''Don Segundo Sombra'' is a 1926 novel by

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, ...

rancher

Ricardo Güiraldes Ricardo Güiraldes (13 February 1886 — 8 October 1927)Escuela Normal Superior de Chascomús was an Argentine novelist and poet, one of the most significant Argentine writers of his era, particularly known for his 1926 novel ''Don Segundo Sombra ...

. Like

José Hernández José Hernández may refer to: Arts and entertainment * José Hernández (writer) (1834–1886), Argentine writer * Pepe Hern (José Hernández Bethencourth, 1927–2009), American actor * José Hernández, American singer (born 1940), better known ...

's poem ''

Martín Fierro ''Martín Fierro'', also known as ''El Gaucho Martín Fierro'', is a 2,316-line epic poem by the Argentine writer José Hernández. The poem was originally published in two parts, ''El Gaucho Martín Fierro'' (1872) and ''La Vuelta de Martín Fi ...

'', its protagonist is a

gaucho A gaucho () or gaúcho () is a skilled horseman, reputed to be brave and unruly. The figure of the gaucho is a folk symbol of Argentina, Uruguay, Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, and the south of Chilean Patagonia. Gauchos became greatly admired and ...

. However, unlike Hernandez's poem, ''Don Segundo Sombra'' does not romanticize the figure of the gaucho, but simply examines the character as a shadow (''sombra'') cast across Argentine history. Unlike the character of Martin Fierro, who is purely a fictional creation, Don Segundo Sombra was loosely based and inspired by the real life of Segundo Ramírez, a native of the town of San Antonio de Areco, in Buenos Aires Province. The novel made it to the big screen in the 1969 Argentine film of the same name, directed by Manuel Antín. Ricardo Güiraldes, who was a friend and literary partner of

Jorge Luis Borges Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo (; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, as well as a key figure in Spanish-language and international literature. His best-known b ...

–they both founded the legendary magazine ''Proa'' –, managed to develop a simple and modern language for the novel: a high quality mixture of literacy and colourful local expressions that earned him a major standing among the best representatives of " criollismo". Even though it may be considered as having a continuity of sorts with '"Martin Fierro"', the protagonist is more than an extinguished gaucho elegy (like José Hernández's character is); instead, ''Don Segundo Sombra'' was designed to present (or propose) a series of new ethical examples to a youth that Güiraldes considered disoriented and restless during his time.

References

External links

* * 1926 novels Argentine novels adapted into films Argentine novels Sombra Sombra Novels set in Argentina {{1920s-novel-stub