Una ráfaga de oro
Cubagua de Enrique Bernardo Núñez
abstract
Cubagua, published in Paris in 1931 by the Venezuelan historian and writer Enrique Bernardo Núñez (Caracas, 1895-1964), is still well-known in his native country decades later, and today it is considered a canonical text. A novel of multiple identities – historical, meta-historical, colonial, postcolonial and postmodern –, its author writes and rewrites the history of that small island of the Venezuelan Caribbean, a centre for pearl exploitation during colonial times. The analysis of this novel explores some aspects of its aesthetic and cultural singularity, such as the fluctuating discourse between Myth and History, among others, in order to demonstrate its vibrant currency as a foundational text of Latin American culture.
Keywords: Cultural memory • Enrique Bernardo Núñez • Poetic language • Pearls exploitation • Venezuelan literature