Venezuelan literature can be traced to

pre-Hispanic In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, ...

times with the myths and

oral literature Oral literature, orature or folk literature is a genre of literature that is spoken or sung as opposed to that which is written, though much oral literature has been transcribed. There is no standard definition, as anthropologists have used var ...

that formed the cosmogonic view of the world that indigenous people had. Some of these stories are still known in Venezuela. Like many

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived ...

n countries, the Spanish conquerors have had the greatest effect on both the culture and the literature. The first written documents by the Spanish colonizers are considered to be the origin of Venezuela's written literature. This has included chronicles, letters, acts, etc. Venezuela's first major writer was

Andrés Bello Andrés de Jesús María y José Bello López (; November 29, 1781 – October 15, 1865) was a Venezuelan- Chilean humanist, diplomat, poet, legislator, philosopher, educator and philologist, whose political and literary works constitute an ...

. Venezuelan literature developed in the 19th century with the formation of Venezuela as a nation state and the political conflicts of the time between conservatives and liberals. Notable works include ''

Venezuela Heroica ''Venezuela Heroica: Cuadros históricos'' is a Venezuelan novel. It was written by Eduardo Blanco and published in 1881, with an expanded second edition in 1883. It is Blanco's main work, and presents a classic romantic view of history as an epi ...

'' (1881), by Eduardo Blanco, on the

Venezuelan War of Independence The Venezuelan War of Independence ( es, Guerra de Independencia de Venezuela, links=no, 1810–1823) was one of the Spanish American wars of independence of the early nineteenth century, when independence movements in Latin America fought agai ...

. In the 20th century, with the modernization and urbanization of Venezuela thanks to the economic boom provided by

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

, some of its finest writers were: Teresa de la Parra,

Rómulo Gallegos Rómulo Ángel del Monte Carmelo Gallegos Freire (2 August 1884 – 5 April 1969) was a Venezuelan novelist and politician. For a period of nine months during 1948, he governed as the first freely elected president in Venezuela's history. He was ...

Arturo Uslar Pietri Arturo Uslar Pietri (16 May 1906 in Caracas – 26 February 2001) was a Venezuelan intellectual, historian, writer, television producer, and politician. Life Born on 16 May 1906 in Caracas, Venezuela, his parents were generalSantos Himiob ...

Salvador Garmendia Salvador Garmendia Graterón (11 June 1928, Barquisimeto – 13 May 2001, Caracas) was a notable Venezuelan author, awarded in 1972 with the National Prize for Literature. In 1989 received the Juan Rulfo Prize for ''Tan desnuda como una pi ...

. Gallegos' ''

Doña Bárbara ''Doña Bárbara (Lady Bárbara)'' is a novel by Venezuelan author Rómulo Gallegos, first published in 1929. It was described in 1974 as "possibly the most widely known Latin American novel".Shaw, Donald, "Gallegos' Revision of Doña Bárbara ...

'' (1929) was described in 1974 as "possibly the most widely known Latin American novel".Shaw, Donald, "Gallegos' Revision of Doña Bárbara 1929-30, ''Hispanic Review'' 42(3), Summer 1974, p265 The

National Prize for Literature A National Prize for Literature ( es, Premio Nacional de Literatura) is a kind of award offered by various countries. Examples include: * National Prize for Literature (Argentina) * National Literary Awards, Burma * National Prize for Literature ( ...

, awarded annually, was established in 1948, with Uslar Pietri the only writer to win twice in the first five decades.

Rafael Cadenas Rafael Cadenas (born 8 April 1930 Barquisimeto, Lara) is a Venezuelan poet and essayist. Career He taught for many years at the Central University of Venezuela. He received the National Prize for Literature (1985), Guadalajara's Internationa ...

and

Eugenio Montejo Eugenio Montejo (1938 in Caracas – 5 June 2008 in Valencia) was a Venezuelan poet and essay writer, founder of the literary magazine Azar and co-founder of Revista Poesía, a poetry magazine published by the University of Carabobo. He was re ...

are among the best known poets of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century. In the 21st century, with the Venezuelan refugee crisis, migration has become a predominant topic in Venezuelan literature. Many Venezuelan writers live and publish outside the country, notably in Spain, the USA and other parts of Latin America.

References

External links

País Portátil: Contemporary Venezuelan Literature and Arts
{{DEFAULTSORT:Venezuelan Literature Latin American literature by country South American literature Spanish-language literature

See also

References

External links