support for completinG this dissertation, as well as to the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley, for additional fundinG support. I have been eXtremely fortunate to be able to work with my dissertation chair Natalia Brizuela whose insights and guidance have been great sources of inspiration, support, and encouraGement at every staGe of my doctoral studies at UC Berkeley. Her incisive questions moved my project forward and constantly pushed me to challenGe my theoretical assumptions. I am also very Grateful for the insiGhts and support of Francine Masiello, who shared with me her passion for the nineteenth century and made me aware of senses other than sight. My gratitude equally goes to Linda Williams, for introducinG me to melodrama and movinG imaGes—both in motion and producinG stronG emotion. Her dedication to the field and to her students has stronGly influenced my scholarly endeavors. This dissertation would not have been possible without the assistance of friends, colleaGues, and professional archive staff in Buenos Aires, BoGota, Stanford University, and UC Berkeley, as well as family in Istanbul. In Buenos Aires, my Gratitude first and foremost goes to David Oubiña who shared his profound knowledGe of ArGentine cinema and, with superlative Generosity, introduced me to archivists whose institutions would have been otherwise inaccessible to me. Thanks to Adrián Muoyo, director of the Escuela Nacional de EXperimentación y Realización CinematoGráfica (ENERC) library, whose captivatinG conversations on tango culture and the turn of the century deeply enriched my understandinG of ArGentine melodrama; to Octavio Morelli, who unlocked the seeminGly impenetrable Gates of the ENERC’s rare periodicals collection; and to Luis Facelli, director of the Universidad del Cine library who very generously shared his unpublished work with me. Special thanks to Camila Gatica, who provided valuable comments on my project and who, with great zeal, insistently questioned the holdings of the Biblioteca Nacional, unearthinG number after number of rare ArGentine film trade journals; and to MarGarita Pierini, from the Universidad Nacional de Quilmes, who shared with me treasures from her own archival findings in ArGentine weekly novels. Finally, thanks to Andrea Cuarterolo, who I only have had the pleasure to meet virtually, but whose scholarship and eXpertise I have often relied upon and with whom I have had the opportunity to discuss and contribute to the study of Latin American silent film. I would also like to eXpress my appreciation to the staff of the followinG Buenos Aires archives: the Hemeroteca of the Biblioteca Nacional ArGentina, the Museo del Cine Pablo Ducrós Hicken, the Instituto Nacional de Estudios de Teatro (INET), and the Biblioteca del Congreso. In Bogotá, thanks to Diego Rojas, whose insiGhts and passion for Colombian early cinema history have always been very influential; to Leila El’Gazi for sharinG with me her experience with the bureaucratic entanGlements of State-sponsored archival research, which led me to surprisinG finds in the national film archive. Special thanks to AleXandra Mendoza, from the Fundación Patrimonio Fílmico Colombiano, who helped me access archival material unavailable due to an always-deferred digitization process. Thanks to Professor Ricardo Arias Trujillo, from Universidad de los Andes, whose insiGhts and knowledge of 1920s Colombia filled many Gaps on the cultural history of a fascinatinG iii period—that still remains understudied. I would also like to recognize the helpful professional staff of the following archives: the Biblioteca Nacional, with special thanks to Lyda Patricia España Rodríguez for her assistance in accessinG original copies instead of the dreaded microfilm strip and for remotely providinG diGital copies of rare documents; the Hemeroteca of the Biblioteca Luis ÁnGel AranGo; and the Archivo Nacional. Thanks to my colleaGues and friends at UC Berkeley who enriched the research and writinG process of this dissertation. Special thanks to Rielle Navitski, for sharing archival finds, invaluable insiGhts, and commentinG, multiple times, on my work; to Ivett López, my movie-struck friend and most meticulous reader; and to Camilo Jaramillo Castrillón, Manuel Cuéllar, Krista Brune, and Ricardo López, who painstakingly read early versions of my chapters. And many thanks to my new best friend, Ali Ospina Güvenç. Your birth brouGht vibrant colors to my focus on the silver screen. The support of my parents, Marta León and Jairo Ospina, has been indispensable throuGhout my eXperience in Graduate school. The support of Zühal and Izzetin Güvenç, has been key in the final staGes of this project. I must also thank Good friends, Emel Çetin, Sevtap Çevik, and Nihan Beyazoğlu, who took care of Ali when Muna and I were not able to. Lastly, and most importantly, my Gratitude to Muna Güvenç, to whom this dissertation is dedicated, and to whom my life is devoted. You are the reason for my work. iv INTRODUCTION “De cien proletarios noventa ignoran quién es Carlos Marx, pero noventa pueden contestarle en qué estilo daba besos Rodolfo Valentino.” Roberto Arlt1 “Melodramatic Modernities: Latin American Serial Fiction and Silent Film Culture, 1914-1929” argues that melodrama in two related media—the emerGent mass-medium of the illustrated press and the then novel medium of film—shaped sites of intelligibility to record multiple processes of modernization and recast different senses of community.