German Colonists in Chilean Fiction

Abstract

Although the Germans are not the largest group of foreigners to settle in Chile, they are certainly the best known group. Every United States journalist or tourist who makes a more-or-less extensive study of Chile deals with the socalled German menace. Chilean historians and sociologists have traced the establishment of the German colonies in the Nineteenth Century and have on the whole commended the work of these frontiersmen in opening up regions of vast wilderness.It is therefore interesting to see how Chilean novelists have depicted the German Chileans of the Twentieth Century. It is natural that the colonists should have attracted the attention of writers of fiction. The traditional life and customs of the Germans and the beautifully scenic sections of the country in which they have settled lend themselves especially well to fictional material. It is also natural that the psychology and traits of these foreigners, so different from the Chilean character, should be a source of comment and analysis. It is not uncommon to find a blue-eyed German blonde or a comic don Otto on the Chilean stage, but more interesting than these superficial type-characters are the people found in stories that deal primarily with the German settlers in relation to the Chileans. This relationship has been especially well presented by two of the leading novelists of modern Chilean literature, Mariano Latorre and Fernando Santibaiiez, who is better known under the pseudonym of Santivan. Four of their novels will be discussed here: Charcas en la selva (1934) and En la montaia (1917) by Santibafiez; Ully (1923) and El romance de un reloj de cuco (1920) by Latorre. Both authors have lived in or visited the German sections of Chile and both impart a feeling of realism to the pictures they present. Four different sections colonized by the Germans are described in these stories. Charcas en la selva is laid in a backwoods, mudsoaked hamlet lying in an almost impenetrable forest on the banks of beautiful Lake Villarica, a region which today boasts an elegant tourist hotel. En la montafia shows life in a flour mill on the banks of the Quel6n-Quel6n River, near the majestic virgin forests of the Nahuelbuta coastal range. El romance de un roloj de cuco takes place primarily in the bustling city of Valdivia, the largest of all the cities of a distinct German character. Ully is laid in the village of Frutillar, on the banks of Lake Llanquihue, a region famous throughout South America for its scenic