Historicizing Fiction or Fictionalizing History: A Rediscovery of Colombian History via One Hundred Years of Solitude

Abstract

The article aims at rediscovering Colombian history through Latin American fiction. Latin American novels display a unique myriad of extra literary factors; economic, political, geographical, cultural and most importantly, historical realities. Historical facts of Latin American countries are so skilfully engrained in the literary texture that it is almost impossible to draw a line between fact and fiction. On surface, the stories are full of magic but inwardly reveal factual events of history. Colombian chaotic political conditions and governmental control did not let many writers write freely in their journalistic careers, so many sought fictional writing as a means to surpass press censorship. Many times political vindictiveness was expunged from the pages of history so authors like García Márquez used fiction to uncover historical realities via novels. One Hundred Years of Solitude, a fictional saga, seems to reveal the lost histories of Colombian past. The cover of fiction provides a disguise to the civil war atrocities and killings in incidents like Banana Massacre, exercised in Colombian history by their governments. New historicism serves as the theoretical framework for this article and helps draw parallel of fictional and factual events.