page_title: Salvadoran literature
section_title: Costumbrismo and introspection
hierarchical_section_title: Salvadoran literature / 20th-century literature / Costumbrismo and introspection
caption_attribution_description: Español: Arturo Ambrogi (1874-1936) escritor salvadoreño.
context_page_description: During the colonial period, literature flourished in the Iberian metropolis; in the American colonies there was also a remarkable cultivation of the arts, especially architecture, fine arts, and music. There were significant barriers, however, to a comparable emergence in literature. Religious authorities zealously controlled the lives of recent converts to Christianity, insisting that literary expression be in the service of faith and under their careful scrutiny. Despite this, an important secular literary tradition emerged in the viceregal courts of Mexico and Lima. This literature tended to imitate the metropolitan canons, though occasionally nourished an original and memorable voice like that of Mexican poet Juana Inés de la Cruz.
  The Salvadorean territory was far from the centers of culture. Literature may have enjoyed popularity among small circles of educated criollos, but there is little evidence of this. What evidence does exist confirms that literary development was sporadic, ephemeral, and even accidental.
context_section_description: The Salvadoran literary scene, which had previously embodied a cosmopolitan aesthetic spirit, was poorly equipped to deal with the country's new political reality.  As a result, different manners of portraying local customs and everyday life arose, whether satirical or analytic, and writers began to turn their attention to matters previously neglected in literary expression.  One major writer in the costumbrismo tradition was General José María Peralta Lagos (1873-1944), Minister of War under Manuel Enrique Araujo and, under the nom de plume T.P. Mechín, a very popular author of polemics and social satire.  His narrative works and his drama Candidato humorously depict typical aspects of provincial life. Other important costumbristas included Francisco Herrera Velado and Alberto Rivas Bonilla.
  The popularity of writing about everyday life went hand in hand with the growing importance of journalism.  The rise of journalism meant more independent writing, and consequently more writing critical of the state of affairs in the county.  Journalists also engaged in persuasive political writing.  Alberto Masferrer (1868-1932), for example, wrote many political essays, which—though more political than artistic in nature—contributed to the changing literary trends of the era.
  In this era, aesthetic concerns were generally subordinate to ideological concerns.  This was not the case, however, for Arturo Ambrogi (1985-1936), who was the most read, most prestigious writer in El Salvador.  He published many literary portraits and chronicles, culminating in the 1917 El libro del trópico. Ambrosi's originality lay in his thematic shift toward traditions native to El Salvador and his synthesis of literary language and vernacular dialect.
  The representation of popular speech was often present in costumbrista works, providing local color and typifying ignorant characters. Ambrogi's approach was novel: he showed the literary possibilities of popular speech, suggesting the merit of vernacular culture.  The lyric work of poet Alfredo Espino (1900-1928), popular themes and language were similarly transformed into poetic material.  While his poetry may seem anachronistic and puerile to modern readers, his work was thus important in Salvadoran literary history.  The first decades of the 20th century were important because they marked the change from Europeanized, elite literary culture to a more inclusive national literary culture, which made reference to the native to define itself.
caption: Arturo Ambrogi.
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