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EMILIO RABASA: LIFE AND WORKS Item Type text; Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Stratton, Lorum H., 1938- Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 06/10/2021 11:43:02 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/290281 72-194 STRATTON, Lorum H., 1938- EMILIC) RABASA: LIFE AND WORKS. [Portions of Text in Spanish]. The University of Arizona, Ph.D., 1971 Language and Literature, modern ! University Microfilms, A XEROX Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan ri .• COPYRIGHTED BY LORUM H. STRATTON 1971 in. THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFLIMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED EMILIO RABASA: LIFE AND WORKS by Lorum H. Stratton A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF ROMANCE LANGUAGES In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY WITH A MAJOR IN SPANISH In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 19 7 1 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE I hereby recommend that this dissertation prepared under my direction by Lorum H. Stratton entitled Emilio Rabasa: Life and Works be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy A.^r /I,. .^rA/ A Dissertation Director Date After inspection of the final copy of the dissertation, the following members of the Final Examination Committee concur in its approval and recommend its acceptance:" Jj .iT~' /f?/ This approval and acceptance is contingent on the candidate's adequate performance and defense of this dissertation at the final oral examination. The inclusion of this sheet bound into the library copy of the dissertation is evidence of satisfactory performance at the final examination. STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowl edgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be grant^tk by the copyright holder. SIGNED: PLEASE NOTE: Some Pages have indistinct print. Filmed as received. UNIVERSITY MICROFILMS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS For financial support, I thank the Department of Romance Languages of The University of Arizona for a teaching assistantship, the Mexican government for a "Beca Abraham Lincoln," and the United States Government for an NDEA IV Fellowship. For research assistance, I thank the staff of the Hemeroteca Nacional, the staff of the Centro de Estudios Literarios, and the staff--especially Miss Blanca Castanon-- of the Biblioteca Nacional in Mexico City. For personal information, I thank the family of Emilio Rabasa, especially his son Lie. Oscar Rabasa and his grandson Lie. Emilio 0. Rabasa. For technical help, I thank my committee, especially my director Dr. Renato I. Rosaldo. For her long hours and hard work as a typist, I thank Miss Jan Downing. For moral support, patience and all the other intan gible elements, I thank my wife Karen. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT vii 1. INTRODUCTION 1 2. EARLY LIFE (1856-1891) 8 3. LATER LIFE (1891-1930 ) 32 h. JURIDICAL WORKS 75 El articulo 78 El .juicio constitucional 83 La constitucion y la dictadura 85 Conclusion 91 La evolucion historica de Mexico 93 Conclusion 98 5. MINOR LITERARY WORKS 101 Poetry 102 Conclusion. ...... 116 Literary Criticism 117 Short Stories 126 6. THE NOVELS 136 History 137 Plots 1^5 Literary Influences 15^ The Spanish Influence 156 The Mexican Influence 159 Other Influences 162 Conclusion 16U 7. ANALYSIS OF THE NOVELS 167 Anti-Romanticism. 169 Romantic Elements 172 v vi TABLE OF CONTENTS—CONTINUED Page Personages 175 Male Personages 179 Juan Quinones 179 Pepe Rojo l8l Mateo Cabezudo 183 Minor Political Personages 185 Female Personages 186 Customs and History 189 Customs 190 Politics 193 Journalism 196 Scope of the Criticism 197 Humor 201 Satire 202 Caricature 20h Familiar Approach 207 Conclusion 209 8. CONCLUSION SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 220 PART I: EMILI0 RABASA 220 PART II: OTHER WORKS 223 ABSTRACT The last third of the nineteenth century was a period of development and maturation for Mexican literature. Not withstanding the numerous works that have studied this period, many important literary figures have only been super ficially presented. One of such men was Emilio Eabasa. Very little was known of his life because no family records or diaries were kept. In literature, he was the first author to consciously apply the realistic techniques to the novel; yet his later work as a political theorist relegated his litera ture to a secondary position. The purpose, then, of this study was twofold: first, to combine the many untied pieces of Rabasa's life into a coherent biography; and second, to do an in-depth study of his literary works. His life encompassed a period of political instability followed by a long term of enforced peace under Porfirio Diaz and then the Revolution of 1910 and its aftermath. He, like many of his generation, became a follower of positivism, which proposed to establish social order through the applica tion of scientific methods. Rabasa learned the principles of study, observation, experimentation and evolution which became the foundation for his thought and actions. It ex plains why he wrote novels in the realistic style; it vii vi ii explains why he supported the Diaz regime but authored a book condemning dictatorships; and it explains why he worked for peaceful evolution instead of armed revolution. Of special importance in this study was his decision to try his hand at literature. Though the positivistic education stressed reas on and the sciences over sentiment and the humanities, Rabasa considered sentiment an inborn trait of youth and poetry the means of expressing it. While a stu dent, he wrote a group of love poems; the influence of Becquer is so great that certain poems could be intermixed and appear to be the work of one man. Poetry was but the initial attempt of Rabasa to create literature and he soon turned to prose. During a two-year period, 1887-1888, he veritably began and ended a literary career which consisted of four novels, a novelette, four short stories, and five articles on literary criticism. These literary works, especially the novels, mirrored his observation of Mexican society and poli tics , and uncovered many flaws in the existing system of government. Having pointed out this discrepancy between the ideal and reality, Rabasa then dedicated his life--he served as lawyer, judge, governor, senator, diplomat, professor and political theorist--to the betterment of the laws and politi cal institutions of Mexico. A chapter dealing with his scientific works has been included in order to show that Rabasa's literary career was IX not a youthful whim but rather a stepping stone to his monu mental work as a political thinker. His literary criticism emphasizing proper use of language became one of the outstand ing features of his judicial writings, and his scientific works proposed remedies to some of the flaws he had uncovered in his novels. The analysis of the novels has shown that Rabasa de serves his position as pioneer of literary realism in Mexico. Satire of romanticism, characterization of middle class individuals, custom portrayal and humor form the nucleus for these works, and critics have rightfully noted his debt to the Spanish authors Galdos and Pereda. But the novels also reveal an attempt to produce a literature based on Mexican environment and themes and, in so doing, Rabasa followed the precepts set by earlier Mexican authors. Rabasa was the first novelist to confront deep-seated social and political problems and this critical portrayal of society became the thematic foundation for many novels of the twentieth century. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION To further comprehend the totality of Mexico's liter ary production and to gain a better understanding of its development, many critics have seen the importance of re- studying the past centuries, especially the nineteenth: Es necesario poseer un conocimiento mas completo y preciso de la literatura del siglo XIX para que sea posible organizar esos materiales en cuadros histo- ricos y valoraciones crfticas que nos permitan discernir y apreciar la significacion y el merito de las letras durante el siglo pasado.-*- After the long and bitter struggle for Independence, writers in Mexico during the nineteenth century were, for the first time, able to dedicate their efforts and talents to produce an autonomous and national literature. Almost the whole Mexican literature up to this time was only a reflec tion of European tastes, ignoring the Mexican environment and character. The war for independence had given Mexico an opportunity to unite as a nation, and the winning of that independence had produced an enormous pride in all things Mexican. The literature reflected this new-found self-esteem; "'"Jose Luis Martinez, La expresion nacional (Mexico City, 1955), 28U. 1 2 Mexican life and customs were beginning to be evident during the early Romantic period. But the great development did not begin until the l860's, when some of Mexico's intellec tuals—especially Ignacio Manuel Alt amirano--began to stress the importance and necessity of producing a literature based on Mexican environment, ideas, and ideals; with this encour agement, national literature commenced to flourish. Though many studies exist that deal with the litera ture of this era, they are neither complete nor do they portray a true critical picture of the literary development.