Writing Assignment

Gabriel Garcia Marquez is a Colombian author of short stories and novels dealing with military themes in Latin American villages. Born in 1928, Garcia Marquez trained in journalism in the 1960's but later turned to writing such famous novels as The Autumn of the Patriarch and One Hundred Years of Solitude. The writings of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, because of both their ingenuity and controversiality that afforded him great honors, played an influential role in the development, recognition, and subsequent worldwide acceptance of Latin American literature in the twentieth century. (Literature Resource Center Pp. 2)

Garcia Marquez is one of the most successful Latin American writers in the past century, receiving many prestigious awards for his work. He is the 'sole Colombian or Venezuelan author [who] has received an international reputation since 1941. His most famous novel, One Hundred Years of Solitude not only became an international best-seller, translated into twenty-five languages, but it was also acclaimed with unparalleled generosity by the author's peers2. In the years following publication of One Hundred Years of Solitude, Garcia Marquez had been the recipient of a long list of international honors, including a doctorate at Colombia University in 1971 and a medal of the French Legion of Honor from Francois Mitterrand, . . . '3 In 1982, Garcia Marquez went on to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. All these prominent awards helped to elevate Latin American literature to a higher level of recognition.

The writings of Gabriel Garcia Marquez were very politically controversial, thus drawing his work and the work of other Latin Americans into the limelight. Garcia Marquez considers himself a political person and desires to be seen as a political writer.4 When first involved in journalism working for the El Espectador, Garcia Marquez wrote his 'Tale of a Castaway,' a series of interviews with a man who spent fifteen days adrift in the Caribbean. The tale contained some unflattering information about the Colombian navy, however, so the Colombian chief of state Gustavo Rojas Pinilla closed down El Espectador. In 1974 Garcia Marquez again ventured into journalism with the publication of a left wing magazine Alternativa.

Garcia Marquez's novels also were as politically volatile as his journalism. Both the short stories One of These Days and Big Mama's Funeral mock the corruption of over bureaucratized government. This theme is continued strongly in his novel The Autumn of the Patriarch.6 These politically turbulent publications attracted attention to Garcia Marquez and the lifestyles of Latin American countries. Literature Resource Center Pp. 4)

Because of the enormous attention drawn to Garcia Marquez's great works, Gabriel Garcia Marquez's writings aided in the Latin American literature 'Boom' of the 1960's and 1970's. 'The boom reached its peak in 1967 when Gabriel Garcia Marquez's masterpiece One Hundred Years of Solitude elicited unparalleled applause from the critics and within a year broke all records for its sales throughout the Spanish -speaking world. In addition, Garcia Marquez spent much time in residence abroad and traveled extensively. Thus, he could demonstrate the proficiency of ...