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La Avellaneda’s Sab and the Political Situation in Cuba

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

Edith L. Kelly
Edith L. Kelly*
Affiliation:
Los Angeles, California
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Extract

The novel Sab by Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda may be considered one of the outstanding products of her early Cuban environment. The work was begun in 1836 or earlier (while the author was traveling with her family to Spain), completed by 1838, and first published in 1841. In order to prepare the way for a favorable reception of the novel in her native land, as well as on the continent, la Avellaneda submitted the first ten chapters in 1839 to a “compatriota” residing in Sevilla:

Type
Research Article
Information
The Americas , Volume 1 , Issue 3 , January 1945 , pp. 303 - 316
Copyright
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1945

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References

1 Rare Cuban books and source material for this article were furnished from the private library of Dr. Julio Villoldo, Conservador de la Academia Nacional de Artes y Letras de Cuba.

The following abbreviations have been used in this article:

“Apuntes biográficos”—“Doña Gertrudis Gómez Avellaneda de Sabater (sic) “Apuntes biográficos” in La Illustración Mexicana por I. Cumplido ([México], 1851), 424–428 Google Scholar. (This is a reprint of the same in La Ilustración Periódico Universal [Madrid, 1850], 351 ff. The former is more readable.)

González—, Castillo de Biografía de Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda y juicio crítico de sus obras por Aurelia Castillo de González (Habana, 1887)Google Scholar.

Cotarelo y Mori, Cotarelo—Emilio, La Avellaneda y sus obras (Madrid, 1930)Google Scholar.

Escoto—Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda, Cartas inéditas y documentos relativos a su vida en Cuba de 1859 a 1864. Colección ilustrada por José Agusto Escoto (Matanzas, 1911).

Figarola-Caneda—Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda, Biografía, bibliografía e iconografía, incluyendo muchas cartas, inéditas o publicadas, escritas por la gran poetisa o dirigidas a ella, y sus memorias por Domingo Figarola-Caneda, notas ordenadas y publicadas por Doña Emilia Boxhorn (Madrid, 1929).

Maestros—Los maestros de la cultura cubana (Ciclo de conferencias sintéticas celebrado del 6 de julio al 9 de agosto de 1940, Publicaciones del Ateneo de la Habana.)

Mellado—Diccionario universal de historia y de geografía, I (Madrid, 1846), “Doña Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda,” 261–262. (A reprint of the same was made: [Mexico, 1853] by Alamán,Andrade, et al, 379–380.)

Memorias—Memorias inéditas de la Avellaneda, anotadas por Domingo Figarola-Caneda (Habana. MCMXIV).

Obras—Obras de la Avellaneda, Edición nacional del Centenario, in 6 volumes (Habana, 1914).

Obras, VI—Autobiografía y cartas de la ilustre poetisa Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda con un prólogo y una necrología por D. Lorenzo Cruz de Fuentes … in Obras de la Avellaneda, VI(Habana, 1914), 103–281. (This is the second edition [“Corregida y aumentada”]—[Madrid,1914]. Cruz de Fuentes published the first edition under the title La Avellaneda … [Huelva,1907].)

Obras literarias—Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda, Obras literarias in 5 volumes (Madrid, 1869–1871).

Poesías—José María Heredia, Poesías completas … Emilio Roig de Leuchsenring, ed., I (Habana,1940), II (Habana, 1941).

Rodríguez García—José A. Rodríguez García, De la Avellaneda, Colección de artículos (Habana,1914).

2 “Durante mi permanencia en Francia [1836] … estando en Burdeos … comencé … minovelita Sab que me ocupaba en ratos de ocio.” (See “Apuntes biográficos,” 426.)

3 We are led to believe that she may have made an earlier sketch of the novel in Puerto Principe [Camagüey], judging from her statement to D. Ramón Betancourt, and upon which he comments in Prosa de mis versos (Barcelona, 1887): “Su preciosa novela ‘Sab’ la primera y más original de sus obras en mi humilde concepto, y que, según ella me dijo, empezó a escribir., adolescente aun, en el Camagüey.” (See Escoto. 72. One receives a similar impression from the comments of Luis Vidart in Obras literarias, V, 378.)

4 See notes 7 and 8 on next page.

5 José Antonio Saco, Domingo Delmonte, or Salustiano de Olózaga? La Avellaneda was more or less in contact with these Cuban statesmen during their sojourn in Spain, while they were working for certain reforms for Cuba. (See Escoto, 193, note 2.)

6 The remark was made to Cepeda in a letter dated: “Sevilla y Agosto 28, 1839.” (See Obras, VI, 167.)

7 The major part of the work was written in Galicia. See Mellado, 261, third column, and 262, first column. The most conclusive evidence of the time of completion is to be found in la Avellaneda’s announcement in the preface to Sab, “Dos palabras al lector,” in the second paragraph of which she states: “Tres años ha dormido esta novelita casi olvidada en el fondo de su papelera …”(There is a discrepancy as to the date of completion in one of the accounts, which we discount as an oversight in the arrangement of facts according to their sequence. On p. 426 of “Apuntes biográficos” one reads: “En fin, el año de 1840 me decidí a venirme a Madrid …” In a subsequent paragraph, p. 427: “En fin, había concluído mi novela Sab …”)

8 “En 1841 se imprimieron mi novelita Sab y la colección de mis composiciones líricas.” (See “Apuntes biográficos,” 427.)

9 La Avellaneda wrote to Cepeda (Sevilla, 29 de abril de 1840) : “Respecto a la novelita, aun antes de haber abierto suscripción (sic) tengo aqui 20 suscriptores, que, a los primeros rumores que corrieron de esto, fueron a sentar sus nombres en la imprenta de El Conservador, que es donde se hará la impresión … de Granada me escriben lo mismo los redactores de La Alhambra, que apenas ha corrido la voz de que iba a abrirse suscripción para una novelita de La Peregrina, cuando todos los socios de aquel Liceo habían acudido a sentar sus nombres; y de Málaga me dicen que tengo ya 12 suscriptores y 18 suscriptoras. Me dicen que el bello sexo malagueño está decidido en mi favor …” (See Obras, VI, 197.) (Contrary to the author’s original supposition, Sab was not published in Sevilla, but in Madrid.)

10 We know from the following remark that, as late as 1914, Cruz de Fuentes had not seen a copy of the novel: “Creemos con sobrado fundamento que no llegó a imprimirse en Sevilla, sino en Madrid, a fines del año siguiente o principios de 1842, pues D. Alberto Lista, a quien fué dedicada, acusaba a su autora el recibo de un ejemplar en carta fechada en Cádiz el 20 de Marzo de 1842, y hablando del libro le decía: ‘Sab me ha parecido un ensayo feliz, que promete a España un buen novelista.’” (See Obras, VI, 267, note 110.)

11 Op. cit., 404–406.

12 Op. cit., 392. The bibliographical description is followed by this comment: “No consta que la novela haya sido retirada del público por los parientes de la autora ni por nadie. En mi juventud recuerdo haberla vista en casi todos los baratillos de libros de Madrid.” (Also see ibid., 75, note I.)

13 (As there is no agreement between Rodríguez García and Cotarelo on certain minor points in the description, for example, punctuation, ours is only an approximation to the exact form.)Three reprints of Sab have appeared in the following chronological order: Serially in El Museo, II (Habana, 1883), 4–154. Obras, IV, [401]-541.

Biblioteca Latino-Americana / Dirigida por / Hugo D. Barbagelata / Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda / SAB / (Novela original) / … Paris, … Buenos-Aires … / [1920]. Red cloth. 18cm, 290 p. including Introduction and “Autobiografía.” (We are indebted to the Library of Congress for the opportunity to see this work.)

14 Obras literarias.

15 Castillo de González, 17, 68.

16 Figarola-Caneda, 77 S.

17 The date (1841!) is evidently an error. Although Sab was published in 1841, Dos mujeres did not appear until 1842. The correspondence composing the expediente took place in 1844 and 1845. Another discrepancy has to do with the number of copies of Dos mujeres in the shipment from Cádiz. In the last line of the paragraph quoted the number given is 72; in the body of the document (the letter dated: “14 de enero de 1845”), 73 seems to be the number (setentitres [sic]), according to the typed copy in our hands.

18 We have been supplied with a transcription of the legajo, and, more recently with a copy of the Boletín del Archivo Nacional, Tomo XL (La Habana, 1943), 103–108, in which the document appears.

19 The bibliographical description as given in the expediente is quaint: “Sab novela original en dos tomos á la rustica; ediccion de Madrid de 1.841. Ymprenta Calle del Barco No. 26.”

20 The objectionable features are described in the first letter: “[Sab y Dos mujeres] no pueden introducirse, pr. contener la primera doctrinas Subercivas (sic) del Sistema de esclavitud de esta Ysla, y contrarias á la moral y buenas costumbres …”

21 A copy of the letters composing the expediente is reproduced in the DOCUMENTS section, under the heading: EXPEDIENTE DONDE SE DECRETA LA RETENCION DE DOS OBRAS… etc.

22 La Avellaneda was influenced early (see her autobiographies) by Voltaire and Rousseau. Her adolescent emotions responded to the works of Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, Pope, Byron, Schiller, and many others. The liberal ideas of Madame de Staël and especially Chateaubriand’s Atala, may have had some immediate bearing upon Sab. The authors (mentioned in order of sequence) from whose works la Avellaneda quotes at the head of each chapter in Sab are: Cañizares, Gallego, Lista,Heredia (to whose influence on Sab we devote more space blow), Scott, Shakespeare, de Vigny. Lope de Vega, Labra, Quintana, García Gutiérrez, and Metastasio.

Sab falls more or less under the classification of the regional novel; it abounds in descriptions of the country around Cubitas, and is supplied with a glossary explaining the nomenclature of the fauna and flora typical of that part of the tropics. The approach to the work is from the artistic and subjective standpoints. Sab is therefore less of an historical novel than Uncle Tom’s Cabin or Cecilia Valdés.

23 Cecilia Valdés o la loma del ángel—novela de costumbres cubanas—P. Fernández y Cia. (La Habana, 1941). “Prólogo” by C. Villaverde (Nueva York, Mayo, 1879). In the prologue the author states: “Publiqué el primer tomo de esta novela en la Imprenta Literaria de don Lino Valdésa mediados del afio de 1839.”

24 UNCLE TOM’S CABIN; / or, / LIFE AMONG THE LOWLY. / By / Harriet Beecher Stowe. / … Vol. I. Boston: / John P. Jewett & Company. / Cleveland, Ohio: / Jewett, Proctor & Wbrthington. / 1852. / [On the reverse side of the title page it reads: Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851, by / Harriet Beecher Stowe. / In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the District of Maine….] (The title page of the “Key” [Boston, Cleveland, London, 1853], begins after page 166. Copy 169, a first edition, belongs to the City of Los Angeles Public Library.)

25 Obras, IV, 496. The quotation is a reflection of the author’s own outlook upon life. See her letter written in Sevilla, 1839, in which she remarks to Cepeda: “Juzgada por la sociedad, que no me comprende, y cansada de un género de vida que acaso me ridiculiza; superior e inferior a mi«exo, me encuentro extranjera en el mundo y aislada en la naturaleza.” Obras, VI, 159.

26 The following observation made by la Avellaneda in Sab is another bit of evidence of her awareness of the economic conditions in her native country and her desire to see Cuba progress through its own initiative:

“Sabido es que las riquezas de Cuba atraen en todo tiempo innumerables extranjeros, que con mediana industria y actividad no tardan en enriquecerse de una manera asombrosa para los indolentes isleños, que satisfechos con la fertilidad de su suelo, y con la facilidad con que se vive en un país de abundancia, se adormecen por decirclo asi, bajo un sol de fuego, y abandonan a la codicia y actividad de los europeos todos los ramos de agricultura, comercio e industria, con los cuales se levantan en corto número de años innumerables familias … Jorge Otway fué uno de los muchos hombres que se elevan de la nada en poco tiempo a favor de las riquezas en aquel pais nuevo y fecundo.” (See the opening lines of Chapter III of Sab.)

27 Obras, IV, $37.

28 In spite of treaties—the slave traffic was abolished in 1817—the traffic went on apace under cover:

“España hacia gala de sostener abiertemente la trata de negros violando los tratados de un modo sistemático, en cuya prática la sorprendió la actual Revolución [1851 hasta 1869].” (See La voz del precursor (Carlos Manuel de Céspedes), Editorial Cuba [Septiembre, 1937], 49.)

29 Obras, IV, 410.

30 Ibid., 535. (The problem in the novel Sab is similar to that in Tabaré by Juan Zorrilla de San Martin [Barcelona, 1920], except that in the latter the racial barrier lies in the aboriginal element. Dofia Luz asks doña Blanca in the Fifth Canto: “¿Estás pensando que son capaces de pasiones buenas esos seres, nacidos para esclavos?”)

31 Obras, IV, 412.

32 Ibid., 409.

33 Ibid., 487.

34 One of the factors influencing the exodus of la Avellaneda’s family from Cuba was the fear of the recurrence of a similar uprising near their home in Puerto Principe (now Camagüey). (See Obras, VI, 128, and the explanatory note 22 on p. 261.)

35 The cruel treatment of the Indians and the death of Chief Catmagüey were recounted in history and legend during la Avellaneda’s time.

36 Obras, IV, 457.

37 Ibid.

38 La sangre de libertos y de esclavos había corrido en abundancia; pero todos los linajudos criollos fueron exonerados de culpa.” (See Esténger, Rafael, Don Pepe, Retrato de un maestro de escuela [La Habana, 1940], 82 Google Scholar.

39 Is it possible that an early version written during her girlhood in Puerto Principe is the novel destroyed, according to one of her biographies? (See Mellado, 261: “A los 12 años de su edad Gertrudis, que era fanática admiradora de Quintana, escribía diariamente odas que por lo regular perecían quemadas al día siguiente por mano de su misma autora … También escribió por entonces una novela, y una tragedia, que tampoco la dejaron satisfecha, puesto que sufrieron igual suerte que las odas.” Perhaps there is some clue in this statement: “Tres años después Gertrudis escribía una nueva novela que no llegó a terminar, pero su principio, que corría de mano en mano, fué generalmente celebrado por sus conciudadanos.” Ibid. [The beginning of Sab is devoted to a minute description of the country around the Tinima.] Let the reader compare note 3, this article.)

40 Obras, VI, 141.

41 This preface has practically been neglected by La Avellaneda’s critics. Rodríguez García alludes to it in passing. See op. cit., 398.

42 Obras, IV [402], immediately following the title page of the novel.

43 Guatimozin and El cacique de Turmequé were both inspired by themes of Hispano América. The former work won international recognition. The following announcement appeared in Frank Leslie’s Illustrated News Paper, XVIII (New York, July 2, 1864), 227: “Señora de Avellaneda, a Cuban poetess of celebrity, is at present in this city. She has won a distinguished name in contemporary Spanish literature by her lyric and dramatic poetry, and by her romances, especially the historical one ‘Guatemotzin,’ the heroic defender of Mexican Independence against Hernando Cortez.” (We are indebted to Mr. Paul North Rice of the New York Public Library for this reference.)

44 La Avellaneda showed the novel to a compatriota in 1839; she took subscriptions for it in 1840. (See notes 5, 6, 7, and 9 of this article.)

45 It was one of la Avellaneda’s outstanding tendencies to revise her literary productions, if she felt that changes were in order. See Chacón y Calvo, José María. Ensayos de literatura cubana (Madrid, 1922), 210 Google Scholar: “Tuvo nuestra autora una consciencia plena de su arte, de su dignidad, de su desarrolo técnico. Fué por eso una incansable refundidora de sus producciones.” See also his study: “Tabla de variantes en las poesías líricas de la Avellaneda,” in Obras de la Avellaneda, VI (op. cit., note 1, this article), 281–475.

46 This posthumous work was not published until 1907; the second edition in 1914. See Obras, VI, Autobiografía y cartas … (op. cit., note 1, this article.) The letters are a key to a better understanding of Sab.

47 The following is a chronological list of criticisms on Sab: Pastor Diaz, Nicomedes, “Juicios críticos sobre las poesías de la Avellaneda,” in El Conservador (Madrid, 23 de enero de 1842)Google Scholar. (See Vidart’s, Luís review of the same in la Avellaneda’s Obras literarias, V, 378–379.Google Scholar) la Cruz, Manuel de, “Reseña histórica del movimiento literario de la Isla de Cuba,” in Revista Cubana, XIV (Habana, 1891), 435 Google Scholar. (This is reprinted in his Obras, III [Madrid, 1924–1926].) Aramburo y Machado, Mariano, Personalidad literaria de Doña Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda (Madrid, 1898). 188–190 Google Scholar. Piñeyro, Enrique, El romanticismo en España (Paris, [190?]), 252–253 Google Scholar. (See also “Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda,” in Hispanique, Bulletin, VI [Paris, 1904], 156.Google Scholar) José Varona, Enrique, “Discurso …” in Obras de la Avellaneda, I (Habana, 1914), xvii Google Scholar. García, Rodríquez (op. cit., 1914), 403 Google Scholar. Mitjans, Aurelio, Historia de la literatura cubana (Madrid, [1918?])Google Scholar, “Estudio sobre el movimiento científico y literario de Cuba,” 227. Barbagelata (op. cit., note 13, this article), 10 Google ScholarPubMed. Cotarelo y Mori (op. cit.), 75. For a list of articles in Cuban periodicals, which we have not been able to review, see Figarola-Caneda (op. cit., note 1, this article), 77–80. (The above list does not pretend to be an exhaustive one, but it is representative of the more important opinions on Sab.)

48 Particularly pertinent to the period in which we are interested are the contributions of Manuel Bisbé and Emilio Roig de Leuchsenring in Cuadernos de historia habanera … 24 (Municipio de la Habana, 1943), Los grandes movimientos politicos cubanos en la colonia, 2, lndepentismo: “Movimientos anteriores a 1868” and “De 1868 a 1901.” (We shall refer to this work below as Cuadernos.) For another useful survey of activities in Cuba see Maestros (op. cit., note 1, this article). The list of collaborators includes Monseñor M. Arteaga, Medardo Vitier, Roberto Agramóme, José M. Chacón y Calvo, Elias Entralgo, Juan Clemente Zamora, Félix Lizazo, Antonio Iraizoz, Juan J. Remos, Raul Maestri, Mariano Aramburo, and Jorge Mañach.

49 See Cuadernos, pp. 13, 20, 21, etc.

50 “… las poesías de Heredia no fueron desconocidas en Camagüey por la época en que residía la Avellaneda en él (sic), … a que el poeta hubo de hacer un viaje, con motivo de su carrera, lo cual era forzoso entonces para cuantos querían ejercer la profesión de abogado, porhallarse en Puerto Príncipe la Audiencia.” (See Rodríguez García, 231.)

51 “Todos los forasteros de distinción que llegaban a Puerto Príncipe, solicitaban ser introducidos en nuestra sociedad …” (See the letter to Cepeda, 25 por la mañana [Julio 1839], in Obras VI, 132 Google Scholar.)

52 Introducing the fifth chapter of Sab are verses from Heredia’s “En una tempestad.” (Poesias, II, 210.Google Scholar)

53 From Heredia’s “Placeres de la melancolía” in Poesías, II, 171.

54 See note 33 on page 309.

55 See Casals, Jorge, Plácido como poeta cubano. Cuadernos de Cultura, Sexta serie, 4, Publicaciones del Ministerio de Educación, Dirección de Cultura (La Habana, 1944), p. 67 Google Scholar.

56 Cuadernos (op. cit., note 48). p. 17.

57 “Examinando detenidamente los origines de la Revolución de Yara, podemos afirmar que de los unnumerables movimientos revolucionarios que han estallado, en distintos paises, pocos, habrán tenida una génesis más netamente civil, más ajena a toda ingerencia militar, que el movimiento capitaneado por Carlos Manuel de Céspedes en la noche de 9 a 10 de octubre de 1868.” (See Villoldo, Julio, “La República Civil,” Cuba Contemporánea, XVI [La Habana, 1918], 192 Google Scholar.)

58 See Escoto (op. cit.), 52–54, especially 193. See also Castillo de Gonzalez, 28–29.

59 Lithographs of Heredia, Delmonte, Varela, la Avellaneda, and others were placed by Mendive in Revista de Habana [1853?]. (See Sterling, Carlos Márquez, Marti, Maestro y Apóstol [La Habana, 1942], 59.Google Scholar)

60 El Siglo (“el gran órgano reformista”), of which el Conde de Pozos Dulces was director, published la Avellaneda’s so-called “carta patriótica.”

61 Album Cubano de lo Bueno y lo Bello, one volume, founded in 1860. (For a complete bibliography see Rodriguez García [439]-446; Escoto, 68–71.) La Avellaneda’s own contributions include among other things several articles on “La mujer,” literary reviews—one devoted to the Cuban poet Zenea. Among the collaborators were familiar names active in the timely problems of Cuba: Mendive, Milanés, Luisa P. de Zambrana, Emilio Blanchet, J. Fornaris, R. Zambrana, E. Castelar, E. de J. Borrero, E. Guiteras, D. del Monte (sic), and others. The titles of the articles are significant: “Del carácter y transcendencia de la educación popular,” “De la libertad moral,” “Los jóvenes,” “Instrucción pública,” “Pensamientos filosóficos y morales,” etc. (Our expression of thanks is due to Dr. Charles E. Babcock, Librarian of the Pan American Union, for furnishing certain data on this rare magazine.)

62 See Rafael Marquina, Gertrudis Gómez de Avelltmeda-La Peregrina (La Habana, 1939), 216–224.

63 See note 15, this article.