América y Salvador de Madariaga

About the Book

America in the novels of Spain’s writers Salvador de Madariaga examines the conquest of America as it is presented in his five novels, El corazón de piedra verde, Guerra en la sangre, Una gota de tiempo, El semental negro and Satanael. These novels reflect on a Latin American society from the fifteenth century until the seventeenth century and how the presence of the Spaniards affected the New World and the Indian civilizations. The first chapter of this investigation is devoted to the author and how his interest grew on the topic of Latin America and his intellectual life as a liberal thinker who explored many different topics of controversy. The following chapters present the time of the conquest of America from its beginnings in Spain when the Spanish monarchs contemplated the idea of expanding the Christian faith across the Atlantic Ocean. The conclusion summarizes all the efforts the Spanish crown made to make sure the Indians were treated in a fair and humane manner, even though their representatives ignored or did not heed Spain’s rules. It also examines the thorny problem of mestizaje as presented by Salvador de Madariaga. In the end, it will be evident the desire this writer has as a historian and a writer and how just like the Spaniards before him, Salvador de Madariaga was also conquered by America and its people.

About the Author

Johanna R. Murchison was born in Tegucigalpa, Honduras where she spent most of her teen years before coming to the United States in 1983. She graduated from The Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida where she earned her doctorate degree in Spanish in 1997. Now she is back at Florida State where she plans to earn a Masters degree in International Affairs in order to provide her students with a more global vision of Latin American Literature. She lives in Tallahassee, Florida with her husband Vance and their two children Kyle and Dillon to whom this book is dedicated.