In this title of Libros al Viento (issue No. 140), Fables of Tamalameque (1990) by Manuel Zapata Olivella (1920-2004), the author devoted some time to cultivate this ancient and demanding literary genre for the very first and exclusive time.
Zapata Olivella, however, differs both from his Greek predecessors, Aesop, Fedro, and Babrio, as well as from the European tradition of the 17th and 18th centuries, represented by Jean de La Fontaine, Tomás de Iriarte, and Félix María Samaniego, in two key aspects fundamental: Firstly, each fable can be read as if it were a chapter of a more complex story, so they become, in turn, a children’s novel: the meeting of all the animals to agree upon peace among each other, which, at the moment, was a Colombian-related subject that was part of the national agenda by the time this book was initially written. Secondly, this fable is provided with geographic location, including native plant species and animals from the Tamalameque region, in Cesar. It also includes some descriptions of the local culture.
In this title of Libros al Viento (issue No. 140), Fables of Tamalameque (1990) by Manuel Zapata Olivella (1920-2004), the author devoted some time to cultivate this ancient and demanding literary genre for the very first and exclusive time.
Zapata Olivella, however, differs both from his Greek predecessors, Aesop, Fedro, and Babrio, as well as from the European tradition of the 17th and 18th centuries, represented by Jean de La Fontaine, Tomás de Iriarte, and Félix María Samaniego, in two key aspects fundamental: Firstly, each fable can be read as if it were a chapter of a more complex story, so they become, in turn, a children’s novel: the meeting of all the animals to agree upon peace among each other, which, at the moment, was a Colombian-related subject that was part of the national agenda by the time this book was initially written. Secondly, this fable is provided with geographic location, including native plant species and animals from the Tamalameque region, in Cesar. It also includes some descriptions of the local culture.
