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One Hundred Years

of Solitude
Historical Background

Submitted to:

Prof. Aamir Zahoor

English Department,
Institute of Southern Punjab,
Multan.

Submitted by:

Sohail Imran Khan

M.Phil English (2020-2022)
Historical Background

One Hundred Years of Solitude is the most remarkable novel of Latin American
culture. Written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, this work has been described as a
masterpiece of magical realism. 
 
In an exhaustive work of imagination, Gabriel Garcia Marquez tells the story of
seven generations of the Buendía family, a family condemned to solitude. This
novel is considered as the most read & most translated literary piece of Latin
American Literature. 
 
 
Gabriel Garcia Marquez wrote the novel One Hundred Years of Solitude between
1965 and 1966 in Mexico City. Gacria thought of writing this novel in 1952 when
he made a trip to his native town, Aracataca, along with his mother. In his first
book, The Leaf Litter, he refers to Macondo for the first time, and several of the
characters in this work appear in some of his previous stories and novels as well. 

Gabriel Garcia Marquez initially sent his novel One Hundred Years of Solitude for
publishing to Carlos Barral, who was the leading publisher in Spanish Seix
Barral of Barcelona. Carlos refused to publish the novel as he considered it to be a
failure. After the initial rejection, Garcia Marquez sent the manuscript to
the Editorial Sudamericana in Buenos Aires, where Francisco Porrúa, its director,
decided to publish it immediately.

Garcia has added his personal experiences in the events of this novel. Many of the
characters of this novel resemble that of his own family.

To understand the historical context, we should turn the leaves of history. Garcia
lived in a Columbia that was torn apart by civil war, military takeovers, foreign
interventions & failed bloody revolutions. 

Political turmoil was ravaging the 19th-century Colombia. The two main parties,
Liberal and Conservative, were fighting for their control of the country. Their
differences were political, but instead of resolving them democratically, they took
to the streets. Polarization heightened, ultimately lading to the anarchy in the
country.
Two parties fought a lot of wars against each other for gaining power, but the most
violent one was the Columbia civil war from 1899 to 1902, which resulted in
100,000 deaths.

The next phase of violence in Colombia started after the assassination of mayor of
Bogota. Lawlessness spread across the country , ultimately leading the military to
overthrow the liberal Govt and take over. General Gustavo Rojas became the first
military dictator of the Colombia. General Rojas was ruthless dictator who
dissolved the congress & silenced every dissenting voice. It was during his regime
that Garcia had to flee the country for writing a critical article against the regime.

This is the historical context that set the stage for this novel by Gabriel Garcia. The
novelist has marvelously painted this civil, social & political anarchy in this novel
One Hundred Years of Solitude, especially in the character of Colonel Aureliano
Buendia.
 

Sohail Imran Khan

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