Who Can Speak to America? Rafael Barrett's Place in Latin American Literature at the Turn of the Century

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze Rafael Barrett's thought two of his major works: “Lo que son los yerbales” (1910) and “El dolor paraguayo” (1911). In these volumes, compiled in the collection titled Complete Works, Barrett introduces social and anti-colonial issues into Paraguayan literature, denouncing the longstanding injustices suffered by rural workers in Paraguay and, by extension, highlighting social problems rooted in the continent’s history. This analysis focuses on two main aspects of his literary production. First, it examines how Barrett, as a committed writer representing a minor literature, attempts to challenge the dominant narrative centered on constructing a nationalist and modernizing story following the disaster of the Triple Alliance War or “Guerra Guasú” (1864-1870). Second, it explores the underlying tensions regarding “who can speak to America,” reviving the debate on whether Latin American thought has (or should have) any specificity compared to practices developed in metropolitan centers and whether these reflect “battlegrounds” among representatives of Latin American intellectual life.