Narrative and National Allegory in Rómulo Gallegos's Venezuela

<p>Venezuela's preeminent educator politician and most important author Rómulo Gallegos (1884-1969) left a lasting imprint on how Venezuelans conceive of their national history and identity. Jenni Lehtinen offers the first full-length study of Gallegos's later Venezuelan novels <em>Canaima </em>(1935) <em>Pobre negro </em>(1937) and <em>Sobre la misma tierra</em> (1943) which have been up to now eclipsed by the critical attention devoted to <em>Doña Bárbara</em> (1929). By combining close-readings organized around national allegory and narrative structure with discussions about Gallegos's socio-political essays the study reveals previously ignored radical developments in the Venezuelan author's ideologies. Through her bold reinterpretation of the later novels Lehtinen reveals Gallegos as a far more innovative writer than has been traditionally appreciated. </p>