Faustino Sarmiento was born in the early 1811 to become one of the greatest Argentine Latin America writers. Sarmiento was a political leader as well as a renowned writer of the late 18th century. Ideally, he burned the line cutting between writing and politics to create a blend of two forces and humanitarian values. Apart from major literary contributions, Sarmiento was also the seventh president of Argentina (Buckley, 24). He had a variety of achievements in the education areas, as well as modernization angles. These, he was able to achieve through his intellect and activist nature tied into a prolific writer. One of the dominant writings he established was a historical essay titled “Facundo: Civilisacion y Barbarie” (Bowen online). This work alone has received a variety of accolades and elevated to become among the various collections of Latin American writing. This essay examines critically, the life and activities of Sarmiento in relation to literary effectiveness and leadership.
The renowned leader identified his niche’ early after his birth in San Juan, a land locked province of Argentine. He became an intellectual early enough and by age 15, he had already established a link to the support of Rivadavia government and federalist policies (Bowen online). The outbreak of civil war in the province prevented him from attending schools in Buenos Aires forcing him to join the army. He later became obsessed with such Gaucho, an ardent fighter with moral principles.
He fled to Chile in 1831 after Argentina fell under the dictator Juan Manuel de Rosas (Buckley 23). The dictatorial government of Argentina could not accommodate the bright ideals of Sarmiento who had a clear picture of the humanitarian consistency of his country. While in Chile as an exile, it emerges that he learnt the various parts of free expression in writing and commenting on political documentaries (Bowen, 25). Sarmiento set to recreate the free expression environment in Argentina by founding an anti federalist review. His life in exile helped to fuel his desire for a free state in Argentina where the citizens could contribute to the development of the country. While in exile for the second time in 1840, he wrote the misquoted French “On ne tue point les idée’s” that later replaced his earlier “Facundo” (Bowen Online).
Such writing was directed at the dictatorial leader in Argentina with a translation of “ideas cannot be changed.” Unlike other Argentines, Sarmiento believed in the French language and orientation as civilized trying to establish civilization in his own country. In Chile, he had the ability and desire to change the beliefs and knuckles of Argentina’s Rosa. He resumed literary career and made regular contributions to “El’ Mercurio” as well as “El progreso” I striving to beat the political ideologies of Rosa across borders . In retrospection, it emerges that the values of Sarmiento outweighed Rosa. This became stamped into the ideals of Argentine’s due to the ability to possess a literary explosion.
Summarily, the works of Sarmiento were diverse and extensive ranging from autobiographies to “Recuerdos de province” describing his own part in the army that usurped Rosa’s government later in 1852 (Bowen Online). The life in Chile and as an exile made Sarmiento to develop a successful political career as well a literary style that permeated the hearts of Argentines across the borders. However, it is ironical that his initial pronunciation of Argentine Gaucho as barbaric, he romanticized the figure. Such a romantic proclamation created a new symbol of nationalism fused in mythology and literary awareness.
Reference
Buckley, Allison Williams (1969) [1952], The Life of Sarmiento, New York: Greenwood Press, ISBN 0-8371-2392-5
Kate Bowen. "Domingo Faustino Sarmiento: Blurring the Line between Writing and Politics." 18 August 2011. The Argentina Independent. Web. 16 November 2013.
