Miguel de Cervantes Prize
1 appearances
-
Edition 15 (1989) Winner
Augusto Roa Bastos
アウグスト・ロア・バストス
Augusto Roa Bastos
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1917-06-13 （Asunción, Paraguay）
- Died
- 2005-04-26 （Asunción, Paraguay） age 87
- Nationality
- Paraguayan
- Languages
- Spanish, Guaraní
- Religion
- Roman Catholic
- Residence History
- Iturbe, Guairá (Paraguay) → Asunción, Paraguay → Buenos Aires, Argentina → Toulouse, France
Career
- Occupations
- writer, journalist, screenwriter, professor
- Active Years
- 1932-2005
- Affiliations
- University of Toulouse (professor), El País (Asunción) (editorial secretary / journalist)
- Influenced By
- Rafael Barrett, Horacio Quiroga, Valle-Inclán, Juan Ramón Jiménez, Federico García Lorca, Pablo Neruda
- Influenced
- Mempo Giardinelli, Isabel Allende, Eraclio Zepeda, Antonio Skármeta, Luisa Valenzuela
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Miguel de Cervantes Prize | — | — | Spanish Royal Academy / Spanish government | 受賞 |
| 1995 | National Prize for Literature (Paraguay) | — | — | Cultural Center of the Republic (Paraguay) | 受賞 |
| 1997 | Legion d'Honneur (Chevalier) | — | — | French Republic | 受賞 |
| 1959 | Losada Prize | Hijo de hombre | — | Losada (publisher) | 受賞 |
| 1970 | John Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship | — | — | John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation | 受賞 |
| 1979 | John Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship | — | — | John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation | 受賞 |
Miguel de Cervantes Prize
1989
Organization:
Spanish Royal Academy / Spanish government
Result:
受賞
National Prize for Literature (Paraguay)
1995
Organization:
Cultural Center of the Republic (Paraguay)
Result:
受賞
Legion d'Honneur (Chevalier)
1997
Organization:
French Republic
Result:
受賞
Losada Prize
1959
Work:
Hijo de hombre
Organization:
Losada (publisher)
Result:
受賞
John Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship
1970
Organization:
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result:
受賞
John Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship
1979
Organization:
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result:
受賞
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
Hijo de hombre (Son of Man)
1960 historical novel / Neobaroque 320 pagesDepicts Paraguay's oppressive history up to the 1930s through multiple narrators and Christian metaphors, contrasting figures to explore popular suffering and resistance.
Paraguayan historyoppression and resistancecollective memory
Adaptations
- [film] Son of Man (film adaptation) (1960)
Translations
- Son of Man (English translation by Rachel Caffyn, 1965)
Yo el Supremo (I, the Supreme)
1974 dictator novel / historical novel 520 pagesA fictionalized account of 19th-century Paraguayan dictator José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia that examines the inner workings of dictatorship and the relationship between power and writing through diverse forms.
power and dictatorshiplanguage and recordreinterpretation of history
Adaptations
- [film (screen adaptation)] I, the Supreme (screen adaptation, 1991) (1991)
Translations
- I, the Supreme (English translation by Helen Lane, 1986)
El fiscal (The Prosecutor)
1993 historical novel / philosophical novel 300 pagesPart of a trilogy contemplating the 'monotheism of power', this novel explores atrocities under the Stroessner dictatorship and whether one man has the right to judge another, blending autobiography, detective fiction and philosophy.
violence of dictatorshipethics and justicememory and atonement
Translations
- The Prosecutor (English translation by Helene Carol Weldt-Basson, 2018)
Bibliography
- Hijo de hombre (1960)
- Yo el Supremo (1974)
- Vigilia del Almirante (1992)
- El fiscal (1993)
- El trueno entre las hojas (short stories, 1953)
- El ruiseñor de la aurora (poems, 1942)
Adaptations
- Film adaptations of Hijo de hombre (1960s)
- Screenplays adapted as films (Shunko, Alias Gardelito, 1960s)
Translations of Works
- English translations (by Helen Lane, Rachel Caffyn, Helene Carol Weldt-Basson, etc.)
- French translations (selected works)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- Neobaroquemagical realismmultiperspectivity
- Recurring Motifs
- collective memorydictatorship and powerexileGuaraní bilingualism
Health
-
heart attack2005-04-26Died of a heart attack in 2005
Legacy
Roa Bastos is regarded as Paraguay's most important writer and a representative figure of the dictator novel and Neobaroque style in Latin America. His exile experience and bilingualism influenced writers nationally and internationally.
In Popular Culture
- Influence on Latin American literary history and film screenwriting
Quotes
-
"When I left for that war I dreamed of purification in the fire of battles."
Source: Autobiographical recollection / interview
Trivia
- Donated most of his Cervantes Prize money to improve access to books in Paraguay.
- Served in the Chaco War in the 1930s; the experience influenced his writing.
- Wrote many of his major works while in exile in Argentina.