Gonzalo Arango
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Gonzalo Arango Arias (
Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...
, Antioquia, 1931 – Gachancipá, Cundinamarca, 1976) was a Colombian writer, poet, and journalist. In 1958 he led a modern literary and cultural movement known as
Nadaísmo Nadaism ( es, Nadaísmo, meaning "Nothing-ism" in English) was an artistic and philosophical counterculture movement in Colombia prevalent from 1958 to 1964. The movement was founded by writer Gonzalo Arango and was influenced by nihilism, existen ...
(Nothing-''ism''), inspired by surrealism, French existentialism, beat generation, dadaism, and influenced by the Colombian writer and philosopher Fernando González Ochoa. Arango's life was characterized by large contrasts and contradictions, from an open atheism to an intense spirituality. Those contrasts can be observed ''between the Primer manifiesto nadaísta (1958), or Prosas para leer en la silla eléctrica'' (1965''),'' and his last writings. He was a strong critic of the society of his time and in his works he left many important ideas and proposals. He was planning to move to
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
with his last wife, the British Angela Mary Hickie, but ended his life in a car accident in 1976.


Life

Gonzalo Arango was born in
Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...
, a town of the Antioquian South-Eastern region in 1931, in a period known in
Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...
as the liberal government that had to face the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
. It was also the time of Constitutional and social reforms such as those intended by president Alfonso López Pumarejo. When he was an adolescent he saw the falling of the country into a bloody fight between the two traditional political parties, after
El Bogotazo El Bogotazo (from "Bogotá" and the ''-azo'' suffix of violent augmentation) refers to the massive riots that followed the assassination in Bogotá, Colombia of Liberal leader and presidential candidate Jorge Eliécer Gaitán on 9 April 1948 ...
of April 9, 1948, a period of violent civil wars that was triggered by the murder of the presidential candidate
Jorge Eliécer Gaitán Jorge Eliécer Gaitán Ayala (23 January 1903 – 9 April 1948) was a left-wing Colombian politician and charismatic leader of the Liberal Party. He served as the mayor of Bogotá from 1936–37, the national Education Minister from 194 ...
. The
Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
in Colombia possessed the control of education, following the Colombian Constitution of 1886, and exerted a great authority over political, cultural and social matters, such as in the censorship of all intellectual material produced in the nation. One of the works by philosopher Fernando González Ochoa, "''Viaje a pie''" was forbidden by the
Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdio ...
of
Medellín Medellín ( or ), officially the Municipality of Medellín ( es, Municipio de Medellín), is the second-largest city in Colombia, after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central re ...
, in 1929, under death penalty. This social and political context promoted his growing as a thinker and writer, and would influence Arango's work. Arango was the last son of the 13 children of Francisco Arango (known as Don Paco) and Magdalena Arias. Don Paco was the telegraphist of the town, and his mother was a housewife.


His beginning as a writer

In 1947 he began to study
Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
in the
University of Antioquia The University of Antioquia ( es, Universidad de Antioquia), also called UdeA, is a public, departmental, coeducational, research university located primarily in the city of Medellín, Antioquia, Colombia, with regional campuses in Amalfi, Andes ...
, but three years later he left the studies to devote himself to writing, starting with his first work "''Después del hombre''" (After the Man). About this time the poet Eduardo Escobar wrote:


The work: miscellany of genres

Gonzalo Arango ventures into different genres: autobiography, prose of ideas, literary criticism, comments, essays, prologues, letters, journalism, poetry, diverse narrative works, theater, chronicles, profiles, memories, notes, and reports. In Felipe Restrepo David words, -a studious of his work-, Arango stands out for a literature of ideas, for a narrative thought. His legacy is an essential work, "made of metaphors and thoughts," and "reflexive force and poetry." 


Gustavo Rojas Pinilla

On June 13, 1953, General
Gustavo Rojas Pinilla Gustavo Rojas Pinilla (12 March 1900 – 17 January 1975) was a Colombian Army general, civil engineer and dictator who ruled as 19th President of Colombia as from June 1953 to May 1957. Rojas Pinilla gained prominence as a colonel during L ...
led a bloodless Coup d'etat to the authoritarian conservative president
Laureano Gómez Laureano Eleuterio Gómez Castro (20 February 1889 – 13 July 1965) was a Colombian politician and civil engineer who served as the 18th President of Colombia from 1950 to 1953. In November 1951 poor health led him to cede presidential pow ...
intending to bring peace to the country, after many years of civil war between liberals and conservatives. The Assembly that replaced the
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
, composed mostly of
conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
, re-elected him for the next presidential period until 1958. The Rojas coup was seen by many as a possible solution to the political crisis, the violence in the country, and as an alternative to the extense monopole of the two traditional national parties. Young Arango was in those days a Rojas supporter, joining the ''Movimiento Amplio Nacional - MAN'' (National Wide Movement), composed of artists, writers, and young intellectuals. In this period, Arango devoted himself to journalism and literature. Soon, however, the reaction of conservative and liberal leaders against Rojas Pinilla was manifested in an agreement that caused his fall on May 10, 1957. While the dictator was exiled in
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...
, Gonzalo Arango fled to Chocó.


Creation of Nadaísmo

After his trip to Chocó he took refuge in the city of
Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,227,642 residents according to the 2018 census. The city spans with of urban area, making Cali the second ...
, with a very poor and limited lifestyle, - as he writes in many letters to Alberto Aguirre. He started in 1957 to give form to the Nadaism ideas, that were expressed in the Primer Manifiesto nadaísta, published in
Medellín Medellín ( or ), officially the Municipality of Medellín ( es, Municipio de Medellín), is the second-largest city in Colombia, after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central re ...
in 1958. At the same time,he questioned himself deeply: The first writers to join the new movement were Alberto Escobar, Guillermo Trujillo and Amílcar Osorio, and as an inauguration they burned, in 1958, in Plazuela de San Ignacio of Medellín, some of the official Colombian literature, as a symbol against what they considered the traditional masterpieces of a poor and official Colombian literature. And one of the books included was Arango's own first work, "After the Man". The following year the Nadaists sabotaged the First Congress of Catholic Intellectuals in Medellín, and Arango was imprisoned in the same city. There he received the visit of Fernando González Ochoa, the philosopher of Otraparte, and one of his first admirators. In 1963 he published a poetic anthology of thirteen Nadaists and wrote different articles for ''La Nueva Prensa'' and other journals.


Nadaísmo (Nothing-ism)

The ''Nadaísmo'' movement continues to be a matter of study and big interest, as it was an authentic literary and cultural revolution in Colombia. A bohemian, intellectual and artistic movement with important proposals. ''Nadaísmo'' was Gonzalo Arango's creation and inspiration, and his goal was "not leaving intact any faith or any idol in place," according to the Primer Manifiesto nadaísta. The Movement was deeply entrenched in the 1960s and attracted young talented writers, painters, and artists of the time who created a strong mouvement in Colombia, with new poetry, novels, short stories, theatre, painting, drawing, publicity and journalism. Nadaists manifested its inconformity against the social order of the time, under the rule of the two Colombian traditional political parties: Liberal and Conservative; his antagonism with a very rigid and conservative social structure; against the bourgeois ways of thinking and living; and opposed to revolutions with totalitarian aims. It was thought by its own founder as ended, at the beginning of the 1970s, but was vigorously continued by other nadaist writers, as the poet Eduardo Escobar, even until modern times. The poet who wrote manifests and diatribes against Catholic writers, ended in a profound spirituality. However, the movement is still alive in the interest, reading and writing of many youngsters, and with the editions of their works by Corporación Otraparte and Eafit University. Gonzalo Arango was also a journalist and he participated in different newspapers and magazines within his country: El Tiempo, El Espectador, El Siglo, ''Nueva Prensa'', ''Cromos Magazine'', and ''Corno Emplumado'' (
México Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatem ...
) and ''Zona Franca'' (
Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
). He published also the ''Nadaism'' magazine and the antology of 13 Nadaist poets.


Works

* (1958) Primer manifiesto nadaísta (Manifiesto) * (1959) Los camisas rojas (Manifiesto) * (1959) Primer manifiesto vallecaucano (Manifiesto) * (1960) Mensaje bisiesto a los intelectuales colombianos (Manifiesto) * (1960) Exposición radiantiva de la poesía nadaísta (Manifiesto) * (1960) Nada bajo el cielo raso (Teatro) * (1960) HK-111 (Teatro) * (1961) El manifiesto de los escribanos católicos (Manifiesto) * (1962) El mensaje a los académicos de la lengua (Manifiesto) *(1962) Sonata metafísica para que bailen los muertos (poesía) * (1963) Sexo y saxofón (Cuento. Reflexiones de intimidad, prosa y poesía) * (1963) Las promesas de Prometeo (Manifiesto) * (1963) 13 poetas nadaístas (Antología poética) * (1963) De la nada al nadaísmo (Antología poética) * (1964) Los ratones van al infierno (Teatro) * (1964) Consagración de la nada (Teatro) * (1964) Medellín a solas contigo. (Prosa poética). * (1966) Prosas para leer en la silla eléctrica. (Prosa, ficción, memorias, cuento, historias). * (1967) El terrible 13 manifiesto nadaísta (Manifiesto) * (1968) El oso y el colibrí. (Prosa de ideas.Incluye correspondencia con Evtushenko, crítica literaria, notas, semblanzas.). * (1967) Boom contra Pum Pum (una revisión de
Gabriel García Márquez Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter, and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one ...
) * (1972) Providencia (Prosa y poesía) * (1974) Fuego en el altar (Prosa y poesía) * (1974) Obra Negra (cartas, diatribas, reflexiones, poesía) * (1980) Correspondencia violada ( Memorias y cartas) * (1985) Adangelios * (1991) Memorias de un presidiario nadaísta (Memorias, autobiografía y reflexiones) * (1993) Reportajes * (2006) Cartas a Aguirre 1953-1965 * (2015) Cartas a Julieta


References


External links


Gonzalo Arango


*Escobar, Eduardo. Correspondencia violada. Bogotá: Instituto colombiano de cultura, 1989. *Escobar, Eduardo. Gonzalo Arango. Bogotá: Procultura, 1980. *Escobar, Eduardo. Nadaísmo crónico y demás epidemias. Bogotá: Arango Editores, 1991. {{DEFAULTSORT:Arango, Gonzalo Colombian journalists University of Antioquia alumni 20th-century Colombian poets 20th-century journalists People from Antioquia Department 1931 births 1976 deaths