Naturalism in the works of Federico Gamboa

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Authors Theobald, John Orr, 1907-

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Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/553213 Naturalism in the Works of Federico Gamboa

John Orr Theobald

M • ■ '

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the

requirements for the degree of

Master of Arts

in the College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, of the

University of Arizona v V ! • • x . .

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Table of Contents

I. Definitions.

II. Short History of Naturalism.

III. Life and "orks of Federico Gamboa.

IV. Naturalism in the Novels of Federico Gamboa.

V. Conclusion.

Appendices:

A. Personal Letter from Federico Gamboa, B. Biblos.

C. Por El Mis mo Autor,

D. GuestIonario.

Notes.

Bibliography.

90843 3

...... : CHAPTER I . . . ;

Definitions

The search for truth has manifested itself In margr ways in the- history of mankind. It is the motivating ele­ ment in the greatest branches of knowledge, religion, sci­

ence, art, economics, and literature. -

There was a group of thinkers in.the field of liter­

ature called "naturalists". Largely influenced by the

primary advances cf science, they sought to set forth in

literature the truths of life, using the "scientific me-,,

thod" as their mode of procedure. The "scientific method"

is based on experimentation and observation. The method

is one of strict analysis, and precludes any idealization.

Theoretically, the naturalist must depict life just as it

is, coldly and impersonally, arriving at his conclusions

by the scientific method. Despite the well defined theo­

ries of their school, and the zeal with which the natural­

ists defended these theories, none of the authors of the.

school have complied perfectly with its regulations.

Diametrically opposed to .naturalism, which is an

exaggerated form of realism, is romanticism. In romanti­

cism synthesis, idealization, and free use of imagination

are fundamentals. The case of romanticism against realism

is ageless, for the ideal against the material and practical

/ / • 4 is an inherent trait of human nature. i ' . - ...... The field of study,is so vast and the divergences.of opinions of the acknowledged scholars so great, that to categorize each literary work as either romantic or realis­ tic, without qualifications, would be hazardous* If the work were one of great:artistic merit, those with the romantic point of view would choose to interpret its sa­

lient points as romantic, just as the, realists or natural­ ists would, elect the author*s ideas as coincident with

their own# Since no two men look alike, perhaps no two think alike. The radicals of today are the conservatives of tomorrow; the great naturalists from their graves are frowning upon the cubists,- the superrealists, the dadaists,

the unaniraists# ■

.Therefore, it will be unquestionably more advantageous

to quote these authorities in an unccntroversial spirit,

rejecting or applying their contentions as we see,fit.

The true distinction between romanticism and realism

lies really in the novelist’s attitude of mind toward his materials. Actually there can not be such a thing as a

romantic or realistic;subject. The very same sub jeot can

be both romantically and realistically treated. The dls-

tinotion therefore must;be one of method in setting forth

this subject matter. The realist is concerned with and

refers to the achievement of scientific discovery, while

the romanticist busies himself with problems of artistic

expression. In the light-of philosophy, the distinction 5

can be successfully made In the following statement *

"In setting forth his view of life, the realist fol­ lows the inductive method of presentment, and the romantic follows the deductive

Expanding this statement, our critic continues:

"The realist first leads us through a series of Im­ agined facts as similar as possible to the details of actual life which he has studied, in order to arrive at the general conception. His method is leading us from the particular to the general. The romantic is concerned only with convey­ ing his general idea by giving it specific illustrative embodiment. He feels no obligation to make the imagined facts of his story resemble the actual details of life.

The realist must have eyes and ears, though he need not have a soul.. The realist’s eyes and ears must not fail him, for then his readers will disbelieve him, and a story disbelieved is no story at all. He must never go beyond his own experience, he is confined to his own place and time, and the mere fact that he goes out of place and time will tend to produce skepticism in the reader. The range of romance is far wider than that of realism. If the romantic be certain of his truth and of his ability to convince, he need not support his truth by accumulation of evidence.

It is said that a picture differs from a photograph mainly in its artistic repression of the insignificant; it exhibits life more truly because it focuses attention 6

on essentials* The realist who values facts for their own

sake, instead of the.truths which under-lie them, becomes

a naturalist, and the naturalist makes photographs of

1 i f e * , ■ . - , -"

, The paragraphs quoted above are by Mr. Clayton Hamil­

ton, and they offer a framework for the consideration of r the two schools. . . ■ ... .

: Martino states that his definition will permit of

useful antitheses: ,, . ; , , *!...romanticism...is a certain state of mind, melan­

cholic and imaginative, rather proud and revolting, the

other, a true fever to show man and nature in that which 3 they are the. most shameful.n ,

William Dean Howells carries the evolution of realism

into naturalism to this length:

"When realism becomes false to itself, when it heaps

up facts merely, and maps life, instead of picturing it,

realism will perish too."4 ;

A consideration of more of Mr. Howell’s critique brings us to this:

"Armando Palaoio Valdes, in his preface to La Hermana

San Sulplolo. says this: ’French naturalism represents only

' a moment and an insignificant part of, life...no one can j arise from the perusal of a naturalistic book without a

vivid desire,..and a purpose more or less vague, of help­

ing to better the lot and morally elevate the abject beings

who figure in It.*"5 "An insignificant part of life," 7

says Valdes, while Emile Zola thought and sought to embrace humanity In Its entirety as his subject! Mr, Howalls, how- ever, contends" that art Is not concerned with the preaching of morality; art rests on that which Is beautiful, and for that reason tends to be moral*6 This would exclude every­ thing from the realms of art that was not beautiful* Again there are as many thoughts as there are men, for Gamboa says: - ' ' •• ^ :.. - ■ . /.

"To tengo para ml, que el arte no es moral ni inmoral; debe ser arte, y cobk? tal, purlfiear lo Impuroj que sin aquelj se quedarla de Impure para siempre*"^ '

Since Mr* Clayton Hemllton says that there Is no such thing as a romantic or realistic subject* a true artist could safely treat a "shameful" subject, knowing that his art would chasten It*

Valdes, with naturalism still in mind, claims that the greatest cause of the decadence of contemporary literature 0 is the "vice of effect!sm"* This may apply to those with mercenary tendencies in the field of literature, bit not to Gamboa: ' ■ • - ; . ■.

-5 ,• , "..* no voy a oerrar ice museos ni intentar autos de

fe con las obras literal!as, para evltar rubores de nines

oasaderss, miedos de letrades asustadizos, o de viojos 11- 9 bidinosos e impotentea," ^

A. discussion of naturalism zmst inevitably lead to

the consideration of the most famous exponent of the school,

Emile Zola, A perusal of. his life reveals to us that he was 8

a staunch romanticist in his youth. At this point of.de­ parture from romanticism, which is the beginning of his successful literaiy career, h® caught the invading spirit of investigation and experimentation* He modeled his nov­ els after the scientific processes of Claude Bernard, and became the principal theorist of naturalism. He found some sympathizers and untold numbers of enemies of hie school. This was to his liking. He thrived on the abuse and the invective of his enemies;the saw his works going into hundreds of editions, hundreds of thousands of volumes.

His espousal of the cense of naturalism brought him power, . wealth, glory and fame. Why, then, abandon it, even though in his later years its adherents were dwindling, he himself experience!ng the.reaction to naturalism? Zola*s.private and public statements sometimes diverge widely. He once said to his intimates, Flaubert,Edmond de Gonoourt, Baudot, and Turgeniev: . ; .

"And by Jove, I say the devil with naturalism, like you.

Yet I shall repeat those ideas and go on repeating them, be­ cause new things must be baptized before the:public, so that they may think them new,"*0 ■' :■■■■ ; .

Zola, "fought thru the long years for his doctrines and his school, while knowing the vanity, the vulnerability of them; •thus resembling,» as Ceard observes, •one of those apostles of Renan1® books, who die for a faith of whose il­ lusory character they have long been undeceived,•" **

It may be safely stated that Zola was not a perfect - 9 -

/ naturallot. He was rather the champion of the school, Els work is synthetic and replete with idealizations, epic in the vastness of its subject, and pessimistic in tone. Bearing in mind the.evident insincerities of the man and the differences between his public and private opinion, we may approach his definitions and ideas with a slightly altered point of view.

"A slice of life seen through a temperament” is pos- '

slbly Zola1s most quoted definition of his literature, and he adds, "art is a comer of nature seen through a tempera­ ment." These are contradictory statements because "reality

and temperament are two mutually exterminating conceptions".^

Naturalism for Zola was to be as vast as the hold of a

ship. The things ho attempted were always;on the grand scale; we have only to recall'the ultra-ambitious program of the

Rougon-Macquart. His work was to embrace the whole mass of

humanity, and every phase of it* .

There are some laudable concepts to which Zola held ^

throughout his life. The best of these are his socialistic ~(

doctrines. We will remember that France as a nation, preach­

ing social progressy and throwing off the domination of the

Church, has just been (latter half of the nineteenth century)

liberated from political feudalism. The following occurs

in his notes and plans for the Rougon-Macquart:

"I have said that there is an urge toward liberty and

justice. I believe that it will be long in arriving, while

holding that we may be tad toabetter state. But I believe

above all in a constant march toward truth. It is only 10

from the knowledge of virtue that a better social state can be born. ... : ■ " ■

Ity study then-is simply-a piece of analysis of the world as it is. I only state facts. It is to be a study of man placed in a milieu, with no sermonizing# If w novel must ' have a result, it will be this; to tell the human truth, to exhibit our machinery, showing the hidden springs by heredity and the play of environment. : ; - r My novel must be simple. Only one family with a few members. All the cases.of heredity either in the members of this family or in secondary characters.

The Empire has unloosed appetites and ambitions, orgy

of appetites and ambitions. Thirst for pleasure, pleasure

in hasty thought and fatigued body. Fatigue and collapse;

the family will burn like a body devouring itself, it will

exhaust itself in a generation because it will have lived too fast# • • ■ - . - -..r '

. I must apply the force, heredity, toward a direction#

This direction is found; the family will go toward the con­

tentment of the appetite, fortune or glory,or the content­ ment of the appetite, thought. The social moment is this:

all desire pleasure, all seek the utmost physical and intel­

lectual pleasures.*

His "general notes on the nature of the work*:

"Understand each novel as follows; place before you a human case; put two or three forces in juxtaposition with

it; establish a struggle between these forces; then lead the 11

characters to the denouement hy the logic of their particu­ lar beings, one force absorbing the others or all."^

That la Zola and the crystallisation of his naturalism.

The experimental method is in the notes and plans and

"observation and experience applied to literature

Pellissier, an eminent French thinker and critic, in his "Le Mouvement Littersire Contemporaine", gives a very absolute definition of naturalism in his discussion of Mau­ passant, whoi he asserts, is the one author who really merits, if any do, the classification of "naturalist".

He says, in part j ' - .• ' : ‘ - / : "■

: ",,,the most naturalistic of writers is evidently he whose idiosyncrasy alters nature the least. The naturalist

is not he who sees differently than the others, but he who

sees with more clarity, more precision, who expresses the

real more strongly."^ ‘

In a paraphrase of other ideas of Pellissier, we find

that he considers that Maupassant gathers images, attitudes,

and gestures with the precision of a photographic apparatus.

Unlike Zola, no system, no theory deforms reality in the

eyes of Maupassant.; Thera is no philosophyj to Maupassant

it is impossible to explain our "raison d ’etre", no one has

succeeded yet, then why be concerned about it? There is no morality; he is indifferent to justice, fraternity, hap- ,

piness, social and individual morality do not bother him;

he cannot distinguish between good and bad. Love is an

instinct of sex, nature and morality oppose each other# Zola, Daudet and the de Goneourts..*are professional ob­ servers ; they have a plan, a purpose, an idea* Passive and neutral, Maupassant presents.thing® seen with a per­ fect exactitude. Maupassant is absolutely impersonal.

His art merely bears out nature. He has no euriosity, no virtuosity, nothing rare, nothing exquisite, nothing "odd".

He has only general qualities of style, clarity, and pre­ cision* He puts the object under our eyes. He is more than clear; he is transparent* Intimate life is shown by clear exterior signs; that is enough psychology for him, and he can and does successfully show the inside by deal­ ing only with outside,

- We may. agree that Pellissler has given.the most abso- lute definition of naturalism, and that Maupassant is the one author who has a right Ail claim to the title of nat­ uralist, Bit for literature to follow these strict rules would stifle all the: humanltarianism, all individuality,

all sincerity, all emotion. Zola himself would not have wished to set such a cold program for his school to follow.

In "Candelabra", John Galsworthy professes to see less

Impersonality, and more artistic ability in Maupassant: .

"In the essentials of style he is the prince of tea­

chers. The vigor of his vision and thought, the economy

and clarity of the expression in which he has clothed them,

have not yet been surpassed# Better than any other writer

he has taught us what to leave out.,.His work forms a

standing rebuke to the confusion, the shallow expressionism 13 -

the formless egoism which are not Infrequently taken for

art,”1,7

Brumetl^re is the most ardent adverse critic of net*

urallsm. His opinion Is:

"It is an art that sacrifices form to material, design 18 to color, emotion to sensation, and the ideal to the real*,

and "there are insignificant and low details•" Martino avers

that naturalism is a "method of intellectual vrork borrowed 20 directly from science", while Juan Valera counters with: \

' 21 "Naturalism is a degradation or derivation of romanticism."

Many of the definitions quoted are absolute, and there­

fore arbitrary. On one hand we have Zola, whose naturalism

was to be like the vast hold of a ship, capable of carrying

anything. On the other there are those like Pellissier, who

would limit naturalism to the strictest sense of the word. are . But, with the exception of Maupassant, thereAnone of the

naturalistic school who approach the absolute in naturalism,

just as perhaps, man in all his works, does not obtain per­

fection.

Naturalism adheres to the dogma of determinism, while

realism admits of a "free will". Naturalism carries realism

to an extreme of observation and experimentation. Environ­

ment, in the eyes of the foremost adherents of the naturalis­

tic school, is paramount as an influence In the lives of men,

while realism considers other things equally as important,

Naturalism attempts not to select, but realism does so.

There are fervent champions and equally zealous adver- sarles of every sdhool# Some naturalists are mercenarily pornographic, others hypocritical, all seem to have diver­ gences of opinions. There are as many different.ideas on a given subject as there are men. The naturalists could have made for a clearer understanding of themselves if, instead of clinging irrationally to the binding tenets of a "school”, they had said, like Gamboa:

”If with this profession of literary faith, I fall into the files of naturalism, a naturalist I shall be, or a verist or a realist or whatever it may be,”22 1

m 15 •

CHAPTER II

Short History of Naturalism

The fundamentals of naturalism have existed in all branches of human endeavor for many centuries as the search for truth# More than two thousand years ago Euripides, in his Baoohae said:

"The simple nameless herd of humanity,

. . ■ : . v Have deeds and faith that are truth enough for me."

Euripides made this statement when all around him

flourished the dramas of gods and goddesses; dramas based

on fearful fictions and imaginations. Greek drama had a 3 ' ; .... ~ - . • - strong element of truth in it, for in its depths it shows

human nature faithfully, but from an exterior point of view,

it gives anything but the appearance of truth. As Euripides

deserted the gods arid goddesses for the man in the street,

he voiced a salient characteristic of naturalism#

The naturalistic process had existed even before

Euripides. In the Bible, in old Chinese poetry and Hindu

verse and in the Iliad, can be found tendencies toward nat­ uralism. These tendencies, however, were similar to those

of the Greek dramatists and Moliere, all keen observers of

human nature. They dressed their characters fictitiously,

but guided their acts according to their studies of human

nature. They did not heed the truths of exterior appear- 16

anoes. They were not; slaves to actuality, and regarded their observations of life and people as a means of achieve* ment, not an end# The encyclopedists of the XVIII Century started a movement in literature which awoke the desire in men for documentation and ohservatlen# From.them, chronologically, one can proceed to the Ideologists of 1820, to the positiv­ ists of I860,, and thence to the naturalists of 1880,23

Auguste Comte was the chief advocate of the school of 24 positivism, .

Taine, the historian, took up the case of positivism where Comte left off, and became the chief philosopher of realism, To quote Martino on Tain®:

"Taine has been, in truth, the true philosopher of realism; its theorist; it is he who has given the formula of positivism in literary material. He has definitely persuaded his contemporaries of that which the ideologists and Auguste Comte' taught years ago: to realize that psycho 1

ogy is only a chapter of physiology, that the study of

oharaoters was that of temperaments, that the physical milieu presses from all sides upon our destiny, that the history of individuals, like that of nations, is submitted gK to the most vigorous of determinisms,"

Not until approximately 1880 was there a concerted

effort to establish a definite school of naturalism. At

this time Zola and the other members of the school looked

to Stendhal and Balzac as their literary ancestors. - 17 -

Stendhal contributed peeeiem and observation to ^lem,

Balzao, detailed descriptions and doeimentation.

The new Naturallets (1880) followed many antecedents in part, but none implicitly. The m a t direct influence upon the naturalista was exercised by Taine and Claude

Bernard, Bernard’s new physiology and Taine*s theories of realism gave them the solid foundation for their school,

Pellisaiier, by way of momentaiy digression,' objects to clas­ sifying naturalists in a "school". Since the true natural­ ist has no plan, no theory, ho purpose, to Impose the limi­ tations of a school upon him would detract from his ability

to set down life and nature just as it is, for his adherence to a school would bias his point of view.26

A review of the best known of the naturalism group of

1880, reveals a characteristic divergence of opinion among

the critics as to which merits the highest honor. The de

Goncourts, Flaubert, Baudot, Zola, Turgenev, de Maupassant

all have their followers.27

The de Goneourt brothers consider themselves high

priests of the naturalistic movement• They belong to the

school, in a general sense. They are leaders in documenta­

tion, and as a result their style is laboriousi Their sub­

jects are common$'the reading of Renee Mauperin will exhibit

a clinical method of observation and investigation,

S^aintsbury says of them:

"The tedious tyranny of the •document* and the ’note*,

the deliberate preference for disquieting subjects (which — 18 — V

is on the face of it as inartisti© as the deliberate ignor­

ing of them)» and the undigested prominence of mere obser­

vations, mere materials, supply a formidable indiotraent

against this work in matter and spirite"28

Daudot,s connections with the school of naturalism are

perhaps the slightest of the group mentioned. He avails

himself of faets and real people, that is true, but the at­

mosphere in which :h@ clothes them, does not follow the best

practice of the naturalists# . In Daudeli’s work one finds

imginationi humr, and a gay, witty spirit totally absent

in the work of other naturalists, and in contrast to their

pessimism# - : /- . : •• . T-- ' - ■■ - Martin© would give Flau'tert the highest place in the

naturalist group, and Brunetl&re concurs with him on this

point# They quote the following linos from Madame Bovary,

asserting that these lines practically.state the ease of

naturalism*. N;:'::. - : . "C’est.le point culminant; du dram®* V o i d de quels

traits de poote I’a marque; Jamais Madame Bovary ne.fut

plus belle qu’a cette epoquej ell® avait oette indefinis-

, sable beaute qui result# de la jole, de 1*enthousiasrae, du

suooes, et qui n ’est que I ’haraonie du temperament eve© v>- les ciroonstancos, Ses oonvoitises, see chagrins^^ex­

perience du plaisir et ses illusions toujours jeunea,:

comma font auxfleurs 1© fumier, la pluie, les vents et le sol^Sl, I’avaient, par gradations, developjie, et elle

s’epanouissait enfln dans la plantitude de sa nature. •» 19 *»

Pesez ces deur phrases: alies aont tout le roman, # 89 tout le system©, touts 1*6001®, tout le naturalism®•"

Flaubert had the proper outlook to qualify as a natur­ alist. He was gloomy, yet fundamentally, like Zola, sought some ideal, as one notices in his Idealization of Madame

Bcwary. His works all evolve from a perfected plan, and it is common knowledge that he spent hours in quest of the "right word", so technical was his style.

Zola and Maupassant are by the preponderance of opin­ ion considered the best of the school of naturalism. One might also attach to the movement, in a sweeping sense,

Emilia Pardo Bazan in Spa in, Ouerrazzi and Cellini in

Italy, Thomas Hardy in togland, Federico'Gemboa in Mexico,

Theodore Dreiser in the United States.

That naturalism has had an effect on the popular authors of the first third of the XX Century, is a point not without Justification• The naturalistic novel was stun­ ted in the final periods of its evolution; it did not ac­ tually go thru a decadent period. It was frankly abandoned.

The popularity of Rostand * s Cyrano de Bergerac, attests to the fact that the world had been gorged on "life", and that it was time for its ffinished imagination, denied of all Joy by the naturalists, to Instigate a reaction that would sweep naturalism out of the picture. And the word "picture" brings to the mind that the moving and talking picture, with its appeal to the imagination of the vast public that devoured the hundreds' of editions of Zola*s novels, promptly • 2 0 - filled in the gap in .which naturalism migfct have revived•

Yet it would be foolish to say that the woiks of the great­ est naturalists are dead and buried forever, which way the fancy of the mass will turn, no one can really predict, in­ deed, there is at present a perceptible revival of the popularity of Zola in France, and even a greater one for naturalism in Mexico, where the novels of Federico Gamboa are going into new editions.

Naturalism, in its day, seemed to have-mothered the birth of numerous progeny. We now have school upon .school , ( of writing. There are the cubists, the unanimists, the superrealists, thefstream-of-consoiousnese* writers. The latter school present themselves as dissatisfied with naturalism, in that it cuts life only in one direction, that it lacks depth and breadth, and that they will give

it this. They would penetrate into the depths of the soul to the place where action and thought are confounded. They are going to give depth and breadth to the flat surface naturalism has laid. Then naturalism has influenced them, but to what extent we do not know, for time alone can answer

this. t 81

CHAPTER III

life and Works of Federico Gamboa

Federloo Gamboa was born In Mexico City, December 22,

1864• He studied tiiere, and after the examinations in

1888, entered the diplomatic corps as second secretary of

the Legation of Central America.®® He possesses decora-

tions and honors from many countries, is an "oficial" of ^

the French Academy and a corresponding,member of the Spanish )

Academy.OA ,, ,

In Hombres y Libros, Luis G. Urbina, with whom Gamboa

collaborated in El Combats and La Juventud Literaria, in ■ rmmmmmmmmmmmrnmmm ^ . mmmmmmmmmmmmmr r.. T u r i n m: mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmrnmmm part characterizes Gamboa in his youth in the following,

skettii:

nHls.,oonteiapprariea in art called him affectionately

fEl Pajaro Gamboa*. In his youth he was happy, carefree, in

love with life, ingenious, a fascinating conversationalist;,

in his serious moments capable of sincerely moving those

about him with a deep understanding of human ills and

universal suffering. Hejnixed the ingenuity of the street

with the aristocracy of intellect, forming a dignified and

brilliant whole. He had the faculty in literature, as in

life, of being able to be sad and happy at almost the same

time. He was the possessor of candid spontaneity, but ■ ' ' " 32 ' •' ' '•■■■’■ *' sincere and reverent." - 28 -

Carlos Gonzalez Pena, in his Hlatoria de la Literature

Mexieana, adds merely that he was poor as a youth, hut a self made man whose talents were fortunately recognized early.

A review of Gamboa1s life necessarily brings us to a consideration of his Impreaiones y Recuerdos and his Mi

Diario. The former work was written early in his career, and reveals the formation of many concepts which were to influence his writing. It demonstrates his latent power as a story teller, and its personal quality and intimacy x ------——— parallels Baudotfs Lettres de Mon Moulin. In Ml Diario. of which only the first three volumes have been published, he gives us a detailed account of his life, but it is more than an autobiographical document. He cannot forget he is a novelist, and insists on telling us, in an exceptionally readable way, of the many personal reactions and impressions

to the occurrences of his daily life. To this he adds an

interesting account of the process of writing several of his ...... ‘ l novels, as well as a review of his experiences while in the

diplomatic service of his country.

While he was in the Mexican Legation at Washington,

Gamboa formed - many oharactoristic Latin-American impress

sions of the United States. We note that he admires Presi­

dents Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln, but criticizes us severely (and this, he adds, in a supposedly civilized

nation) for our lynchings, prize-fights, Kentucky feuds,

and dollar-ehasing. He continues his tirade against the United states In a denunciation of this nation*s attitude

of imper1alIsm,toward South and Central America and Mexico,

He states: \ . '

".••the American Babylon has exiled Justice and Right

•..the civilization of such an empire as the United States

Is a constant threat to the entire North American continent,r These statements, we must confess, are typical cross-

sections of the Latin-Amerlean attitude toward the United

States, There are no excuses to be made, except that such

an attitude is the result of a: lack of reciprocal under­

standing. This misunderstanding is not of necessity caused

by the superficial impressions that Latin-Americans have

taken from the United States, but the Americans* failure to understand that his southern neighbor is of a different,

and often incomprehensible, psychologic al structure* Gamboa

exhibits a keen insight into this question of Latin-Arnerlcan

psychology in a discussion of it in Mi Dlario.5^

In Mi Diario Gamboa professes an admiration for Zola,

and terms him "a lay preacher of current socialism”*3®

The paramount social questions of Mexico, alcohol and

education, likewise find a place in Ml Diario. He scarcely

attempts to solve these two problems but approaches them

with a common sense attitude, showing a firm and well-founded

faith in the future.33

In a short ^ survey of the novels 'of Gamboa Del Natural

may be cited as his first attempt in that literary field.

It is actually not a novel, but a collection of short stories Though he shows promise In this work* there Is an element of carelessness in the composition, and the style is some­ what laborious. However its analyses are clever, and its demonstrations are the piercing and convincing observation that he was later to perfect. The descriptions, tooi show promise, but little else*

In Reconquista Gamboa follows the mental and physical experiences of an irreligious person who returns to the faith and finds therein the utmost in peace and happiness.

Viramontes sees a symbolism in the adventures of the prota­ gonist, and profoundly eulogizes Gamboa for his treatment of the subject.

Supreme Ley is a lugubrious psychological tale of an

illicit love in Mexico City, Its theme parallels that of

W« Somerset Maugham1s Of Human Bondage. It is a story of

the trials and suffering of the poorer classes, and is :

depleted in the naturalistic "manner"; On the title page

occurs the quotation by Edmond de Gonoourt:

"Cn romanoier n ’est, au fond, qu'un historian des gens 30 qui n ’ont pas d ,histoire.w Concerning his regard of the

de Gonoourts, Gamboa made the following statement in a in­

terview with Jos* .Ortega y Gasset:

"I am in accord with the statements of the de Gonoourts

which ascertain that art is formed of reality and beauty.

Life gives it truth* and the writer gives JLt^beauty...but

if the work does not rest on truth, it carries death within

itself, for the artificiality will be immediately notieed7"~ ... Lula G. Urbina says that Suprema Ley is "the most beautifully true and human novel in Mexioan literature#

The outstanding oharaoteristio is its faithfulness to life, plus a perfect psychological analysis."*? Carlos:

Gonzalez Pena is of an opposite opinion. He thinks that the work follows Zola and the de Gonoourts too closely to be of any value . He admits, however, that there is a ' ' ' C preciseness in the reproduction of the atmosphere of the prison and the theatre, end that the descriptive elements are meritorious.41 • • . . ' .

Santa, Gamboa*a most popular novel, is similar to the

Nana of Zola in its subject. It exhibits the author*s mastery of style, and is a delicate question superbly trea­ ted. It contains an expos it ion of a social evil and delves deeply into the souls of a class that, like the rich and the poor, are always with us. Despite the.audacity of the sub­

ject, and the truthful vein that persists throughout the work, we cannot help but feel that it is chaste. There is a re­ markable feeling of compassion for those whom life has in-

jus tly treated. There is evident in Santa Gamboa*s vast ’ ! • mmmmmrnmmmmmm humanitarian spirit, and he voices a defense and a consola­

tion for those who, thru no fault of their own, sin against

conventions and themselves.. Fatalism is present, and we face the•fact that society itself maftains, and condemns,

in the same breath, these social outcasts,

Metamorfoslac treats the moral question of a nun in

love. The metamorphosis of the nun from the life of cell- ^ 26 haoy and religion to that of a oompleto ftilfillment of phy­ sical love is the theme* Gamboa’s judgement is that love should be denied to no one; it is an inalienable heritage, laws end dogmas notwithstanding. Unquestionably, though, the real value of the novel lies in the exposition of the life, customs, and traditions of the Mexican people, both in rural and urban districts. Thru the medium of one of the characters, a member of the poorer classes, Gamboa has expressed the attitude of the mass on political, social, and moral questions. Luis G, Urbina says'this of Gamboa’s novels in general, though it is especially applicable to ' Itetamorfoais: .

"The sincerest feeling, living, copying our life * customs, and fashions is in Gamboa. In spite of the fact that he is a naturalist, and that sometimes his action be­ comes heavy through the mess of detail, he succeeds in achieving suspense and producing emotion. He shows a life

throughly Mexican, in which events happen with the fatality

of destiny."*2/

La Llaga is a novel of prison life and the problems of

the freed prisoner in reinstating himself in society.

In this work Gamboa rightly concerns himself with' prisons,

their actual state, and the necessity for social and prison

reform. All the best characteristics of Gamboa’s literary

art are evident in La Liege. He provokes our sympathy for

the protagonist, but does not detract from the -truth in so

doing. His descriptive power is brcught into its fullest 27

play; ho conviacas us of the exactitude of what he says. In . Juan de Ml Diarlo he explains that he studied SanAUlua, the prison

In la Llaga. though It Is possible that he would convince us of the truth as he sees It, whether we were aware of this fact or not *

A complete list of the otiier works of (iamboa, correc­ ted by his, own hand to Mareh. 17, 1933, occurs in the ap­ pendix,43 . . )

- 28 -

1 ■ • ; CHAPTER 17 • -

Naturalism In the Novels of Federico Gamboa

An attempt to present the varied ideas and concepts of Federico Gamboa will be given in this chapter# These ideas shall contribute to the final decision in our con­ clusion# Even though some of the quotations do not have a direct connection with naturalism§ they will none the less aid in obtaining a better understanding of his cha- raetdristies in general.

Primarily it may be apt to consider several contribut­ ing influences that played upon the style, composition, tone and subject matter that Gamboa chose as the media of expression- in his novels.

It is known that he was greatly influenced by the

French naturalism group: Zola, Flaubert, Maupassant>

Daudet, and the de Goneourts. It could be safely stated that they influenced all departments of his work to a cer­ tain extent. It is best to bear in mind, though, that

Gamt^a absolutely demies all allegiance to any school of writing. He wrote what was in his heart; if the result happened to follow the tenots of any school, well and good enough with him,4^ Without doubt, an influence equally as great as that of the French naturalists on his works, is that of his Intense patriotism#^ /His style replete with

Mexieanlsms, is almost classieal in its clarity. It is 89

readable, and seldom involved in construction, though at times, because of the mass of detail, involved in sense.

In the form of his novels, he is not the strict natural­ ist that Zola is. He does not sacrifice spontaneity to form, end he permits himself many digressions, without', one feels, being guilty of effeotlm.

The tone of his novels, universal in general, is

thoroughly Mexican in particular* He is first a novelist-, but secondarily almost a militant reformer and patriot.

Not that he makes his desire for reform too evident, nor

does he make the ref ora. element paramount; he is too well

aware of the inconsistencies of human nature to do that.

He presents.his cases and situations in their bald and ugly aspects, but he terminates with a plea for better­ ment and progress. Himself an integral and intense part

of Mexico, and endowed with an uncommon intellectuality,!

he has perhaps gone farther beneath the spiritual surface

of his country than any other author. Her revolutions,

her abuses and poverty, her social paradoxes, all appear

on his pages with a ring of truth that art and knowledge

alone can Achieve. ’ ; . ;

The subject matter and motivating power of his novels is love. Of love he says;

"Ahora bien, de tod as las pa si ones,

dominant#? El amor, el eterno amor, el amor en todos sus

senderos, legales y ilogales, puros y impuros.

Gamboa, though he is definitely a realist and natural- . 30

1st, s®@ms to be oognleant of a truth tiiat most naturalists

Ignored ./He realizes that there Is an element of romanti­ cism in everyone and everything* It is m inherent roman­

ticism: . . ; . v - ■ . . . . : ' -

"Bn euento al otro roraentioismo, el que todos llevamo# en el alma, y los hispeno-amerioanee mas qua eualquiera, por el oompleJo herediemo de que somos usufruotuarios, en vez de denar a la sineerMad artlstica, la ensanoha y her- mosea».*un hambre de ideal, de ser poeta,.•que nos reanima en las horas negrasese romanticismo esta blen oomo esta, sera perdurable, y hay que amplearlo en la obro#"^7

Though Gamboa is no radical champion of naturalism, the naturalistic method of experimentation and observation, and above all its attempt to depict life as truthfully as possible, struck an effective and responsive note in him during the adolescence of him literary career* An examina­

tion of the following quotation will clarify his stand:

. ."Demuestrese la falsedad de la escuela (naturalism),

demiestrese que la verdad es falsa, y entonces ai habra

que someterse al falio de sus ennmlgos, de los que prefle-

ran los oastillos feudales, y los trovadores palidos, y

las pelucas empolvadas, a las mil tragedies de la exls-

tenoia moderns que presenci m o a . di arismente m^s o men os

oerca* Castillos, trovadores, y pelucas nos quedan a

miHones de leguas, los conocemos mal, al traves de lec­

tures no dirigidas, mientrae las tragedies oontempora-

neas-morales y materiales— est^h a nueetro aloance, las 31

sent linos palpi tar, estremeeerse, y hasta haroos tenldo que

enjugar las lagrlmas do algun extrano, o qua enlutarnos

por la imerte de un amigo, Es mas, yo oreo qua an Is y America, el neo-elaslclsmo y el romantlolsmo solo en verso

exoelente daben tolerarse, pero la prosa no puede mas qua

ear naturalists; a nuestra literature, que aponas oomlanza

los plnlnos de su primera edad, la ha tooado una epooa an

que a las coses se las llama por su nombre 4oomo vamos a 48 exlglrle que alias las llama de otra .manera?"

Aside from the fact that naturalism In Itself appealed

to him, Gamboa seems to have sympathized with It for more

personal reasons. For the reason that; he'was by nature,

vigorous, outspoken, spontaneous, and a lover of the truth,

those whose delicacy, real or assumed, made them enemies of

naturalism, exasperated him thoroughly:

"Pero no voy a eerrar los museos nl a intentar autos

de fe con las obras llterarlas, para evltar rubores de ni­

nes oasaderas, mledos de letrados asustadlzos o de vlejos

llbidlnosos e Impbtentes."*9 :

Gamboa discusses the merits of naturalism as opposed

to romanticism In the following:

"Pero si se compare la Idealizacion romantica.,.con

la novela actual, domimntada, reposada y sincere, imiy

pocos preferian aquella. El novel1sta de hoy, es un obrero

qua recoge Ids mater 1 ales del canine, loe que pierden los

parientes, los amigos, los conooidos, y que se enelerra a

trabaJarlos, a pullrlos, a darles helleza artfstlca; el - 38 •

novellata de ayer era un enfermo que se torturaba el craneo haeta no extraerle algo formidable y enmaranado, que se vend!era pronto, aunque fuera la mas absurds de las mentlras.

El lector quedaba ccmplacldlslmo, se 1® habfa hecho ague las

ploardias leldas, mas al eerrar, tranqullizabase con la con-

sIderaolon de que aquello no era clerto, Ahora, no; si aoaso

oonoluye un llbro, quedale ingrata impreslon, preclsamente porque lo lefdo es verdadero; parecele que on vez de una ft leotura asiste oomo testigo a un prooeso real, ante un tri­

bunal incorruptible, ol de la propla oonoienoia. Ha visto

su retrato, o su oaricatura, y se Indicia ; no le place que

se lo echen en oara; proflere el engano, las hipocresias;

que los perlodioos y las relaelones y los Indlferentes lo g desvanezean a fuerza de adjetivos encomiasticos y mentides.M

Qamboa agrees with Valdes that "no one can arise from

the perusal of a naturalistic book" without certain feelings

of indignation. ' Bit Gamboa prefers to see in these very

feelings of indignation the advantage of telling the truth y in the naturalistic manner. Zola and Gamboa are both #;

socialists. It would seem then, that they would show their

people of the poorer classes in an advantageous light. But

to make something of these people that they are not, would

nullify any good the authors might hope to accomplish for

the betterment of social eonditicns. Both Zola and Gamboa { ~\^ S'< expose the evils that exist in the masses in a realistic ' ^

manner, yet their books have their largest circulation In

this lower class, Is it because of their se-oallad porno­ graphy? / Anyone who declared that such was the general case / would perhaps contain a bit of Jealousy In his make-up, i

Zola and Gamboa are also both humanitarians, but they must force these truths down the peoples1 throats whether they like it or not# It is then that the novelists can attain their ends. - ■ / : ' v v -' ' Gamboa then takes a definite position in regard to : writing: ; v - - . ... . "El novelists se limits a copier, y si Dios le tiene de la mano, a copier con arte; si venoe. en la empress, ma­ jor para el; si no, que se dedique a otra cosa."52.

To hasten from a consideration of naturalism to one of religion may seem injudicious, but it will serve to bring forth an interesting situation, Gamboa Is a naturalist after the manner of Zola. Some of the statements that

Gamboa las:made in defense of naturalism indicate that in his youth at least, he was a bit fiery in his support of that school. Now naturalism denies the existence of "free will", one of the most jealously guarded and striotly ob­ served of Roman Catholic doctrines, Gamboa is a devout

CatholicSince Catholicism and naturalism are distinctly opposed on the question of free will, Gamboa seems to be a party to an equivocal situation. Gamboa defended natural­ ism in his youth, that is, its method of setting forth the } truth appealed to him. He did not know that it opposed directly a doctrine of the faith in which he so implicitly believes,53 If Gamboa wrote from the heart, and there is - 34 -

fatalism in his writings, then deep in himself he must give some credence to the fact that man is controlled by an irreparable destiny* On the other hand he may, like

Zola, entertain both private and public opinions# One thing is certain; he is as sincere in his profession of a religious faith as anyone could be. This dispells any idea of hypocrisy that might have been engendered. Gamboa does not thinkthe point worthy of discussion, but this 54 does not erase the duality of ideas that exists.

Gamboa worships in the Apostolic Roman Catholic Church.

In the zeal with which he concerns himself with other ques­ tions, tie approaches his sincere religious devotion* There is an intense love fbr his country; for his pec pie, and for nature revealed in his novels. Our first intention, though, will be to show his attitude toward and his interpretation of his religion. : ^

Gamboa*s God is one of compassion and forgiveness•

"Solemente que ahora, por efeeto de su exitaeion ner- viosa sin duda, era clerta cue la sonrlsa del Redentor no

era la sonrlsa vulgar y estereotipada de una estampa que se vende y fabrica por miles, no, era una sonrlsa melaneoliea

de Ser Supremo que conocenuestras miseries y de alias se

oonduele porque nos sabe impotentes y debiles para veneer-

las. No pudlendo ayudarnbs #1, por no destmir esta con­

tinue lucha entre el debar y la pasion que ^1 mismd echo

on el mundo ensenandonos ecmto el primero ha de derrotaf

a la segunda, p m m t e n o s tamhien su pardon para cuando la — 35 —

segunda, irresistible y soberana, nos derrlbo y nos hiera."55

Gamboa gives th® dbiurab,-man,'sinf and natural cons­ ol enee an expression in the ^ H e w i n g terms: ;•.. :

. MAunque mira, Rafaelj yo tenge para mi que oiertos p@- oados, ni.todas las absoluoiones do un eonelave pueden bor- rarlos de nuestra ooneieneia,••Como mi peoad© bay muohoa, y el tuyo no tm parse® de los raas graves a mi mod© de diseur- rir; poro yo no soy secretard© partioular del Padre Stern©, ni mis ideas son inspiradas por el Espiritu ganto, soy un

individuo eomo todos, ©cm mas defeetos que oualidades* lien©

de pasiones qua eonforme me aeoroda, no se, no puedo, o no

quiera veneer.* *%mra la bora do la liquidaelon final sin© un argument© poderosisimo: nobaber solicitado ml vide,

qua me onoajaron sin provia consulta y qua una vez con alia

a las espaldas resuelta.m&s fuerte qua yo, por lo oual, si

en diverses oeaslones me he apart ado inoonsciento y cons-

clentemonte del o amino del blen, mis do lores y mis lagrimas

me cuesta.e.Cuando un buque hace ague, los tripulantes y

los pasaJeros se esfuerzan para atajarla, aeometen prodi­

gies, pero si el agu jero @s may grande el agua se rjfe de

ellos, entra y entra hasta quo se traga al baroo, que no

tuvo la culpa de que lo lenzasen al mar ni de que lo obli-

garan a suponerse dotado opp mayores resistenoias do las

que on.realidad poseia...samos una canoa ohlquitita, mi-

croscopioa, ecmpelida a navegar en un mar mas grand© que

todos los mares juntos, a bregar contra vientos mas ter-

ribles que los que se ecnocen..,lo comun y freouent® as qua perezoamos en la forzada travesla, roto el tlmon de la f@ y rotos los remog de la osperenza,*56

Greater than the vows of the convent, greater than the church, greater than religion itself, are love and humani­ ty, Religion and love, in this instance parallel instead of opposed, form the basis of Reoonquleta, Vlramontes, in

A Treves de Reconquista. professes, in an energetic eulogy of Gamboa’s Reconquista. to see a symbolism embracing the history, past and future, of the Mexican people in this novel, The atmosphere in which Gaidboa was b o m and lived is expressed in the following lines:

*fJurame, hijo mio, qua en eireunstancia ninguna y sean cuales fueren las ideas cue profeses— espero en Dios que han do ser las buenas— jurame que nb blasfemaras ni inquietaras a las almas que creen, me lo juras?*"^?

And solvation against atheism in this:

"•Sabels a donde vals?*— interrogamos."

"’Nosotros, siV Y tu, Lo sabes tambien?,.*’”

"* Pues vais a la muerte, lo miamo que yo, lormlsmo que todos, lo mlsmorque todoIn

wt Ya, ye sabemos que vamos a la muerte,Y.Pero des­ pues, despues de la muerte sabes acaso a donde vas? ...1n

°• A la nada, adonde estabamos antes de naoer; la muerte es el finl ,n ' • • = 58 La muerte es el principle* **.

The reconquest of the soul of the protagonist In

Reconquista is interpreted by Virenontes in the following • 37 manner: - . : ■ - ■. - ' - ■■ ' -

"Y ah£, en este triunfo sobre nuestros mlsmoa, as adonde encuentra el antor la reinrindleaclon de nuestra fe pardido, la Heoonqulsta de nuestra naoionalidad amenaza- 59 da*” . ■ ■ ' ' . ' ; ' ' ' : ; : •

Vie have only to consider the themes of Gamboa’s novels to conclude that love is the greatest and most powerful thing in the world# love is the Hetamorfoala# love and

religion are the Reoonqniata. love and suffering are the

Supremo Ley# Love is given, in all its glory, to Santa,

the harlot; love conquers the bitter despair of the freed

prisoner of La Llaga# The predominating passion of life is: ■ ' ; : - :: ; - : ' - ' , '

"El amor, el etemo aaor; el amor en todos sus sen-

deros, legales e ilegalea, puros e impuros,"60

There are many worthy discourses on love in the no- ..

vela of Gamboa, The following quotations will reveal

some of his more characteristic conception® of love# In

this first he presents a generalisation to which he strict­

ly adheres in his works: ; .

"•Deoididamente, es una injusticia prohibirle el amor

a nadie# Dios no lo prohlbe, perque il lo instituyo•.#

Todo ama en ol mundol • "

•Is oierto, le contest© Chinto busoando su mlrada en

las sembras, an el mundo todo ama y todo muerel*

• Morir despues de amarl Que major premio?•"6^

love, then, is the birthright of all, without regard 98 to faith or aoetal classification, | For example^ the most holy celibate In Metamorfosls, Fray Paulino, who is the author of a booknon divine salvation, has a vision!

"Vlo el universo enter# palpitando de amor; a la humanidad entregada a su oalto. Ip mismo loe salva jes qua los refinadoa, maa tal vaz.estoa qua aquellos; consider# que en este instant®, millones de seres se afanaban para reallzarlo, y una vez realizado, volver a el oomo a la causa generadora de la vIda, como al rival unioo de la # # raucrte,,.Consldero, de subito, a la inutllidad de maximas y ejemplog para eontrarreatar el fenomeno eterno, univer­ sal, de que los sexos buaquen y se junten a costa de ir­ regular! dades , de olvidos del debar, de la moral, a costa 68 del crlmem,,.n

The vision enlarges:

"Complaoianse loe astros en repetirle la vetus ta can- cion de amor, la amarillenta•historia del amor universal, el mundo todo palpitando cron el en sus diveraas latitudes, en sue diveraaa razas, an aua diversas civilizaoiones; la inmortal obra de la c a m e , mas duradera que la obra del mas sabio, maa duradera que la que en su contra acababa de eaoribir el, una enoime serie de tomos ineeabables en cuyas primeras paginas eacribleron Aden y Eva, en la que han colaborado todos los habitantes del globo sin que nadie sepa inscribir la palabra "Fin". Fray Paulino, suspense miraba al eielo y al mirarlo vela que todo habla amado,

Gamboa says: ‘1::' v: : ■ : ' i ■■

•’El amor no es la Suprama Ley, os el dolor que lo es," but the person to v?hoia: this creod is applied, Julio in

Suprema Ley. dies with " Te amoi11 on his lips. Love tri* umphs, even in the shadow of death.64

Gamboa takes a unique attitude toward love. An ex^ amination of a paragraph:setting forth his personal ideas, may perhaps clarify, from a psychological angle, the inner beliefs of the man who expresses such all-inclusive ideas of love, v ' . ' = / : . - - : - . "

7To he aido siempre debil con las mujeres, a un grado extreme $ y mi mayor, deaeo consiste an que nuns a me aban­

dons esta debilidad t que ilumine mi vejes, si es que la . / aloanzo, y me acompane adondequiera que este. Vivimos un

dim, un minuto; siendo, pues, tan corta la vlda %que im-

porta que ol desengano se ha lie proximo y el corazon a

punto de estallar, si ya gozamost iquien se preocupa en medio deuna fiesta, del malhechor que a nuestra salida y

en sombria encru jeclda ha de arrebatarnos el reloj o la

existenoia? Mlentras mas intenaos son los placeres, mas

intensos deben ser tamblem los dolores quo le sirven de

sequito, en esta procesion tragi-grotesca de la humanidad

per el mundo. Se ha desoubierto, per vehtura, al^> que - 40

pueda equipararse a esta dleha ineomparable, de querer sintlandose querido? Bias entonoea, qua 1amentarnos de qua una mujar, debil y tomadiza hasta fislolqgieamante, no® encuentrs ea la gran rutadeshoje con noaotros las margarltas del amor, un ano, un mas, una hora, y alga su vlaje sin haoer easo a nueatros ruegoa, cuando fbaaios a prodlgarle nueatras carlolas mis suaves, a deoirle las palabraa imaglnadas, laa quenunoa salen, a las qua damos forma, las eternas prieloneras del cerebro?.,. Qulza por esto, jamas he guardado reneor a la mujer que me abandons, nl a la que me olvidaj todas me legan un legado de altf-

slma estlma, un eaudal de reeuerdos duloes y emargos a un mismo tlempo, que me permits evocarlos en el sileneio ne­

gro de la alooba, ouandoelsuenono viene y la noehe se

eternize; que me permits revivir el pasado, y me entorna

al fin los papados con delicadezas de qulinera."®®

Risking repetition, 1st us review again the" Important

sooialistle and humanitarian tendencies of Gamboa. The

championing of reform among and for the poorer classes has

been one of the main objects of the non-political intel­

lectuals of Mexieoe This accounts, to a great extent, for

the growing popularity of Gamboa's works among the people.66

In these socialistic tendencies, generally speaking, he

resembles Zola, who is a favorite of the soolallsts.

His socialism differs scmewhat from that of Zola, however.

Zola satirized and oarleatured the masses in exposing their

ignorance and pettiness. He literally forced down their 41

throats the things which they knew to he true, hut hated to admit* We find, no definite note of compassion or at­ tempt to help these masses In Zola. He merely stated the

to help them* Gmihoa, too, shows th* ramlia. tioally, hut his patriotism and h him to offer, at times, possible for methods of reform. And for t the overbalanced pessimism of Zola, in that he softens his pessimism with a houndless faith in humanity and the future of his country* ;

Coupled with these qualities of humanitarlanism and socialism is a sincere understanding of human nature and a deep sympathy with those who suffen Here is his faith in people: • . •. v - ' . . v ' , : v-

"Cosa extrana. Hi quien parara aientes en esta casta semidesnudez qua no era dada evitar, a causa de los conti­ nues y hrusoos movialontos de la Nona procurandose aire.

Era el peligro tan proximo, In situaoion tan critics, que nt el pudor exeesivo de las religiosas, ni la maLicia in- genita de los hombres, atrevianso a asoaar la nariz; pudor y malieia permaneoieron quietos, en sus madrigueras res­ pect ivas y lo que salio de los unioo® testigos de aquella esoena fue pledad, la piedad inmensa que nos causa un triste espeotaoulo,— y pocos hay mas trlstes en este bajo mundo que la agon!a do un nlnol" .

There are subdued notes of pessimism in Gamboa * s • 42

novels. It is, however, more of a fleeting doubt, that invariably makes more effective the hope of an eventual sal­ vation. The following is a picture of the indigent ranch laborers in their chape It

"Desfilaban loe ilotas, lorn perpetuos eselavos, los qua nunca ban saboreado ningun deleite, tetricos, fatiga- dos, repitiendo sue estrofas de quletud al altisimo. Y diriase, que al andar arrestreran una cadana Invisible; la one deed® la cuna hasta el sepulero, los sujeta al ter- runo y al senor. ’ . i

Alla iban, ignorantes, miserables, desnudos, a la oapilla; a saludar al Crlsto feo, su Cristo de ellos, el unico que les ofreoe deeds el eneierro de su sueio mareo de madera, sin palabras ni enganos, ocncederles lo que ansiosamehte apeteoen an su oerebro rudimentario y en su cuerpo martin ^ 68 • El desoensol El supremo desoansotn • Though the laborers must worship a superficially ugly

Christ, it is symbolic of a rest and a salvation that shall be theirs. Gamboa often approaches what a modern biographer of Zola professes to see as the key to the works of zola,

"To tell the truth and still to hope.”69 It even seems as though Qatiboa expresses more hope than Zola. y-

Gamboa’s understanding of the causes of social evils and revolution in his country is perhaps one of the elear- pf est and most advanced of his generation. Gamboa gives in

the following paragraph one of the best reasons why Mexico’s - 43

social situation is what it Is.today, A member of the proletariat speaks to a bourgeois;

• nE@ iQglco qua me censures y que me Hemes barbaro, ya que no me llamas con peores tftulos* Tu area un ren-

tlmta, un oficial superior del formidable ejercito de las

closes acomodadas que lo disframan todo, que a todos los vieios y a todos Icnb delitos les ponen nombres gratos y

los designan con eufeu’lsmos, para continuer praotieando-

los y cometiendolos. Pero yo,...yo soy un desheredado, un inf el iz, que aunque elamo al oielo, ni el cielo ni ustedes ban de haoerme eaeo,,,Tu representas el orden y

el capital, yo la reTOlueion y la ruina; para ti se es-

tablecio el maglstrado con frac, para ml el gendarme con

revolver; tu puedes tenor manoebas o hijos adulterines,

yo no puedo toner esposa ni desoendencia legftima; para

tus gantes se oonstruyeron las cases suntuosas y las par-

ques a la inglesa, para mi los cases de veoinded y los

hospltales gratuitosI,.ePor eso, (levantandose y aoelo-

nendo iraoundo) por eso no ereo en tus amores.**nl en

los mios, ni en los de nadie; por eso me rio yo de uste­

des y de nosotros y de ml sombre, por que todo el rebafio,

el rebano entero no vale ni esto...— y arroje al oorre-

dor la oo1111a de su olgerro*"

- -A Mexico voicing such ideas is indeed a fertile field

for the teachings of Marx and Lenin. That these seeds of

communism have been sowed, in Mexico is evident, whether

they shall reap success or failure lies in their capability to adjust themselves carefully,' olowly, and sensibly to the vastly different order of things that such a change will bring. - •

That a class division, based on the possession of

wealth and property arid their attendant advantages, plus

the lack of knowledge and understanding of the proleta­ riat that those who possess the wealth have, as well as

the lack of the desire to understand existing abuses in

the poorer classes, is the crux of the social situation

in Mexico, is brought out by Gamboa, Add to this the

scant moral sense and ignorance of the people as a mass,

the many black pages in the history of Mexican revolu­

tions , and then the resulting soeial’ outcome is impossible

to foresee, Gaiaboa, softening his socialism with an un­

biased vision of the future as guided by the past, knows .

that Mexico is not ready for a great Aange. Those who :•

rule must be educated. The challenge is this*

"Porque no nos ha Homos suflclentemente preparados

todavla; porque todavfa no sabemoe leer, sino deletrear, 71 y mal..." ‘ -

Education must be accompanied by the cultivation of

a higher moral sense * That the failure to cuItivate the

latter would lead to chaos is Gamboa’s opinion as he says

this: V: : " ■ : :

11 Bstara perdidd en Moxico todo lo buenot i ,

...contestabase'quo s£, que casi todo lo b m n o estaba

perdido, lo mismo en Mexico qiie en su propio individuo; ambos eaminaban, tambaleantes y biegos, a quiea aabe quez abismos 4® rulna, obe4eolendo a identioa causa; esa ccren­ el a absolute de sentid© moral que a uno y a otro afllgla, esa falta de Ideas de todo. genero; nl rellglosos, nl po­ liticos, nl artist!cos, ni soclologlcosesa abulia Indi­ vidual y naolonal en quo la naclon y sus hljos agonlzabon lentamenta, lentamentooomo son casl slempre las agonies de las grandes enfeitnedades Incurables. La falta de co­ hesion y de rumbos, el Inmoderado afan de luoro, he ahi

lo qua esqullmaba la patrla, lo qua la heria pedazo a

pedazo, lo qua la dejaba a mereed de rImages y pellgros...

hasta la juventud de las eaouelas, que en todas partes de- blera de ser el vlyero de lo noble y lo sano, aqui perse-

guia el negoclo, el enrlqueolmlento, y la holganza, sin

amar el titulo, o el estudlo, o la olenola, sino el metal,

el Influjo, la eonoeelon ventajosa para elloe, aunque a la

large result® rulnosa para el pais...Bah, el pais, la

patrlaI que slgnlflean?.♦.las patries se borreran, se

borraba ya y reabsorbian en las naolonalldades poderosae

de las razas despladadaa y atletlcas que hoy marohan a la

oabeza y son ejemplo de bleneatar, de salud, y de culture.

Though the above are words of a rank pessimist, we

mist remember that these thoughts are but a cycle In the

evolution of the main character of Reoonqulsta. In the

final accounting or the nreeonquest" of his soul, his ac­

ceptance of the old faith Is achieved. One would hardly

think that Gamboa would, like Abraham, lead his country - 46

out of the wilderness of chaos by a complete rejection of new ideas* Rather there is the characteristic optimism and faith in the future, and since there is a mention of symbolism, it is possible that thru the acceptance of the

old faith in a new form, that of moral progress, Mexico's

success in the future may be secured* Revolution in the unguided, uneducated mass inevitably

produces the same suffering and death,-and no alleviation:

"...el corazon de Mexico, queen ©easiones y e n un

iehgua je extraterrmo, sin palabraa ni voces, puando muoho

se lo estrujaban sue h i j w parricldos ^ dlrlase ayl que se

quejara con sus cielos prenados de nubes negras, don el

viento que an las noohes silencloses y solemries pcsa, gi-

miendk) de veras, por entre bosques y deslertcs, con el

ague que de sus cordilleras baja y se derrama con apagado rumor de llanto y solloso#*?® ' ''

The "reoonquest" secured, Mexico can turn toward the

future with a new inspiration, fpri

wTa era auyo el lema de los poetas altos: \ ■ Greer, oreerl*7* : • v %

In La Llaga social problems are treated at greater

length than in any other of Gamboa's works. In his Mi

Dlarlo, following a naturalistic (ourse of procedure,

Gamboa mentions the impressions received from a visit to Juan de 75 San.Ulua, tho orison at Vera Cruz* From this he builds A a vital story-of orison life and the subsequent rehabili­ tation of the released pri soner. A study of moral and x .

- 47 -

national problem, La Llaga la non® the less an excellent

example of Gamboa1s knowledge of human nature, In it, too,

there occurs the feeling of compassion and sympathy for

those whom lifo has treated harshly. That there i® good in

the worst of us and had in the best of us is an axiom that

is close to the author*s heart, and is evident,in seme fora,

in ell of bis novels. The-underlying motive of:the work is

perhaps heat.given in the dedication of La Llaga: ;

"Este euento que quizes sea verdad, y per serlo rosul- ta triste, com© es trlste la mayorla de las yerdades, va

dedieado a Mexleo, mi tlerra, en el primer centenario de

su independencia, politic® de Espama, ’ ,

In su regezo augjisto d@ petrla* qulero recitarlo, con

el anh^lo ,de que las front es que se inclinan sobre mis pa-

ginas, plan sen en las dem5s independencias do que Mexico ha

meneeter, y que solo sus hijos podemos procurarle, si, Be­

gun lo aflraan los de arzlha y los Gm aba jo* gobernantes y

gohernadoe, buenos y males, de versa lo smamos y de veras

anhelamos verlo sin peligro de fueras ni llagas dentro,

realizer su vida y alcanzar los destines de relativa ven­

ture, alcanzados por las naclonalidades, qua, no obstante ' " ' x sus impsrfeoolones y manchas,— fatales pars todas las

humihas agrupaoionestienen dereeho a que las considers

ifeliees y grandes.n76 ( . - ' S A knowledge of human nature, so elusive to many an- !' . thbrs, is firmly within the grasp of Gamboa. It would be

/ difficult to find a more comprehensive enoss-eeetioaof - 48

the Inner emotions of man, treated in a manner that would be credit to a Maupassant, than this*

"Y esta actitud, Gregorio lo not6 deeds su ingreso,;

era s om n a tod os los reos: ni en oh arias o oonfideneias menbionaba nadie el delito de otro$ oasi parecia pudor,

eralo fijo, aquella deeorosa practise presidial, Cuando

mucho, Gregorio habfa advertido, entre ellos, silsnolos .

intellgentes, perfeeto ccnocimiento de las mutuas hasanas,

miradasderayoque fhlgareban, rises dolorosas, yenoea-

slones haste lagrimas furtivas, vergonsantes, no enjugadas

de las teoes bronoineas por las quo resbalaban lentamente,

entre ouyos rictus, oomisuras, y arrugas avaporabanse, como

la lluvia en prlmavera^ sdbre las tierras requemadas de

sequfa."?? :

Time* the essence of life, is merely this to the pri­

soners; v \ ' ^ ' X/

"Los dies,— habiale eonfiado Sulelio, — son Inmmisos

y los aSos breves, los primeros,se arrastran eomo reptiles

amodorradoa, los segundos ruelan* ereame usted, como si las

naoieran alas...Por eso vera usted qua los proyectos para

manage, una manana incierta y cruel, se amontonan dentro de

eotos oerebros rudos, se amontonan en estos labios quo mal-

dleen y juran, en estos mlrares, que a ocasiones, se hume- 78 decani.*" ...... ; ; ■ ; . .^ ■

That the love for fellow creatures, one of the highest

instincts of humanity, will assert Itself, mo matter how

hopeless the outlook, is a contention of Gamboa in this* - 49

"£03 presidarios, excepto los que exteriorizan eu agra- deolmiento eon craeldedes, quo son los menos, extreohanles

(los perroa) en su regazo, acar£eianlos con sus manazas oo- brlzas y aos pe oboe as qua segaron vldas y vettieron sangre de heraanos, oonslenten on ser lamldos en nostros y labios, las prodlgan ncmbres que el amor Invents y dicta, les pel- nan las pelambreras de los lomos que se enaroan y oontraen,

las de las oabezas IntelIgentea que el miner expreslvo y fijo llximlna, les estrujan las.orejam que se pllegan eual , 79 petaloe de,floras sangulnolentae y desouldadas."

Momentarily resuming a social tone, Gamboa asks this

question* 'y - r i: V: -

" Hunca me jorara la human1dad? preguntabase a si - mlsmd-r no aleenzara la perfecelon del blen?..."

And the answers

: ’^lomo espenar milagro tamano, si ahi eetaba vtendo

un punado de projlmoo suyos quo le proy>reionabas, con

su aapecto, la m£s desooneoladora de las respuestarn? 0lento

quenoeomponian latotalldad ]Dios fuera loadol pero

eierto, olertisimo rtaablen que en Mexlco, y en el mundo

entero, son las mayor las, las masas ignaras y torpes; los

indlviduos que no sabmi leer nl minoa sabran lo que sig-

nif loan blenestar y dioha; los que labran los campos en

la paz y en la guerra abonanlos con su-sangre y sus ouer-

pos insepultosj los que por f aIta de modios, no pueden

substraerse a la forrea Implacabllidad de estigmas y ata-

vlsmos anoestrales, y pagan los desllees da los padres, los 80 *

qua cuando M e n lea va en su vlvlr gris y nnonimo, engen* drnn hljoe que hen de dolinquir y de porar en prealdarlos yjA tibulos.se1,80 But th® future and a hope of salvation Is erer present!

"•> . . M^ahl el mitido, malo y todo, no esta perdldo$ por su vastg

euperfinle aun gemlnam y ereoen, entre la mala yerba, por-

oion de oimlentes, redentores y eanaa. lo que pasa, es qie

hay que esperar la floraelon y la ooseoha qie solo producea­

se, eon el rlego de las lagrlmae de los desgraoiados y de

lew buenoa, y como estos ultlmos son los menos en todas

partes, tlenen harto que sufrlr y que llorar para que los

granos de esplgas, tan delleadas y extranas, so dlstrlbu-

yen entre algunos de los much os menesterosoa que a^iardan y

oonfian de siglos ha*"81

A realization cf 'tito social situation In Mexico eould

have little other effect than to arouse a sympathy for so­

cial istlo doctrines In one of the intellectual capabilities

of Gamboa. Socialism is not the panacea for all the ills

'.of humanity, that Is tmie, but in some of its ramifications,

namely, education of the masses and the cultivation of a

higher moral sense, it offers to Gamboa, as it has been shown

in the previous paragraphs, a distinct step in the right

direction.

That itileh discourages any advance toward socialism,

at least insofar as history is concerned is that, while the

intent of the revolutionaries has been ideal, their efforts f-

and bloodshed have resulted in nothing, except eventually to 61

make the position of the proletariat still more difficult*

Gamboa may have had this idea in mind as he outlines the eternal struggle in'the f©licking:

"Unos y otros eran los de abajo, los instintIt o s , historloament® p^ostergados y cdntinument© dlsposeidos de privilegios, tierra, derechcs, y gronjerfaa; los dobla- dos seen la me n to enclma de los arados? los que siempre

Jadearon bajo la peeadumbre de las cargae que enriqueoen y benefioian a los de arrlba, alamo inaeabable, ayer rey, president® hoy, eap it alls tamanana y sle^r® amoj eran los que nunea se quejam* parias de todos los latitudes y d e todas las epooas, que en raeimoa d® padms,mujeres, y hi-

jos, vlven ^prifloaAom y ofrendando su sudor y s u songre a los podemsos; eran el anoho esmido de earn®* tras del que se parapitan lbs terrorizantes, los filantropos, los des- potasv eran la muehedumbre, que conform® com su suerte,

sufre todos los srugos y labra todos los campos," mans amenta,

perpetuamente, al oamblo del mendrugo que acalle su hambre

y d* un desdans© brevislmo que algo repare sus fuerzas ja­

mas eihaustas, eran la mass qua si se oruzara de brazos

solo un instantes trastornar^a el muhdo...Eran la horda,

que, euRndo azuzada, hmee anieos dlnastlas y tronos, l o ­

re sp@ table y lo inoonmoviblej la multitud epioa, y desan- z grade por oonquista de libertad sin eesar proraetida y nun»

ca aloanzada. Cuandb su esiberzo ineontrastable y multiple

ya arraso tierras, ya aniquilo existencias, ya corriglo

la Historians© la quite del medio, y de los festlnes del

V - 52 -

reparto, apenas si consign# aloanzar las sobras y deaechoa 62 de los ahltoa..."

Gamboa fully compratoads tbs evil that results from the teaching of ,&ooial 1 stlo dootrines to theme who will misuse them and who do not understand that they can bring only di­ saster upon thomselves by this misuse:

WE1 sooialismo modemo, con vistas a la violencia y al crimen, de oonsunoion morlria, precis ament# a oauea de eer anagaza qua deslumbre y atrae a los descaperedos y los re- beldes, prometiendoles que t odom— y en vocable recargeba— todea ban de e jeroitar unos mismos derechos, que todos ban ; de aaborear iguales mercedeslj Ahi estaba el error, en ese todos habilmente manejado por los agitadores, que azuzan y exaaperan las i m # sin raied io, los eterms renoorea de los que, desde ttempos inmemoriales, tiran del earro en que los potentadoa, los proceres, recorren con mayor comodidad este oamino forzoso que hay que reoorrer entre las cunas y los ' 83 sepuloros de las generaolones y las razaa#"

Gmnboa voices an antithesis of the machine age with which we are all familiari . . ^

..que comparadon smejante se impone siempre que se

oontmnpla al hombre, pequeio y debil de suyo, junto a las magnas obras que su ii^enlo emoibe y su braao lleva a ter- mino.e.Cuando forja metales, utilize el vapor y enoadena el

rayo ♦, .No era de sorp render manse dumb re tamafia jlabrarse

uno mismo los instrumentos de su deed i eh a? • • •4Qulen expll-

cara Jamas contrasentido tan monetruoso y sorprendente? - 53 -

Bit the man whose thoughts leacU: hi* ilnto these

fields finds consolation la thist

"Ah, si no nos quedara el alma y la esperanza en

otra vida, ml palabra de honor que a peaar de ml rnadre y

ml novia;. enest® Instants me tiraba yo al marl..."®®

A mere contemplation of salvation soothes only the spiritual pains of mankind. The living must not con­ tinue just to exist in the shadow of a better life after 7 death. Such a philosophy w o u M stifle all advancement.

The living have a duty, there are definite things to be

accomplished in the world to aid in the social progress

of humanity: ;

"No, Eulallo, no; el debar de usted al salir de

aquf, (el presidio), donde tanto se ve jhada menos de nues-

tros semejantes, desnudos de* cuerpo y alma! el debar de

usted es ecuear esta llaga que ha visto y respirado, poner-

la al sol, aunque su pestilencia y espanto moleste y hor­

ror ice a los que unloamente se la calculan y los que no la

•oonocen...Se taparan los ojos y la nariz, olamaran al

oieloj lo injuriaran o usted llamandolo p r e s I d a -

r 1 o, inmoral, oinioo..#No Importal listed no desmaye,

slga exhibiendola haeta que no se cemsen las manos de

ellos y se abran sue ojos, testa que al alre de su fiesta

y retiros no se mezole la bediondez de esta podredtimbre,

que usted habra atrevesado oomo por un mllagro...ar£te­

les a esos sordos, lo que haya visto y sufrldo, lo que

exists tras la pledra y tras el hlerro^ lo que geimina - 54 y palpita bajo lee eriaeos y los peches de los recluses; esta nuestra inmenea erlminalldad heredada y en aumento, que per la incur!a de esos sordos y de esos ciegos, per su palabrerfa huera, per su eoneupiaciencla y sed de lu­ cre, a cade instante estalla en cludades y sierras, en poblados y dealertos, en todo este pais vasto y sin ventu­ re que podia ser patrla, y es apenas aduar primitive y salveje; la inraensa cri®inelidad naeional, en alarraante progresion inatajada, con peligro cierto de que el major dia, se convierta en un gran incendio pivoroso que lo arrase todo: el ayer, el hoy, y el manana, los seres y las oosas, las eonelencias y las almas,..’'8®

And finally:

rtY el s

Gamboa, however, offers a solution to a situation marked by the abuses of social revolt. He would instruct

the women of the race in the teaching of duty to the

children: ; : - ■ • ' - - " : : ■ ■

"-isil no te asomhares— pmtuallzaba Bulalio-— sola- « mente uatedea nos salvaran porque ustedes atesoran en su

sexo el gennen inagotable de las edades y las razas;

porque si el amor las fecunda y lleva a matemldad /qua

as la perfeo@l6n por exoelenoial eon oada alumbramiento

se prolonga la exiatencia infinita de le tierra.,.ustedes 55

son la cun a da los zaundos t.. .Y eso Bases i tamos, esq $ la urgencynaoIona 1 ha monaster do varies gonereoionee,: qua desdo quo nazoan aprendan oudfl es el debar y quf oosa as la patrl s • • .Pare ineuloer ideal as tan altos no hay escua-** las ni hombras qua valgan; la madro, es la union capaz da obtener qua un pueblo despierte y adqulera conolenola do sf mlsmo, saorifieandose olla..,Porque suoedara, qua an mucho tiempo todavjfa, los hijos asi^ oonoebidos sigan padeciendo, a fin da quo los qua vmigan atras padenoan menos, haste el dfa an qua la madre.puada daeir da vara#, quo da su hijo a la luz; a dlferenola da hoy qua los hijos son dados a la desgracia y a la sombra...Y la madre, tendra qua dlsputarlos a las enfenaedades y muer- tas prematuras, da oaten ano sablendo qua ha da perderlos on eras da la redoneion augusta.#.mas yo to aseguro, que los doloros del parto y hasta el dolor da perderlos, se han de volver entonees dulses doloresl.,.”88

The vast social scheme, fecundity and reproduction -

in the masses of humanity, finds expression in Gamboa as in Zola:

"•••pero ha de ser siempre que sus pobladores no van-

gan a extinguirse, qua se renueven ein termino, y los Gul­

den, los trabajea, los cngrandezeany adoran? siempre quo los sueedan a los padres, y los nietoe a los hijos, inva-

rlablemente; siempre que se vanere la tradieion, para qua

el porvenir se realise, y lo qua ideo el progenitor lo 89 ooncluya el heredero." ; • 06 • ■

In a f ina 1 aximins up of the s®@lal situation, Gamlxm strikes at the root of the question, exposing a truth that is universal in its applicationt "Simp®ties y admiraoibnes nada mas, proToaaba el tra- dioional espeotsoulo, pero a Eulalie 1® oristalizo pesimis- moo yaugurios.El ocntraBte quese impuso a sus miradas

le revelo inopinadamente quiinas eran los imaedlatos res-

ponsables do la llaga noclonal* cranio las mtoridades,

qua haela siglos pasan y pasan Junto a1 pueblo y no aoaban

de abrirle los brazos, nl le reconoeen todos sus derechos,

y en las guarras lo mutilan, y en la paz lo menospreoian.».

LCto" complices eran los rlcos, los detentadores de los

blenestares temporales, de los dineros y las industries...

Ah£ estaban unos y otros* arriba en los baloones y en

el orgullo de las oaeae patriae, los fariseos y benefiola-

dos, abajo ast^rozo y desoalzo en los asfaltos calcinantes

— mereoidamente tenido a raya por lo poliqia,— el pueblo,

con sus ignorancias y negruras, con todas sus serversIda-

des, mas tambien iayl con todos sus dolores y'estoloismos n90

Paralleling Gamboa^s d w p w n c e m with the social

question in Mexico is his intense patriotism. He is

thoroughly Mexican in every phase of his work. He Is

the possessor of a deep understanding of the psychology

of his race, and if he bares mercilessly her vices, he

Is none the less ardent in his exposition of her virtues.

His predilection for the life of the poor is comprehensible - 57 -

since they are in the great majority; it is there that the heart of his race beats most faithfully. Aside from the fact that in some eases Gamboa*s choice of subject matter may be said to hare naturalistic tendencies, in his des­

criptions we may accomplish the dual purpose of reviewing his naturalism along with other traits that occur*

An examination of the dedicatory words of Santa,

Gamboa’s most popular novel, reveals the courage with which

the heroine defies a world of conventions, while in the

same breath she pleas for compassion and understanding,

nDe I’audaoe, de I’andaoe et encore: de Vaudaoe* could

well have been Gamboa’s motto as he wrote this powerful

exposition of a life hitherto seldom mentioned. Though ,.

at the present time these subjects are more fearlessly

treated, Gamboa, like Zola, was accused of pandering to

cheap and immoral tastes at the:time of the publication

of his book in 1902, The realistic account of the life

of a prostitute is of necessity not a simple thing to

achieve,- Nevertheless, Gamboa has suecessfully done this,

exhibiting In doing so his ability to create an emotion

that transcends the social status of his heroine, '

The fatality of destiny is in Santa in all its

power, A succession of events conspires to change the

life of a human being. It is then, since we know that

humanity is not inherently had, that it is difficult to

condemn one who transgresses, lightly after all, our

self-imposed conventions. Thousands of times worse in - 58

the eyes of God end ran, it is Gamboa’s conviction, are those who transgress against the moral conscience of humanity, the exploiters of the poor. It would be difficult to review the varied involu­ tions of the plot of Sente. The following paragraphs appear as a dedicat!on to Santa, and they best express the tone of the novel; '

I’No vayas a ereerae Sant e, porque as£ me llama. '

Tampoco me areas una perdida eaperenteda con las Les- oaut o las Gauthier, por mi m m era de vivir.

•Barrio fu£ y barrio soy; ml, earne triunfadora se halla on el oementerio. r .

Desahuoiada de las "gentes do buena conelencla", me ouelo an tu toller eon la esteranza de quo, oompadeoido

de mi, me palpos y registres hasta no tropezar'eOn una

cosa que Have dentro, m y adentro, y que oaleulo serfa

el corazon, por lo cue me palpi to y dolio oon las injus­

tices de que me hioleron vietima...

No lo digas a nadie— se burlarlan o se horror!za-

rfan.de m£— pero fimgimtel en la inspeeelon de sani-

dad, fu£ un numero; en el .prostfbulo, un trasto de alquiler,

en la calle un animal rabioso al que oualquiera persegufa,

y en todas partes, una desgraciada.

Cuando fe£, me rlnleron; ouando llore, no ereyeron en

mis lagrimas; y cuando ame las dos unices voces que amet

me aterrorizaron en la una y me vilipend!aron en la otra.

Cuando eansada de padeeer, me rebale, me eneareelaroni - 59

ouando enferme, no se dolleron de ml, y nl en la muerte halle dascenao; unos senores medicos despedazaron ml cuerpo, sin allvlarlo, ml pobre cuerpo mogu11ado y mar­

ch Ito por la concuplsoiencla bestial de toda una metro-

poll vlolosa,,. Aoogeme tu, y resucftame jque te cuesta?., .VlTo has

acogldo tanto barro, y en el infundido no has alcanzado

que lo aplaudan y lo a dm Iren?.••Cuentan que los artistes son compaslvos y buenos..•/ml espfrltu esta tan necesl-

tado de una llmosna de carlnoI %I/:e quedo en tu taller?*.. ^Me aguardas?

En pago,— mor£ m y desvalida y nada legue,— te con-

fesare ml histor la. Y yo veras eomo, aunque te convenzas de que fuf culpable, de s^lo oirla Uorarac conmlgo. Y

veras como mo perdonas fohl estoy segura, lo mis mo de que me ha perdonado Dios $

Hasta aqui la heroine.

De ml parte debo repot!r— no para ti, sino pare el

publico— lo que el maestro de Auteuil declare cuando la

publication de su Fllle Elisa:

fCe llvre, j*ei la conscience de l*avolr fait austere

et chaste, sans que jamais la page echappee a la nature I delicate et brulante de mon sujet, apporte autre chose a 91 1'esprlt de mon lecteur qu*une meditation triste.tn

The above statement of the theme of the book is na­

turalistic in its inception, but there is an unconscious Idealization of the heroino, a romntio tendency that all

"n&turnlista" aeon to haves Then too, there io that charae- taristie compassionate uMerstanding of "tiio failings of humanity which pervades Gamboa’s novels, in contradistinc­ tion to the cold impersonality of the Fronoh naturalism school.

There is evident in the graphic descriptions of Gam­ boa a certain spiritual penetration, a sort of ability to effect a psychic communion with nature, such as is often seen in the wortes of many post-war authors* Batura is, in its many men if os tat ions , In a sense that upon which

Gamboa’s oohieveaents hin^. And, too, man and nature are thoroughly interdependent, lien reflects the climate and the topography of the country in which he exists.

It is therefore not surprising that Gamboa has felt end given space to this thought. An example of the foregoing

idea is this: ‘

"Aun no son las siote y sin embargo, el sol, de bra­

ces en la cresta de In sierra, curiosea por las case^ dora

las oopas de loo arboles y alarga las sorabras de euento al-

canza con sus rayos, por modo exagerado $ hay rosal qu®

Simula una plants inolasifleada, anterior al area, pero

ordinarlo qu® semaja rezagado iguandonte y tronoo de arbol

que aparenta leguas y leguas de largo. Con las irisaoio-

nes qu® e mamn del r£o, con el aroma qu® las flores des-

piden y la fraganela qu® respim la naturaleza tbda— sin

contar gor jeo do aves, rumor do remas y murmario de ondas— - 61 —

hay algo Im^lpable que flota y osolonde cual opaolon sin palabras, que la tlorra, la eterna herida, pansera y ele- vara a oada despertor • bond a aoeloh degrades mudas per haher esbapado, una noohe mas, al aataelismo w n qua Vlre amenazada y qua traldoromonte ha de venlr a mutllarla y anlqullarla su sagrada famndldad Infinite de madra amantl- slma.,.Santa/ Impraalonada, levanta log ojos al ole10% dllata la narlz y quedaee extaslada, Ineorpdrada sin per- oatarse de ello, en la honda acclon de graolas nmdas, a la plegarfa sin palabras do la tterra."92

In the foregoing jAragraph GaEfooa has tried to grasp an unmaterla1 thing. The following paragraphs will force- fhlly d«ncnstrate why he merits the classification of na­ turalist. It is on outstanding example of clinical natu­ ralism, and an example, that with its force end power,

Its gripping photography, its appeal to all the senses, could be used as a standard of comparison;

"Previo oumplimlento do cier tas formal idades, a juste y pago correspond!antes, quedo Santa instaleda an la came numero once de xma de las sales ceroanas de op®reelones.

Una cmj£a de llmpisima, con total de veinte c a m s sime- trlcammte colooadas a una y otra parte, separada oada :

cual por un mieble baraizad© que sirve de mesa de noehe y enoierra 1<^ prosaicos menestores en que el ouerpo se

desahoga. Al fondo, una mesa c m trastos y libros; dos

ouartos pnra el praoticante y los enformeros; oolgado de un testero, un erucifijo grande* en esoultura y sin plana. En el teatero ^Ciesto, un extenso lavobo out (matloo de marmol y metal nlquelado, on eaqueloto. Sutll olor a deslnfeotantes, esoeso de ventlladon graduada y de ola-

rldad llbfe. se habla a media voz, el caliado no pro­

duce, ruldo* Varies enfermas levant an la cabeia, mlran

curiosaaente a log que entran, y vuelven a hundirse en

las almohadas# Parten de un rlneon apagades quejidos

rftmleos. Sentada a orillas de una cam, una mujer ves-

tida tos@* esoupe en una eseupldera que por si mlsma se

lleva a la booa, limpiase con un panuelo extend id o y

vuelve a toeer# Reoa^eda e n las almohadas de otra oama,

dietinguese un busto flaco, de hombros algulosos y hrazos

de nine, las memos deagranan las euentasde un rosarlo,

y repos an enolma del caabozo de las sabanas que cubren un

vientre enorme, elrostrose ve muy palido, hundidos los

ojos, los labloe exangues, color de tierra eeoa, reeltan

las letanias sin fomilarlas, como se las rumiaran y no

atinaaen a tragarselas..."*^

Gamboa has placed in the following description a sym­

posium of life, death, flesh, and time* A survey of the

masters of naturalism wculd reveal few instances in which

this passage might be surpassed* -

"Un reloj de pared recobro entonces su imperio, el

sonoro y pausado tic, too, de su gran pendulo se senoreo

de la estanoia y a la vez instale en ella, flrme, incan-

sable, pasi hurnsnot : Tic* tac%... tiol tact.ticl tael... : Con el alterneban los estridentes ruidoa a® las pln- zas ouando sue dienteclllo de acero binoeban en la c a m e aouohlllada, y los de las tijeraa ouando oortaben deapla- dadamante ®n lo vivo. Los grltoa del operador, domlnan- dole, lo apagaban, grltos qu@ en jerga medloa se demmlnan

"dosls de a l a r m n y que se profleren para reolamar de los ayudantea lo qu® en el acto se ha men@st®r:

jlrrlgador!l..*/Pinzastl..•lAlgodonlI..,#Llga aqu£t!

•••jOtro ouchllloj!....jEsponjatl,

VoXvia el sllenclo— pues sllencloso era el jadear del

operador— y yolvla el reloj a senorearse, firm®, Incansa-

ble, casl humanor

/riot tae!... tlcl tael... tiot taot...

Persist!® Santa en un ronquldo planisicio, salploada

en tlempo de que)Idos en toda forma, al rebenar la cuchllla

o las tijeraa partes sin duda demaeiado delloadas, eual al

los nervios sensitives y los organos senaorlos, a pesar del anesteaieo que manlata la memoria e inmoviliza hosts ciorto

punt o, los imsculosy se lanentaran de lo mu oho qu® aufrian.

Hi^lito, que no rx^fa ver, llegoae a aluoinarse con

el sonido del reloj. Primero lo identiflco eomo a tal

reloj; luego antojosele en reton deaforme on alguna labor

diabolic®, perforando los muros, y que oallase al hablar

la gente, para reanudar incontinent1 su deatrueciont

Tiol tact... tic! tact... tlcl tael...

Luego lo repuso en su neturaleza propia de reloj,

pero no marcador de las boras, sino roedor de las yldas. Eso era, eso; y acabaria con Santa, eon el, m n los me- dloos, eon el imn*>, Inexorable y fatalmente, aproreohan- dose d® que no le hacemos oaso nunc a. El roe, roe siem* pro, de dia y de noehef ouando estamos doimldos, ouando gozamos y ouando pmdeeemos, el re^, mas a eada mlnuto, mas va desmenuzandoae:

Tle$ teoS... tlc%..taoS... tic! tael... De sublto, el slnlestro::. nn efnm%# bianco de la enferma, la suspension brasea de. la reapIraelon, euando - la operaeion, magiatralmente ejeeutada, toeaba a su ter- mlno; : : • :: . ' .

• 1 0 il/IaestroS — prorrumpio el que aplieaba el elorofor- mo— la enferma no respiretn 94 . < . .

The passage of time and its bearing on life is men­ tioned in other places in his novels by Gamtoa. Lite Poe, in The PandaIma. Gamboa often expresses the fact that the

ceaseless advance of time brings us every second nearer the end;

MDurante un ainuto de imponente mutlsBio, euspendido el chleo en los brazoa de Rafae"]., sobre cl exangue seno de

la muerta, percibio d is tint ament e, e n la alfbmbra, el go--

tear de la sangre, c m o obetinado tic-tac de un reloj 95 implacable.n *

; Gamboa’s powers of description are perhaps at their

best when his subject is his people, their cueterns and

life, both rural and urban. He knows the joys and sorrows

of a mass reduced to a serfdom. He recognizes their simple - 65

ways, thei r Inherent love of beauty and the rythra of a life that is olds® to matur®. He is thoroughly acquain­ ted with the customs and traditions of his people, and if he laments teeir propensity for alcohol, he perhaps rea­ lizes that it is merely a relief from the vassalage of a dull life that otherwise would offer no alleviation* Edu­ cation is greatly.aiding.Mexico.in her social and moral advances, ' y . . - . ;. •• /

The following paragraphs are excerpts from a descrip­ tion of a branding and the attendant fiesta on a large

cattle ranch in Mexico:

wPor entre la gente a cabalio, andaban los de a pio,

los imarcadores", llegandoae de euando en ouendo a examiner

de oerca las enterradas luminaries, a soplarlas con sue

sombreros y con los labios. El piso hallabas® con la tierra

muy floja, para evitar lastimadares a jinetes y onimales en

sus oaldas# La msioa, ftiera del rec into, veiase encarama-

4a en otro earro, y apinadas junto a la tranquera de sal id a,

las mu^res de algunos c harros, a tent as a s u a hombrea y obn

sus mooosos a cuestas,«.T los charros, oca© centauros, sin

despegarae de la silla, vivfsimo el mirar, duro y. pun-

terfa el brazo, las pie mas, de la rodilla para aba jo,

espoleando, estirandoss, eneoglendose, osollentes, elasti-

eas,, agiles, cufl si sus ooyunturas fueran de trap©,.*

Los lazadores, deaplegados en ala y algo lajos uno d® otro,

pared an adivinar las intend ones de la res, que por pronta

providenoia trato de retroceder haste que con el anea toco - 66 -

las trances— en su sltlo ya— y se estaroolo en alias, la Qg oabeza gaoha y le mlrada tralolonera.

Then the oalabratlen:

MMl9ntras usa dooena da chiqaillos desarrajfdos, pa-

seaban a los eabellos eoa los clnehos flojos y los frenos

en las oabeza# do los fUotes, para refresearlos, amo y

senrldumbre se InatalaaroB en el improvisado ooroador, que

luofa ooronas y guimaldas do heno,. de rotaroa, de roses,

banderas naeionales do papel, y do papel temblen, cadenas quo partfan de loe euatr© aagilos del techo, En las pare-

- des, do Iona estlrada, oolgaban farollllos y estrellas, y

en la qae correspondla a un-teatero del salon, lefase en un letrero hoeho eon varast

iVIVA SAH FRANCISCO EL GRA1B11 : : iYIVA DON RAFAEL BELLO! lYIYA MEXICOV

• •. .Un prologo de borraehera sorda en oerobros rudlmen-

tarlosj a los quo el alcohol antes que esplrltualizar an-

tebrece y predispone a los aotos peores; la borrachera de

los primitives, que aviva las penes acunala&as an machos de

los anos y saeude en la neicorla los roncores y males ▼olun-

tades que en e11a reposan amodorrado. Ya se oia lo de•

•Mira c mpadre, yo me he aguantado porque soy herto

hombr® , pero yo me muero donde qulera y se ser amigo de los amigos,.,” - ■ .

Era el preludlo do la universal y e term sinfonia del

odlo y qu® en cuanto la eduoaolon o ol egolsmo se aletar-

gan y los Instlntoa desplertan; brota fresco y homicide, ~ 67 •*

oual si la.raza Imaaaai 4® varos descandl® a® Cain y la herenoia de aangre se mantenga Integra, viva y mldlta obllgendo r@nir ®' matar, a slempre mater al projlmo que dead® m y adentro so aborrece.,,De un rlnean de la ©nra- mada, en donde otro grupo de hombre® a®dlos agaehatoa n® permltla mlreir lo que mlraban ellos, sail® un dulolslmo arpeglo de guitarra y u m voz d® tenor joven e lncult®|

MHe de llegar a tl,.no Imports cuando . ' z 97 aunque pongas el elelo entre tu y yo..,*"

Ganboa’s kmwledge of his emmtry la confined

to that of the:rural districts, he feels juat as thorough­

ly the pulae of urban life:

"Por la opuesta acera* mirabans® grupos silenolosos

de obreros sallendosede trabajo, al hcmbro la ©haqueta, V en elrostro tizne, en su marcha y su actitud, desallento

y oansanclo. Mas alia,-mirabans® oasas, ranchos desvenci-

jados, fabrioas eon humaredas poatumae por ehimeneas y

tube® de desahogo, rotulos colosales: M?undioi©n Artis-

tioani "Fabric# d@ Carruajes*, "Banos de Ducha"#

Mas alia, los fondcs abigarrados de las caeas qu®

caen a Buoarelit un gran trom de Is Plaza de Toms* los

tranvlas de T a m b a y a , a escape; y oerrsndo el ouadro,

rnucho mas alia, may lejos, pleaches de mont%ma y las

nevadas cimas do los volcsnes*

Al frentei en la torre de oristales del observeto-

rio del AleSzar, una orgla de destellos y luces quo no - 68 -

pareofa oaesada por al sol agrnt®ante sin© por la pi^pia tor re, convert ido en fanol monstnio, por dentro y por milagro iltminado, eon ©bjfeto de preserver a sab© Dios que viajeros imaglnarlos, de los riesgos de tm deseanab enganoso mi la bella y peoadora eluded de los pelaeios y los logos!”98 Gamboa often employs the appeal to the senses in M 8 descriptions. Light, color, noise and odor will be found

in many of his descriptive passages:

"Los restaurants arro jabam un incltante vahb de cooi- na? las cantinas uno repugnante y alcoholic©; los granules voceaben los periodieoe del dfa y del dla siguientei aspi-

rabas® hmno de puros y de cigarros; los tranvfes ensorde-

e£an con sus cornetas, y de la eluded ealdeada por el sol,

por la luoha y las oongo jas de sus moradores durante todo un d£a, sal£a un murmillo de prodigios© hbrmiguero hmsmm

que aoababa la diara labor y edno se sabe condenado a re-

eomenzarla manana, y despues, y sierapr®, se peraite una

tre'gua 'y -:ee -'deseapereeav ® stir a sus raienbros,' eorre, pas® a grita y le da blehvenidas a la noche, esa gr°n encubredora

de virtudea y viol os, la que tolera la org£a, aurilia el ~

amor y regain el sueno..."99

Gamboa's democratic socialism fosters a keen sense of

justice in him. It is this sense that revolts at the ill-

treatment of the Indian in Mexico:

"...los ihdiosj d®spose£dos de su grandeza, de su

hlstoria, de sus tierras, solo confiados hoy en que lee - 69 -

queda mas alia de sue aema jantes, los fuertes, los qae pa- dlendo haberlos he oho henna nos m j o a , uni cement e los han

Yuelto imbeciles yparias..."100 The lament for the biek of justice is not all# Humanly enough, Gamboa has .written in other eases, that humanity, in his opinion, vwas inherently good* His faith is Often shaken for he reviews the fact that the worse traits of humanity often stifle the betters

"Las cobardfas y ego{smoe burgueses, las doctrines conven clonal es y fact id as sobre. bonrades, decoro y o t m i abetraooiones, quo la soeledad pretende alimentar y prae- tloar en su sentldo apropiado y i-ecto, por ser tantos y

tan hipocrfticamente cultlrados, venoieroh a los impulsos

oompasivos y nobles, en minorfa perpatua para regir nueatroe

aetos,"101

Though Gamboa is a staunch prog^ssive, he . believes

that the past has much to offers .

"Siglos qua deeapareoieron. intestados, dejandonos

menesterosos de sus grandezas, rico de aus vieios y peoa-

n e d on do su poesla supervlviente, dados a la tarea de re-

susitarloe on historla y cuentoe de regresar a sus usos y

modales, de reunir sus reliquias dispereas y raaltreohaa,

pero aun aef superlores a nuestros presuntuososmodernis-

mos s in oarao ter e 1,1 -2

The attitude of Uitin-Americans toward the people of

the United States is always of interest to us# Gamboa*s - 70 —

attitude is oharaeterlstic. He prediets dire results from the economic eonquest @f Mexloo by American capital:

"...esta invasion d@ hey no era ©omo la primera fue, an ahierta guerra, al son ingrato de los pifanos de sus fanfarrias punicas, al fragor ronco de los disparoe de sus aimas; los batallones de hombres negros y de hombree rubios, a la sombre inquieta de la bandsra taohonada de astros y estigmatizada de barras, qus ondulaba en las marches de victoria y en la peraistencia de los triunfoe.•.

iNol..,esta era distinta* y poor, mucho poor que aquella.^^

♦.•lo artero de la' inundacion actual radioaba en que

se ha entrado insidiosamente, c»rr«ipi®ndo a esos "menos"", responsables del sihieatro, por medio do la dirlnidad anti-

gua y moderna que W)clam® exceptional for tale za para res is-

\ tirla; el vie jo meerro de oro, que con los a nos ha oreoldo

y aumehtado on eapuje y corpulencia hasta ser toro dis forme

y brutal que todo lo derriba, ideales, patrlotlsmo, reli-

giones, afeotos # justiela f verguenza,•#por lo cue 1 asisti-

mos, en el antero globe podrido, de tragico crepuseulo de

estos dieses qua pereeen, apenas llorados de unos cuantos » 104 qua en olios creian***"

Gamboa’s attitude toward the United states has perhaps

softened with the years* He M s seen the inception of many

of the reforms for which he fbught in Mexico• We can ima­

gine that he is pleased with the advances that his country

is making in education* Due to the effort of the more

intelligent men of both countries, it seems that the United 71 States and Mexico are approaching an understanding.

Since there is nothing permanent but change, we cannot help but believe that Gamboa, for all his youthful bom­ bast and sometimes justifiable hatred of the United Sta­ tes, will welcome this new age of racial and economic un­ derstanding. '

If for nothing else, Gamboa will earn our considera­ tion because he is nne of those who realize the failings of the present and have an unquenchable hope for the future. The following paragraph constitutes a summary of the general tone of Gemboa*s work: . .

^...Crela que si, siempre que los Inteleotuales se lo propusleron; los inteleotuales, que en todas partes son los hochores de la historia; los que organizany a cabo „ llevan las revoluciones; los que atajan los cataolismos nacionales, los que en 89 eambiaron la faz del rondo; los

que quiza manana cembien la de Rasia...hay que deseonfiar

de los falsos gulas, de los pueblos idolatras del oro

principaimente, qua derreman este, convencidos por prepla

expeHencia de que todo se doblega y oselaviza, de que a

su empuje lenon y mud© las fortaleses mas inexpugnables

cepitulan, vaoilan las honradeces, las vlrgones, se des-

nudan y venden, las virtudes expiran..,iHayi que espe-

rar, las bores de las bores, los dies de los dies, los

siglos de los siglos; esyirar y eonfier en que tel pue­

blo existe, o esta en formalin, o se former a manana,

alia, quien sabe donde, en algun rincon del planetaj."105 72 -

‘ ..CHAPTER V

Conclusion

The survey of the works of Gamboa reveal that he is the possessor of many natural is tio traits* He parallels

Zola in many ways; in fact he is Just as much a naturalist as Sola. The critics,agreet however, that Zola, for all his theorizing on naturalism, falls far short of the stan­ dard that he set for himself and his colleagues in the school of naturalism. Synthesis and idealization are characteristics of Zola which are not compatible with the regulations of the school of naturalism# His work is also

termed as being a pessimistic and poetically epic in tone,

Gamboa*s works contain a synthesis and idealization simi­

lar to that of Zola, Although Gamboa possesses somewhat

of the universal epic tone, he does not have it to the

extent that Zola does, nor is his pessimism unrelieved.

There is always a better day ahead for Gamboa, To re-

quote, a sympathetic biographer has said that the entire

theme of Zola*s work was "to tell the truth and still to 106 hope”. This is a moot, question, it appears, .fer it

takes a distinctly individual point of view to discern the

"hope" in,Zola# But it is possible that we may agree that

"to tell the truth and still to hope” is a maxim that is

everywhere evident in Gamboa* :

The naturalistic qualities of observation and invest!- - 73

gatIon aro present in Gamboa. He selects many of hi# characters fromr real people whom he knew.^P7 He limits his description# to the environs with which he is fami­ liar, thus fulfilling:! one of the first qualifications of the successful! realist.

As a socialist, Gamboa equals Zola. In his suecess-

;ful handling and understanding of the mas® in action, he approaches the mastery of Zola# Gamboa is a fatalist, and at the same time a Roman Catholic. The fact that circums­ tances force people into unconventional ways Is perhaps that which Gamboa wishes to bring out in his fatalism. He shews us that we should not condemn a person for the things which;a destiny beyond their control forced them to do, but this doss,not preclude any hope of self salvation which we may note in his novels.

The salient difference, it strikes one in a considera­ tion of Gamboa1s work as against that of the French natural ism school, is that of racial quality. . The Latin-Amarloan, while he oandorously calls:things by their right name, and while he mifdit succeed to the technique of a Maupassant, could perhaps never achieve the cold and impersonal point of view that characterized Maupassant. The Mexican is too prone to read symbolism and significance into things. He possesses, or rather, is embarrassed toy a superfluity of romanticism that will express itself under even tbs most

straitened circumstances. Then, a mass of people that has

spent centuries in a comparative bondage is more apt to be of a romantic nature, though they may express themselves In social revolt. And if this mass is of a heterogeneous make-up, one might conolude, since they lack the realities and the materials of a secure well-being, that they will find in the depths of their souls and minds the joys that they are denied, A hope of salvation, so ably fostered by Catholicism, is one expression of this denial* Another

Is the love of the home. In music and the.beauties of na­ ture, all the things that are denied to no One, despite his social standing, one sees still other expressions of the denial of material joys. .

It is this romantlelsm Shlch tempers the naturalism of Gamboa * Interwoven vvith this romanticism is the intense national ccnsolouEBess of Gamboa. He is truly a militant patriot, in itself an expression of romanticism.

Despite the universal application of the'theme of some of Gamboa*s novels, his characters are individuals plaoed in typical situations. In the matter of form he does not limit himself as strictly as the naturalist of

the French school* He believes that digression is a definite

attribute of art which often tends to bring out the best

in an author**'®® An author*s abilities should not be res­

tricted by adherence to any plan or theory* This accounts

for the presence of spontaneity in Gamboa, This sponta-

neity, luring In most naturalists, relieves a style some­

times heavy in detail. This quality might also be called •<* ' : - a kindAextemporaneoua spirit or a sixth sense of narration * which is often present in Latin-American authors.

In addition to tha fine qualities in.narration and ■ * - ^ -- ■ ■ r t exposition, Gamboa’s descriptions are excellent. In his descriptions, he often appeals to all the senses, aehieve- ing a superphotographic effect, Gamboa's personal ideas on the place of the novel are ...... ' n o not in all cases coincident with those of the major critics, varied as they may be in their opinions. We must not forget, however, that Gamboa is a patriot, a socialist, and a man whose chief concern is his country and his people, Beauty, art, and emotion are the first things to attempt in a novel.

Many things in his novels are not beautiful; taken as a • " j. ^ - ... ' ■ ... - whole the desired end might, be termed ^beautiful”, but par­

ticular incidents and situations ms^r be chosen which are not beautifhl. However, this is art, if not beauty, and

these unbeautiful things serve their purpose by arousing 111 emotion. An emotional person by nature, Gamboa is

successful in creating emotion* We can then excuse his

evident attempts at reform, renemhering his patriotism,

for in his desire for the betterment cf society, he is

sincere and humanitarian, things which, no matter the cir­

cumstances, all admire, .

His sincerity and humanItarianism produce an univer­

sal appeal, and this appeal Is considered the means by

which any work will live. It is apparent that he is cons­

cious of this, since many of the conditions which exist in

his country are common to the world.**8 - 76

In sumnarizing Gamboa1s position, then, we can safely say that he Is a naturalist, with qualifieatlone# He is not a naturalist, like toupassant, in the strict sense of the word, nor an impersonal narrator of the "gens qui n*ont pas d'histoire". There aro passages in his works which would credit anyone definitely attempting to create a na­ turalistic work • We must remember that he professes con­ nection with no school or theorizing group of writers, he has therefore a prime element of spontaneity in him. There is romanticism in Gamboa, and it is a delight­ ful romanticism, without which his'work would suffer from dullness. There is life and hope in Gamboa, and his is the artlst*s conoeptlon of the novelHe is vitol^ pereonal* individual and sincere• He is prompted by the highest mo­ tives of mankind, that of concern with the oppression and misery in which his fellow being exists. His compatriots have expressed their gratitude and appreciation of his work in no slight praise, for they designate him as the greatest and rightfully most popular novelist in their country. • ff .

A P P E N D I X

;« C

following is the eopy of q letter in pbaseaslOT of John Orr ThootaM, reeeived from

Federico Gamboa, March 17, 1933, and all mate­

rials and data contained in it are corrected by Gamboa*a hand to the above date. APPENDIX A,

Academia Mexicans Correipondiente do la Espanola

Director Sadi Gemot, nun. 22 - 7.

Mister John Orr Theobald, * Tucson, Arizona,

May estimado sefior m£@s De manos de ml bondadoa# amigo el sefior lioenciado don Julie Torri, recibl haee unoa ouantoa dies la atenta carta de TJd,, feoha el 8 de febrero anterior, y acempa­ nada de un oueationerio' qme eomprendo haota does pregun- tas. En obsequlo a los deseos de TJd,, ad juntas le devuel- vo las dooe hojas df aquel cuestionarlo, puntualmente oontestadas, lOjala que mis respuestas, escritas a vuela plume, einran para los fines a que TJd, las destinel

Perm!tame qua,: a proposito de esos mlames fines, express yo a TJd, en las presentes lineas ml profundo agra- decimiento por habernos eiegido pare la teals de su dooto- rado oomo Magister artium de la TJniversidad arizonense, a mi individuo y a mi obra literaria; pues nl ella ni yo somos acreedores a honra taaana,

Ruego a TJd, que no de je do favoreoenpe con un ejem- plar de, su trabajo, ya que no ha de ocultarsele que con el mayor interee aguard© su julc%o, favorable o adverse, reapeoto a ml modesta contribuoion de muohos afios a las Letras de ml pais.

De TJd. atto. y afmo. S.S. que estreoha su mono

(signed) F. Gamboa

Mexico• 17 de marzo de 1935 - 79

APPENDIX B.

B I B L 0 S

Bolet^n Semmal # a® Info ma o Ion Blbllografloa Publleado nor la Blblloteoa N a e l o n a l _____

Torao II. Kexioo, enero 17 do 1920. No®. 53.

ESCRITOHES MEXICANOS CONTEMPOrXn EOS

D. Pidorloo Gamboa

Desouella ontre loa novelietas do In generaoion qua

aun impera, por su vigoroao eafierzo qua contrasta con

nuestra langnldez Intolootual, la figure do D. Pederloo

Gamboa, novellata rernaculo quo ha pedido alcanzar a la

vez quo una firmo reputacion literarla, algo mas difioil

on este medio: la popularidad. Su obra, oonooida y apreciada on toda la America

latina y aun on Norte America y Europe, no so opaoa ni

envejece con el tiempo, eomo loa daguerreotipoa borrosos

do otros esdritores del pasado alglo; vivo con la sangre

frosea y potent® quo el supo inyeotar on sue paginas.

Su biograffa, tal eomo so conoce por loa date* ofi-

ciales, oa una aerie do oscensoe por esa escallnata do

honor Uaraada "Kecalafon del Cuerpo Diplomatioo ,*»

Nadte en la eluded do Mexico, el die 22 de dioiembre

de 1864. Hizo on la misma aus ostudios, y el 9 do octu-

bre de 1888 austento examen en la Secretaria do Relacio- nes Exteriores, ingresando en esa feoha como Segundo Se- cretario eon destine a Centro America. •

En junto de 1890 fue nombrado Primer Seoretario en \ las Republicas Argentina y del Brasil y doa anos despues fue Enoargado de Negocioe adinterim en la Argentina, Paso como primer Seoretario a la Erabajada en los Estados Unidos de America, en diciembre de 1902, y volvio, como Enviado

Extraordinario y Ministro Plenipoteiioiario, a Centro Ame* rice, a mediados de 1905. -

Tree anos mas tarde ocupo inter!namente la Subsecre- taria de Relactones, y en junto de 1909 se hizo cargo de la misraa como Subseoretario efectivo. En el Ccntenario partto rumbo al Viejo.Continents como Embajador Especial de Mexico en Espana y Enviado Especial en Belgioa y los

Pa£ses Bajos, despues de heber estado encargodo de la

Secretaria de Reladones del 16 de abril al 3 de mayo del mismo ano de 1910, por fallecimiento del seoretario del Bamo.

Entre otras comisiones, he desampenado las siguienteet Seoretario de Relaclones, de julio a soptiembre de 1913$

Jefe interino de la Seocion de Cancillerfa; Compllador de documentos relatives a la reclamaoion llamada ”Fondo Pia» doso de las Californias”; Delegado del Presidents de la

Republioa para la conmemoradon del primer oentenarlo del nacimiento de Benito Juarez, en Guatemala • Delegado a las

Conferenoias de Paz Centro Amerioanas? Plenipotenciario para negooiar y ooncluir los tratados con la Republioa do Honduras $ Delegado a la Conforencle de Dereeho Marf- timo, en Bruselos; PloniieteBQiario para ns^Delar y eon- olulrun Tratado de comercio y Navegscion con el Reino de Dlnamaroa; Delegado a 1 Congreso In tenia clonal dePa- tronato de Reos Llbertadoo, en Aaberes; Delegado al ins­ titute International defatadlstiea del Haya; Delegado a la Comlsl&m Interaaeltoal Pencanente de los Congreso* de Cienoias Administrativas, on Bruoelas; Delegado al

Congreso contra el Alooholismo en el t Delegado manente a los Congress de Ediicacion Faniliar; Plenlpo# tenoiario para constituir el dopisite do las Ratificaoio- nes sobre Abordajes y Selvamentos, en Bruaelcs, y otras muohaa delegaelonesy repreaenteciones cue supo llerar a tmen termino, ouidando siempre de dar prestigio a nuestra naolon, oon su ezquisit® treto de hoiabre cabal, oulto y distingjido. . . , > v

En el ejercicio de su brillante carrera obtuvo honrosas distinciones: ' r ■ .

Es Caballero S m i Crua de la Orden de Isabel la

Catolioa, de Espana; Caballero Gran Cruz de la orden de

Alfbnao XII, de Espana; Caballe ro Gran Cruz de la Orden

Imperial del "Sol Levante" del Japon; Gran Cruzi2o. grade

la, clese, de la Orden del Doble Dragon, de China; 2a.

clase, con place, de la Orden del Agulla Roja, de Alema-

nla; Gran Oficial de la corona de Italia; Encomlenda, oon

placa, de la Orden de San Olaf, 4® Horuega; Encomlenda

ordinarla de la Orden de Carlo# III, de Espana, y 5a. olaae 4e la Orden del Busto del Llbertador, de Venezuela.

Ademaa, ha aldo nombrado, en diferontes epoeas Ofi- oial de la Academia de Franoia; Mieobro correspondlente de la Real Academia Sspanola de Is Lengtiaj yldesde haee

10 anos, Director Vitalicio de la Academia Mexleana Cor- reapondlente de la Bspanola *t Mlembro honorario de varies

Sooiedades Cientlfieas y Literarias del pais y de algunas eepanolas y de Estados Unldos de Norte jlmerica#

H® publioado los sigaientee volumenes: Del Natural.

Esbozos Contemporaneos: Aparlencias, Imprealones y Reouer- dos{ Supreme Ley: Ketamorfosis; Santa; Reconquista; Mi

Dlario (tree volumenes publioados y xmo en prensa); La

Llaga* un folleto que contiene mu eonferencia sobre La

Novels Mexican®, y El Evangelista, novels oorta. Prepare

La Confealon de un Palaoio. Bnsayo sobre Hiatoria Neclonal.

Para el teatro ha escrito La Ultima campana. comedia

en tres aotos y en prosa; La Venganza de la Gleba y A buena

Ouenta. dramas ombos, en tres aotos y en prose, un monologo

en prosa: Divertirse, y Entre Hermanos. tragedla Mexicans

oontemporanea, en tres aotos y en prosa. Tlene tambien dos

arregloa del franees $ uno del vaudevllle-opereta "Mamz'lle

Nitouche," eon el ncmbre de La senorlta Inocenoia y otro

del vaudeville "Le Fiacre 117," que intitulo La Moral

Electrics.

Sum no vela s, de un reallemo palpi t ante, provoearon al

apareoer las mismas oritloas apasionadas y condenatorias

que deaparto Zola en Paris. Los hombres paeatos, eegados - 83 v/ por cataratas 4e prejuloios anejos, no ere£an prudent® aplloar el oauterlo sobre la d a m e viva. A pesar de todo, aus novelas Santa y La Llaga, (Santa, aobre todo), s® lean en todas partes# Santa es para todos un personaje real, que vivio y padeolo comb en la novela se narra, En su

pueblo natal, los yeelnos senalan la oaaa en quo vivio y

la tximba en que repose. Is su major e logic, Ha si do la

prlmera novela mexlcana puosta en olnta olnematografloa

y el llbro ha alcsnzad© elnoo edlclones* la ultima, que

es la quinta, de 30,000 ejemplares#

En el teatro de Gamboa la n a W r alidad fait a a veoes

en los dialogos, por lo pulldo del lenguaje puesto en

labies de labrlegos, y la elevaeion de sue 1deales y de

sue sentimlentos morelisadores, y que entraSa un noblli- simo afan de tendencies moral!zadoras; pero que desdleha- damente no floreeen aun en el csorazon nl en el oerebro de

las olbses hum!Ides, de los hiJos de la gleba. La Ultima

Campana fue puesta nuevamente en eeoena, eon exito, la

noohe del 10 del aotual. / V . - 84 -

; : . v:.: ' APPWBIX C. : . :

POR EL MISMO /JJTOR

Del Naturalt Ssl>ozos Contemporanaos. E. Gomez de la

Puente, editor, 3a. edicion, Kezleo, 1915, (6000) -

1 volumea#

Aparienoiaa. J. Peucer, editor, Buenos Aires, 1892,

(2,000) m e v a ed io ion - 1 volumea*

Impre@i#a#@ y Reword os, A. lioen, editor, Buenos Aires,

1893, (2,000) mieva edielon - 1 volumon.

Supreme Ley. Yda. de Cl# Bouret, editor, Paris-Mexieo,

1896, (15,000) nueva edicion - 1 v o l u m e .

Hetamorfosis, Guatemala, 1899, (10,000) nueva edicion#

Santa. E. Gomez de la Puente, editor, 9a, edicion,

Mexico, 1919, (55,000) • 1 volumen#

Reoonquista, E. Gomez de la Puente, editor, Madrid-

Mexico, 1908 (2,000) - agotada. -

Ml Diario; Int1mldados, literates y literature, la,

serie - 3 volumenes, (5,000). .

La Llaga, E. Gomez do la Puente, editor, Madrld-Mexlco,

1913, (6,000) - nueva edicion, 1 volxinwi#

La Novela Mexicane. Conferencia, E, Gomez de la Puente,

editor, 1914, (1,000) - 1 folleto#

El Evangelista (novela oorta) 1 folleto, . ' Teatro:

La Sonora Inooenola. arreglo 4el vaudeville-opereta

"Mamatile Hltouche", Mexico, 1888 - ogotada*

La Moral Sleotrlca. arreglo del vaudeville "Le Fiacre 117"

Guatemala, 1889 - agotada*

La Ultima Campana, comedia original en tres aotos y on

prosa, Mexico, 1894, 2a. edioi&l, Guatemala, 1900. agotada*

Dlvertirae, monologo en prosa, original, Mexico 1894, agotada.

La Venganza de la Gleba. drama original en tres aotos y

en prosa, Washington, D. C. (E.U* de A,) 1904 - agotada.

A Buena Cuenta. drama original on tres aotos y en prosa,

San Salvador, C. A,,1907 - 1 volume#, :

Entre Hermanos - 1 volxmen *

Proximo a Pub Hearse:

Mi Diario, 3 tcmos de la aegunda serle - 3 volumenee,

En Preparaoion:

La Confeslon de un Palaclo. Ensayo sobre Historia Nacio-

nal, - 3 volumenes,

Todas ©stas obras se ballon de venta en las prlneIpa-

les libraries; para pedidos al por mayor, dlriglrse a la

case editorial de Eusebio Gomez de la Puente, Apartado

Postal 59 bis, en la eluded de Mexico, o a las de sue cor-

responsales y agentes en Is Republlea y en el Exterior. - 86

APPDTOIX D.

Cuestionario ' . '

Pregunta - Hora'bpes y ape 11 id os del padre:

Respuesta - Manuel Gambea#

Pregunte - Hombre y apellidos de la madre:

Respuesta - Lugarda Iglesias.

Pregunta - ITombre y apellide de 7d.•

Respuesta - PederleO Gamboa*

Pregunta - Feeha y lugar de naeimiento de Yd.:

Respuesta - 22 de diciembre de 1864, en la eluded de Mexico.

Pregunta - Instituoiones donde -eetudio, eon indicaoion de

las feehas ineluaivas, y los estudloe seguldos:

Respuesta |-* Saeuela de primeras letras, de la senora dona

Hortensia, L. viuda de Oviedo.

Colegio particular de D. Guillermo Rode,

Ciudad de Id, Idem. de D. Antoni© Cervantes. Mexico. — Id. idem, de D. Emilio G. Be*’ .'' iEaouela Naeienal Preparatoria.

| ld» idem, de Jurlsprudeneia.

New York Evening High School, anos de 1881-82, en

la q w ©htuve mt eertif lead© del III grado en

gramatica inglesa. Pregunta - Grades y tituloe ecademicos, eon las feehas y

las inetltueiones euando y donde se eoneedieron:

Respuesta - (vease el adjunto recorte impreso). 87 -

Pregunta • Otroa tftulos, eon feohas:

Bespuesta - (Tease el adjunto reeorte Impreso).

Pregunta • Cargos oficioles* con feohas:

Bespuesta • (Id., idem.).

Pregunta • condeooraelonea, eon fedhae:

Bespuesta - (Id., idem.).

Pregunta - Premlos, eon fechas:

Bespuesta - (Id., Idem.)•

Pregunta - Bn su prop la opinion, (rCual es su me jor obra,

o su obra de predlleocldn?

Bespuesta - Preoleamente porqua todas lueen Inmimeras

Imperfeeclones, las qularo a todas por Igual.

Soy uft padrazo.

Pregunta - Sagan los criticos 4Cual es su major obra?

Bespuesta • Los oriticos qua ae ban servldo juagarlas, no

estan de acuardo, pues los critleos jamas lo

estan.. . , ■ ' 1:: •

Pregunta - Llata oompleta, por orden oronologioo, de todas

sus publicaolonas, dando lugar y feeha ouando

salieron a la luz por vez prime re:

Bespuesta - (Tease reeorte adjunto, nmnero 2),

Pregunta - Puede Td. explioarme los pantos en quo no se

ponen de acaerdo la Iglesta Oatolica y el V

•?>- "Naturalismo”; por ejemplo, la dootrlna de

"Toluntai Libre" contra la idea naturallata

de "herenola* de Zola. - 83

Eeapuesta: Supongo qua Ids pantos da dlvergenoia han de

ser varios, y de la mayor trsseendencia alga-

nos da alios. ,31 asunto, sin embargo, nunoa

me praoeupo a la bora augusta de escrlblr mla

llbros, pues no advert{ inoompatlbllided grande

nl ohloa antra mis creenelas,— yo soy un oato-

llco apostolloo roneno a maoha martlllo,— y ml

labor de novelist#.

Luego, yo no soy naturalists profeslonal nl

jamas me afIlia, an arto prlnolpalpente, a

eeeuela nl ban darf a nlnguna, 31 quo mis maes­

tro# mentales lo fueran los naturalist as fran-

oeses, mas qua los de otros paisas,— de olio

me ufano y sin reserves lo ccnfleso,— no qulere

deelr nada, nl memos que me eoaprometlere, con

el publico a conmlgo mismo, a seguir olegamente

los mandmientos de este o equal esoritor. His

llbros me los dicto ml proplo temperamento, y v. si result ar m natural Is tea, natural 1st a me que do

haeta la bora de ml muerte, ya que no so eaerl-

blr de modo dlverso$ per® un nature list a eon

mis mas y mis menos personalisimos# Lo que si

procure siempro, fue eserlbirlos conforms a la

pouta, artistioa y preelosomente expresada por

el genial novelist# portuguea Ega de queiros:

"Sobre a nudez forte da verdade o manto ddapha-

no da nbantasla" . o sea, en espanol, medio - 89

velando c o b el mento dlafano de la fantaaia

1® ftie rte deumdez de la verdad. Pregunta • 4Q,ue plensa Yd. de In norela ultramoderna,

el ttnivssGstt de James Joyoa. Cota ches

Smarm" do I.farcel Proust? 4cr®@ Yd. quo tal

novela eon la Idea nueva "el corrlente de

oonoelmlento" pucde mcstrar la Verdad y la :

Belleza een aatlafaeelon?

Respuesta • No oonozeo el "Ullaes" de James Joye®.

Cuanto a la novela do Mareel Proust, "Du

■ .■ ' eot# de ohez Swann*, part® Integrant® de la

serlet "A la roohorche du temps perdn", a la

que algue la sogunda serie: "sodom® et-g o -

morrhe - Le temps rotronv#"* me T^rece qne

una obra aonclllamonte admirable y supranatu-

rallsta, aunque lo metlouloso de las. dcscrlp-

oiones de seres y cosas, del estado de alma

de los persona jes sobro tod®, 1® resten a ml

julclo mueho de su Interea y oonvlertan la

leetura do ton prlmoroeos llbros en pasadera-

mente eaneada en miehaB de sun paglnas, empa-

padas en el talento nsda comun de su autor y

en el eaplrltu d® @u obaervaol^n caal mania-

tloa, porquo es a un tlempo (mentlraporecel

dlfusa y mlnuoloslslma.

Pregunta - Apuntar cualesquler detail®s de su vlda per­

sonal y literari a quepuedaayudame a to

presenter su personal Ma d ©m un eapltulo de

ml trabaje# ^ , ■

Respuesta - Contestar a este pregunta serle ezponerse a

que qulenes eonoeleran ml respuesta me tacha*

ran, y con sobra de justlclo, de exageradamente

vanidos© y egolatrice,

Pregunta - Indlear los mejores artlculos crftloos que ban

tratado de Vd. y de sus ©bras.

Respuesta - Son tentee las erftless on pro y en contra que

mis llbroa me ban gamdo, que serfs prolijo

enumerarlas y senalar yo cuales son las mejores•

Probablememte, soy bmaano, daria ml preferenola

a las en que so elogia ml ya large labor; pero

ccmo a.la vez reconozco que Tarlas.de las ad-

versas son @xe#l,ent£slms y muchas do alias me

trajertm ensenanzas y me corrlgleron defectos,

me limltare a expreear que ml obra ha sido juz-

gada en ml tlerra desde luego, y aslmlsmo, on

Eapana, Centro y suramerica, cube, y algo en

Franela.

Pregunta El verdadero naturalista, ddebe el dar;su fllo-

sof£a de la vlda, permitir divagaolones y el

arte, o debe el solsmente dar los detalles de

la situation y dejar que juzgue el lector para

si mis mo? , ’ : ■ - Respuesta No creo que el naturalists, nl el clasieo, el

romantloo y los mu oh os "ultras" que hoy por 91

hoy so hen soltado an el vasto eaapo de las

Lotras, deban proponerse, de antemano, esta

o aquella tendencla, pues arte tendencloso

slentpre ooj#a* Tengo para mi, que ol artlsta

puro solo ha de procurer la belleze y la omo-

oton, hesta donde sue talentos y faoultades

se looonslenten, SI pop anadldure ensena,

oorrlge, etc., tout© major*

Pregunta -

mundo? ^Es de Instrulr? ^de presenter la vide?

£de divertlr?

Respxiesta El lugar quo la novela naturallata ocupo en

el imfctio, turo o m o tod as las anteriores lo

tuvleron y lo tendran las que la slguen, si-

tio pref©rente y mac o n e n o s .duradero? b u s

apaslonados, sus seguidores y suo cr£ticos,

Eterna hlstorla, que a^oada escuola so repite.

Pregunta Algunos orfticos ban dioho que el naturallsta

debe presenter la vida sin Idealizaoion* *0ue

piensa Vd. de esta idea?

Respuesta Pooas idealizactones admits la vida, que es de

auyo prosaloa, ingrata y breve. sin embargo,

raichos natural 1st as la dieron, aqul y all£,

pineeladas eabelleeedo ras.

Todo depends de quien maneje el pincel,

Pregunta Yo se quo es 7d« gran amante de su petria,

jilla expresado Vd* sus ideas a veces en sus o *♦ 9H

obraa con cl fin del me joraniento de los

males politicos y oooiales, no solo de Me­

xico, sitto del mxnQo?

P.espuesta - ©n ©feoto, un idelatra de mi patria; y

dentro de lb flaeo de mis fiersas ho tarocura-

dc sistematioamente poner de resalto en mis

modestoo libros, y sin cellar las imperfec-

ciones que la afearn, las vlrtudes que al i-

gual do todas las pbtrias, tsmbien olla ate-

sora*

Asimismo, varies de mis pens am lent os ©scritos

han abrazado, per extension natural, a la

h u m sided y el murid o tc^o $ pues os mi vie ja

oreencia quo, oomo me lo dljera alguna vez mi

ilustro jefe don Manuel de Azpiroz, ex-embaja

dor de Mexico on los EE.UU * $ "El alma humane ea solo una, y lo que varia

son las latitudes." NOTE S

1. Hamilton, Clayton, Manual of the Art of Fiction, p. 31

2. Hamilton, Clayton, Manual of the Art of Fiction,

pp. 31 - 41. 3. Martino, Le Naturalisme Francala. p, 6.

4. Howells, William Dean, Criticism and Fiction, pp. 59-60.

5. Howells. William Dean. Criticism and Fiction, p* 60 f6. Howells, William Dean, Criticism and Fiction, p. 61.

7. Gamboa, Impreslones y Reouerdos. p. 268. 8. Howells, William Dean, Crltiolsm and Fiction, p. 65.

9. Gamboa, Imnreatones y Recuer&oa. pp. 268-869.

10. Josephson, Matthew, Zola and His Time, p. 159. ^

11. Josephson, Matthew. Zola and Hie Time. p. 159.

12. Josephson, Matthew, Zola and His Time, p. 242. "There

is lastly in the legend of Naturalism, emblem for a

state of mind, an era of terror. In the hands of its

lowliest votaries it was the synonym for lack of in­

vention, for the bow to the vast public, drawn by

pretended or real pornography; in the hands of the

chief exponent it signified, in his prime, the tradi­ tional procedures of groat literary art. Reality, *

Exact Observation, are words. He himself was aware

of how relative, how metaphysical reality is. His

personal reality was then that of the transient, dog­

matic, nineteenth century, child of its scientific

illusions. And his most gravely contradictory - 94

utterance was that "art is a corner of nature seen thru

a temperament •" Reality $ temperament— two mutually ex- •

terminating conceptions!”

13. Josephaon, Matthew, Zola and Hie time, p. 96. ;

14. Zola. Le Roman Experimental, p. 46.: :i: 15. Pellissier, Le Mouvement Litteraire Contemporalne. pp.

8 - 9. "...le plus naturalists dea ecrlvalns eat evl-

dmnant oelui dont 1*idioeyncraey altere le molne la

nature. Le naturaliate n ,est pas eelui qui volt autre-

ment que lee autres, mala eelui, qui volt aveo plus do

nettete;, avee plus do precision, qui exprime plus

H t * fortemente le reels." 16. Pellissier, Le Mouvement Litteraire Contemperain. pp 9-18.

17. Galsworthy. Candelabra, (Maupassant).

18. Brunet!ere, Le-Homan Naturaliate, p. 3.

19. Brunetiere, Le Homan Naturaliate. p. 119.

20. Martino, Le Natural lame Francals. p. 4.

21. Valera, Apuntea sohre el Nuevo Arte de EsorlMr Nove-

♦ las, p. 75. ■' ■ '

22. Gamboa. Imprealones y Recuerdos, p. 274. "Si eon esta

profesion de fe literaria, resuito en las files del na­

tural iamo, naturalists me quedo, o veriata o realists,

o lo que sea." . .

23. Martino, Le Naturalisms Francals. p. 8. "Dea ideolo­

gues de 1820 aux positivistes de 1860 et aux natural-

Istes de 1880 la chains rests tree solidements tendue$

Vhoetilite centre les laisser-aller de 1*imagination 95

et le mepris voulu Se la raison n® Aesarma jamais au eoln® de XIXq sieelee" :

24. Martino, Le Haturalisme Francais, p. g. "C'est Ini

(Comte) qui a donne le nomde positivisme au vleil

esprit enoyelopediste, enriohi de tout® une nouvelle

• philoeophie de# aelenoes."

25. Martino.• Le Naturalise Francais. p. 21. "Taine a ete, en effet, le vrai philosophe du realisms, son

■ . .i . , theorioien; o ’est Ini qui a donne la formule du po­

sit ivisme' en matlore litteraire. II a definitive-

0 ' mente persuade ses contmnprains-de ce que les ideolo­ gues et Auguste Comte enseignaient depute longtemps; savoir, que la psychologic n ’etait qu’un ohapitre de • la phyaiologie, que 1 ’etude des earaetere# etait cell®

de# temperaments, que le milieu physique press® de toutes cotes sur notre destine®, que 1'histoire des individus, comma cello des nations, est soumtse au plus ri^>ureux determinismss.M

26. Pellieeior, Le Mouvement Litteraire en France, p. 337.

27. Konta, History of French Literature, p.p. 454-445.

28. Salntsbury. Short History of French Literature, p. 556.

29. Martino, Le Naturalism® Francais. p, 13.

30. Appendix, B., p* 80. Biblos.

31. Appendix B«, p. 82. Biblos. .

32. Urbina, Hombres y Libros. p. 153. ‘

^32. Gamboa, Ml Diario. vol. Ill, p» 332.

34. Ckmboa. Hi Diario. VOl. II. pp. 257-259. 96 -

/

35. Gamboa, Mi Diario. Vol. Ill* p. 246.

36. Gamboa, Mi. Diari©, Yol. Ill, (a ) Alcohol, pp. 131-132. : (b) Education, p. 356.

37. Viraeoatee, Leonardo S., A Traveg de Reeonquiata.

38. Gamboa, Supreaa Ley. Title, page.

'39. Ortega y Gasset, Jose, Hombres, Mujeros. p. 19. RYo

de aou»rdo con la frase de los Goncourts, qua

asegura que el arte esta formado de realidad y be-

lleza. La yerdad le da la vida, y la belleza el es-

oritor. Ouasdo aquella no es hermosa toca al nove-

llate embelleoerla. Pero si la obra de arte no

repose en la verdad, lleva en si su muerte, porque

. inmediatamente se divina el artifioio.1’

40. Urbina. Lula G.. Hombres y Llbroa. p. 158. "...la

mas humane de sue move las: Suprema Ley, cuento mas

doloroso, mas verdadero, mas vivido no se oonqoe en

. nueetra literature. Todo alii es exaoto; deade la

desoripeion del m d i o haste el analisis psicologico."

41. Gonzalez Pena. Carlos. Historla de la Literature Me-

xioane, p, 461* ' .

42. Urbina, La Vida Llterarla de Mexico, pp. 246*247.

43. Appendix C., p. 84.

44. Appendix D.. Questionarlo. p. 83.

45* Appendix D., Ouestlonario. p. 92,

46. Gamboa. Imnrestones y Recuerdos. p. 274. 47. Gamboa, Impreslones y Recuerdos. p. 271.

48. Gamboa, Impreslones y Recuerdos. p. 268. 49. Gamboa, Improslones y Rocuordos, p, 269.

50. Gamboa, Impresionoa y Reonerdoa. p. 270.

51. Gamboa, Impreaionas y Retmordoa. p. 270.

52. Appendix D., Cueatlonarlo. p. 88,

53. Appendix D.; Cueatlonarlo. p. 88,

54. Appendix D.. Cuesflonarto. p. 88.

55.. Gamboa, Kctamorfosla..p. •: 391*

56. Gamboa. !.!st amor foals, p;p. 435-438.

57. Gamboa. Reeonm:le$a. p. 2K54,

58. Gamboa. Reoongalata. p. 512.

59. Vlramontes, Leonardo S., A Travas de Reoonqulata. p.

60. Gamboa..Imprealonea yKocuerdos. p. 274.

61. Gamboa, Hetamorfosis. p. 440.

62. Gamboa, Itetamorfoais. p, 515.

63. Gamboa. Metamogfoala. p. 515,

64. Gamboa, Guprema Ley, p. 431.

65. Gamboa, Impyealones y Raouardoa. pp. 147-148*

66. Appendix, C., p. 84.

67. Gamboa, Hetamorfosis. p. 183.

68. Gamboa. Hetaaorfoala. p.p. 264-265.

69. Joaepbaon. Matthew. Zola and His Time, p. 239.

70. Gamboa, Matamorfoais. pp. 412-413.

71. Gamboa. Reoonqulata. p. 171.

72. Gamboa, Reconguiata. p, 178.

73. Gamboa, Reoonoulste. p. 180.

74. Gamboa, Reoonquiata. p. 336,

75. Gamboa, Hi Diarlo. pp. 190-194. - 98 -

76, Gamboa, La Llaga, Dedleatorla*

77, Gamboa, La Llaga, pp. 36-59.

78, Gamboa* La Llaga, pp, 57-38,

79• Gamboa, La Llaga, p# 47• AO. Gamboa. La Llaga, p. 55.

81, Gamboa, La Llaga, p. 59,

82, Gamboa, La Llaga, 60*61e 83, Gamboa, LaJLlaga, pp. 190-191•

R4. Gamboa. La Llaga, pp. 66-67.

85, Gamboa. La Llaga, p. 68, Aft. Gamboa. La Llaga, p. 168.

87. Gamboa, La Llaga, p. 194.

88. Gamboa, La Llaga, p. 415.

89. Gamboa, La Llaga, p. 405.

90. Gamboa, La Llaga, p. 419.

91. Gamboa, Santa, Dedloatorla,

92. Gamboa, Santa, pp. 41-42.

93. Gamboa, Santa, p. 335.

94. Gamboa, Santa, pp. 340-341. 95. Gamboa, Metamorfosls, p. 96.

96. Gamboa, Metamorfosls, pp. 309-309, 97. Gamboa, Metamorfosls, pp. 312-319.

98. Gamboa, MatamorfosIs, pp. 421-422.

99. Gamboa, Metamorfosls. pp. 468-469.

100. Gamboa, La—Llaga, p. 282. 101. Gamboa, La Llaga, p. 289. 102. Gamboa, La Llaga, p. 293. 9#

(

103. Gamboa, Heeonqulsta. p. 278.

104. Gamboa, Reoonqalsta, p. 281.

105. Gamboa, Reoonqulata. p. 283.

108. Josephson, Matthew, Zola and His Time, p. 240.

107. Ortega y Gasset, Jog o , Hoabros, Llbros, p. 21.

108. Hamilton, Clayton, Manual of the Art of Fiction, p. 33.

109. Gamboa, Improsiones y Raouerdos, p. 163,

110. Aoptindlx D.. Cueationario, p. 89.-90.

111. Urbina, Luis G., Honbres y Libroa. p. 151,

112. Appendix D ., Cueationario. p. 92.

113. Appendix D., Cueationario. p, 89-90.

114. Appendix, B., Biblos, p. 79.

v,„.

99843 100

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

Appendix*

' ' - , ' - V _ , '' ""'V . - '' ' ' ^ ^ Brunetlere, Ferdinand, Le Roman Haturallete. Nouvelle

idItIon, Paris, 1884. Flaubert, Gustave, Madane Bbvary. Modern Students* Library,

New York, 1930.

Galsworthy, John, Candelabrat 1933,

Gamboa, Federleo, Ml Dlario, Vol. 1, Imprenta de "La Gaoeta

de Guadalajara", Mexico, 1907, Gamboa, Federleo, Ml Dlario. Vol, B, Eusebio Gomez de la

Puente, Editor, Mexico, 1910.

Gamboa, Federico, Ml Dlario. Vol, 3, Eusebio,Gomez de la

Puente, Editor, Mexico, 1920.

Gamboa, Federico, Del Natural. Eusebio Gomez de la Puente,

Editor, 3rd Edition, 1915,

Gamboa, Federico, LaJCjlaga, Eusebio Gomez de la Puente,

Editor, Mexido, 1922.

Gamboa, Federico, Suprema Ley, Eusebio Gtonez de la Puente,

Editor, Mexico, 1920. Gamboa, Federiog, Reconquista. Eusebio Gomez de la Puente,

Editor, Barcelona and Mexico, 1908. Gamboa, Federico, La Novela Mexleana. Eusebio Gomez de la

Puente, Editor, Mexico, 1914.

Gamboa, Federico, Santa. Casa Editorial y Liberia Araluee,

Barcelona, 1905. 101

Gamboa, Faderloo, Metamorfosls» Adminlatraoloa, Mexico 1899.

Ganft>oa, Federico, La Ultima Campana. segunda Bdlclon, Ad-

mlnlstraoIon, Mexico, 1900. .. Gamboa, Federico. El Evangellate. Novela Corta, Llbrerfa

Guadalupana, Mexico, D. F., 1927.

Gonzalez PeSa, Carlos, Hlstoria de la Literature Mexioana.

PublioaeiOBes de la Secretarla de Idneaelon Publica,

Mexico, D. F., 1988# Hamilton, Clayton M., A Manual of the Art of Fiction.

introduction by Brandsr Matthews, Doubleday, Page & Co.,

1918. Howells, William Dean, Criticism and Fiction. Harper k

Bros., New York, 1893. , Josephson, Matthew, Zola and His Time, The Book League

Monthly, Camden, New Jersey, November, 1928*

Konta, A. E., The History of French Literature. D. Appolton

& Co., New York and London, 1905.

Martino, P., Le Naturalisms Francale. (1870-1895). Paris,

1923.

Ortega y Gasset, Jose, Hombres. Mujeres. Atzlan Edltores,

Regina 88, Mexico, D. F., 1926.

Pelllssier, Georges, Le Mouvement Lltteraire contemporaln.

Clnquieme edition, Plon-Nourrlt, Paris, 1915.

Saintsbury,, George, A Short History of French Literature *

Sixth Edition, 1923.

Urbina, Luis 0., Hombres y Libros. El Llbro Frances, S. A.,

Mexico, D. F., 1923. Urbina, Lula., La Vida Litoraria de Mexico. Imprenta

Saenz, Hermanos, Tudescos, 34, Madrid, 1917#

Valera, Jtian, Apontes Sob re el. Nuevo Arte de Eacrlblr Nova-

las.#. Obras Completas, Vol. 26, Madrid, 1910. Viramontee, Leonardo S., A Traves de Reeonquiata, A* Car-

ranza e Hi joa, Impress res, Mexico, D. F., 1909.

Zola, fella. Le Roman Experimental. Kouvelle idltlon, Paris

1909. 88 87 ■ 3,133 '73