Chronicle of Gold Mining in Colombia: From the Mountain to the Text

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Published: Sep 17, 2018
Keywords:
Antioquia literature, Natural resources, Resource conflict, mining literature, Neoliberalism

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Juan Felipe Hernández Gómez
University of British Columbia

Abstract

This article discusses the literary history of the gold-producing town Marmato, Colombia. Taking my cue from novels such as Tierra virgen (1897) by Eduardo Zuleta and La Bruja de las Minas (1938) by Gregorio Sanchez, I offer an overview that follows the evolution of mining literature in Colombia by tracing its historical and cultural specificities. I put forward the term “Tropical Mining” to categorize some of these historic and cultural specificities. I conclude by offering a reading of the documentary Marmato (2014) which departing from “tropical mining” depicts a complex field of actors as they vie for acknowledgement and power using new means and techniques.

Article Details

Issue
Vol. 51 (2018)
Section
Articles
Author Biography

Juan Felipe Hernández Gómez, University of British Columbia

He is a PhD student at the University of British Columbia, Canada. His project investigates the narratives of mineral extraction or mining literature in Latin America with emphasis on the Andean subregion. By analyzing texts forgotten by critics, his project reevaluates social and historical aspects as well as non-material and ecological processes in relation to the mineral, the dominant ideology of writers interested in the subject and the affects of extraction about miners and writers.