Augusto Roa Bastos

Author: Maria Kruk

Augusto Roa Bastos is a familiar name in Paraguay, especially in literature circles. He was a writer, a public figure, but, in fact, he is a man, who invested all his life experience to tell a real history, hidden under the novels' lines. Truth and compassion are those features that put Augusto Roa Bastos aside from other South-American writers, and the magnificence of his books is the result of authors' contradictions.
The life of Augusto Roa Bastos was full of hardships, which future author managed to use in literature. It is possible even to mention the number of jobs taken by Bastos, starting with a work on sugar plantations in childhood, then being soldier in Chaco War, a waiter and other low-paid jobs during an exile in Argentina, but at the same time he recommended himself as a good journalist and a writer, who had not been scared to tell the truth about peoples' troubles and feelings in course of sorrowful events of World War II and the following Cold War. They embraced the entire world, and, moreover, touched Augusto Roa Bastos, either during his trips to Western Europe or in native Paraguay. Those are the experience and personal observations the writer contributed to the plotlines of his novels. And it is an obvious reason to turn to his books.
Among literary achievements one should note that Augusto Roa Bastos was even awarded for unpublished book at the time. It refers to his Fulgencia Miranda, written in 1941. The best his novel I, the Supreme was published in 1991 although the author started it in late 1960s. The novel is about José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia, one of the first political despots in Paraguay history, and the book's title reflects politicians' idea about oneself. It took Bastos seven years to write it, and despite health problems, lack of public support and even a ban on publishing in Argentina in 1980s, the novel was finally allowed to be released. I, the Supreme is a masterpiece of Augusto Roa Bastos's entire life, which essentially derived public recognition.
Much of author's biography is related to Spain, France and England, where he lived and worked until political shifts in Paraguay in 1989. New President of Paraguay, deprived of despotism in internal policy, invited Bastos to return home. In 1990s the author was given back the Paraguayan citizenship, which might be considered the result of author's efforts on public arena. He won back the thing he had had rights on. And nowadays his books are freely sold in bookstores in Asuncion or anywhere else around Paraguay, as Augusto Roa Bastos is truly a major figure in Paraguay history and culture.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/history-articles/augusto-roa-bastos-6790211.html
About the Author
Maria Kruk, an author for VisitParaguay.net