Miradas sobre el tiempo y la modernidad en La Tierra Natal (1886) y Paisajes Cordilleranos (1910)

Abstract

In this paper we will question the different  stances on modernity that Juana Manuela Gorriti and Ada María Efflein have in La Tierra Natal (1886) and Paisajes Cordilleranos (1917). To achieve this, we will consider modernity from Julio Ramos’ (1989) point of view, which states that the modernisation process in Latin America is an unequal and problematic phenomenon, especially in the literary field, due to its deficient autonomy. On the basis of this, we will interpret the authors’ different views on time. On the one hand, Gorriti shares a look back in her story, she is constantly evoking memories and anecdotes of a far away past in the face of the modernisation process that was happening while she was writing La Tierra Natal (1886). On the other hand, Efflein shares a look forward in her work, that is, she is looking onto the future, onto her country’s progress and its modernisation. This is due to the fact that Efflein wrote Paisajes Cordilleranos (1917) during a time in which modernisation was already established and developed, whereas Gorriti wrote her book twenty eight years prior, when this process was only starting. Then, in her return to her homeland, she encounters the changes brought by modernisation and, therefore, looks back to the past with longing and criticises various aspects of the modern present