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María Luisa Bombal, author of The Tree, was one of the “Most Important Latin American Novelists of the twentieth century” (Rosenberg). Contrary to the strong masculine influences of Latin America during her lifetime, Bombal wrote from a female perspective and highlighted the feminist issues of the time. Her stories centered around female protagonists who were often caught in boring, loveless marriages. Bombal used poetic language, symbolism, and flashbacks to give the reader a glimpse into the fantasies of the women who had to mentally escape from their unfulfilled everyday lives.
Timeline
María Luisa Bombal was born on June 8, 1910 in Viña del Mar, Chile, where she spent her early years.
At thirteen years old, after the death of her father, she, her mother, and her two siblings moved to Paris where she lived among other wealthy latin americans and studied at the Sorbonne. After spending years studying English theater and French literature Bombal graduated from the University with a thesis on the nineteenth-century French writer Mérimée (Gale).
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In 1932 Bombal returned to Chile and remained there two years before moving to her home in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In Argentina María joined a literary group named the “boom” which also included the publisher of a popular magazine Sur. Bombal spent a few years working for the magazine which published some of her short stories and novels. During this time she also wrote her first novella and shared an apartment with the Nobel Prize winning Chilean poet Pablo Neruda and his wife.
In 1941 Bombal took a trip to America where she met numerous famous writers. After returning to Buenos Aires from her trip Bombal published El Arbol as well as Las Islas Nuevas in Sur. During that same year María Luisa moved back to Chile where she shot and seriously injured her boyfriend in broad daylight in the middle of a Santiago street. This crime of passion fueled a public opinion that classified her as a bizarre and according to Bernardita Llanos who wrote about Bombal in Passionate Subjects/ Split Subjects in Twentieth Century Literature in Chile she was known as a “bohemian and a dangerous femme fatale. . . accompanied by princesslike qualities”. This strong image not only influenced her work but overshadowed it at times. She was jailed and upon release was banned from Chile and moved to the United States to avoid the political turmoil in Argentina. She spent the next 30 years of her life living in New York where she published the English translations of a few of her books. In bad health, and after the death of her husband, she was able to return to Chile for the last few years of her life. These years were spent entirely different from her younger years among the elite in Paris. María Luisa Bombal passed away in Santiago on May 6, 1980 in the common room of a public hospital. Bombal had spent her final days in a nursing home without the support or recognition that a writer of her importance would have normally received (Llanos).
Awards
Throughout her life Bombal earned numerous awards for her writing. Among them the Premio Municipal de Novella in 1941, the Ricardo Latchman award in 1974, and the Premio Academia Chilena de la Lengua in 1978. Although she never won the Chilean National Prize in Literature she was considered numerous times. María Luisa Bombal was among the most influential Chilean writers and a pioneer in surrealist literature in Latin America. During her life Bombal did not achieve significant fame but her work grew in popularity as years past and the feminist movement grew. Her works also became more popular, especially in the United States after New Islands was published in English in 1982.
Themes
Bombal was a feminist writer who wrote much of her literature about the suffrage of women in Latin America. Even though she lived in Argentina and Chile during times of great political unrest, her writing was not directly influenced by politics the way much of the literature was during this period. Instead, María Luisa focused on the social issues that many women were much too afraid to write about. It is thought that her social class and stature made her able to write about these things. When writing about women’s issues in Latin American culture Bombal often focused on the ideology surrounding the marriage contract and the struggle of deciding between the traditional housewife lifestyle and the one of the modern working woman. Most of the protagonists in Bombals writing are at this crossroads and are forced to choose between modernity and traditionalism (Llanos). This common theme holds true in The Tree. Brigida is faced with the decision of remaining in a traditional, loveless marriage where she is thought of as an object, a “necklace of birds”, or to break free from the traditional ways and become a more modern woman who can take care of herself. The Tree, like most of Bombal’s famous pieces tells this story by giving the reader a glimpse into the world of the protagonist, which means that the writings are from an exclusively female point of view. This was a relatively new concept for it’s time, especially in a collectivistic Latin American culture. Even though her writing did not reflect political issues the culture and time period greatly influences the themes that María chose to focus on.
Style
María Luisa Bombal was a surrealist author. Surrealism, the trend in literature at the time, was just beginning to make its way into Latin America when Bombal returned from Paris. This style was revolutionary for its time and was reflected in most of Bombal’s writing. The Tree for example uses flashbacks and poetic language to reflect the thoughts of the protagonist during a dream-like state. This unique point of view allows us to understand the thoughts of the protagonist while still leaving us with some sense of mystery. The symbol of the tree greatly supports this “glimpse into the unconscious” point of view. In this story the tree, which represents the male influence in her life not only serves as a barrier between Bridgida and the real world, but gives her a place to escape to. The flowery language used to describe the tree and the place that it creates supports the fantasy place that Brigita must escape to in order to deal with her miserable relationship. When the tree is finally cut down Bridgita is forced to deal with the real world as well as the reality of her life. This use of symbolism is common throughout Bombal’s pieces and supports the dream like nature while supporting her feminist themes.
Conclusion
María Luisa Bombal, like many famous literary figures, led a strange life that greatly influenced her writing. Born in a resort community in Chile and raised among the elite in Paris, Bombal did not have to face the issues that many Latin American women would at the time. This status may have made it possible for her to feel safe sharing the feminist perspective that was looked over so often in her male dominated collectivist society. Her unique style allowed her to share her message in such a way that the reader can step into the shoes of her protagonists and better understand their internal conflicts. A truly revolutionary writer, Bombal may have not been overly famous during her life, but will continue to be remembered as an important Latin American literary figure for years to come.
María Luisa Bombal – One Of The Most Important Latin American Novelists Of The Twentieth Century. (2024, Feb 20). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/maria-luisa-bombal-one-of-the-most-important-latin-american-novelists-of-the-twentieth-century-essay
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