Latin America’s Agrarian Novels Chronicled the Birth of a New World

The article begins with the journey of a landowner, Santos Luzardo, in Rómulo Gallegos’s 1929 novel Doña Bárbara.

The novel opens in medias res, a Latin phrase meaning 'in the middle of things,' placing the reader directly into the action without introduction.

Santos Luzardo is traveling toward his ancestral estate, known as hacienda, a large farm or plantation, located in the plains region of Venezuela.

The plains (llanos in Spanish) are vast, flat grasslands that stretch across parts of Venezuela and Colombia, historically used for cattle ranching.

This journey sets the stage for a story that explores the social and economic transformations of Latin America during the early 20th century, particularly the tensions between traditional land ownership and emerging modern forces.