Strafed by internal political turmoil, robbed of its sea access, battered by the elements and divided in more ways imaginable due to the ethnic breakdown of its mainly impoverished and overwhelmingly indigenous population, literature in Bolivia has been slow in its growth.
Since Bolivia is largely indigenous with Quechua, Aymara, Guarani speaking peoples, theirs is a culture rich in oral tradition and folklore, so little has been written down. From the earliest periods of the existence of Bolivia or Alto Peru as a Spanish colony, literature that was permitted here mainly served to spread Catholicism.
And nowadays in a search for actual literature that suggests and offers an insight into Bolivian society will take you wading through dozens of academic books regarding the rise of Evo Morales, Bolivia’s current and first indigenous President, indigenous liberation, the errors of neo-liberalism and land mismanagement. While there’s not faulting the aforementioned, it is literature we are searching for.
Sangre de Mestizos
Written by Augusto Cespedes (1904-1997) a survivor of the infamous Chaco War of 1932-35 between Bolivia and Paraguay, this is a detailed account of his experiences as a soldier as well as a correspondent for El Universal newspaper, penned in 1936 when all of the events would have been very fresh in his memory. Politically driven after these experiences Cespedes went on to become the Director of the Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario (MNR) a political movements aimed at empowering both the middle classes and working class. The Chaco War fought over inhospitable terrain and largely brought about by the will of Standard Oil – believing there to be precious minerals in the area – is depicted in all of its brutality by Cespedes detailing how hungry soldiers fought practically naked over a “green hell”.
The Bolivian Diary
Perhaps better known for the Motorcycle Diaries and the subsequent film made of his journeys, Ernesto “Che” Guevara’s notebooks have been posthumously published detailing the time leading up to his death in 1967 in the Bolivian jungles at the hands of the CIA. While hardly a work of fine literature, Guevara’s details and observations of the Bolivia are astute as he is spearheading a Cuban backed attempt to spark a pan South American social revolution. Reading the pages one cannot help feel that his plan is doomed to failure, but of course we have the benefit of hindsight which was not available to the protagonist.
The Incredible Voyage and Marching Powder
Tristan Jones’ tale, The Incredible Voyage is more of an adventure story and has become a must read in the annals of travel literature and in sailing circles. But once you see past the hardships encountered as he explores Bolivia on his quest to sail from the lowest body (the Dead Sea, Israel) of water to the highest (Lake Titicaca, Bolivia), he makes very pertinent observations about Bolivia and the trials encountered. Perhaps nowhere else is there a more honest vision of a Bolivia from the era.
I have grouped Rusty Young’s Marching Powder in here as well since it too is something that you’ll see backpackers clutching on to as they make the journey through Bolivia on the ubiquitous gringo trail through South America. Young, an enterprising Australian lawyer, visited the infamous San Pedro prison in La Paz. He befriended Thomas McFadden, a British citizen convicted of cocaine smuggling and cataloged his story all the while detailing fascinating tales of the prison and therefore granting an insight into the corruption so inherent in Bolivian society. The writing itself is glib, but, having read the book, been astounded to the facts, I was left amazed by the lack of admittance of guilt by McFadden. In any case, an easy and insightful read.
Richard McColl - I am a freelance writer from deepest darkest London but for the past 10 years or so I have been maintaining my extended "writing break" in ...
