Spanish and Portuguese ETDs

Publication Date

8-11-1936

Abstract

Rosas is considered the greatest enigma of Latin American history. To some he was a monster; to others and idol. By his persecution of the cultured classes, he made his enemies famous; A gaucho and a federalist, he destroyed his own world, created a nation, and delivered Argentina to his foes. No man was more bitterly hated; nor has any other tyrant been given more attention in literature. Many South American poets in authors or remember solely for their bitter denunciations of the Rosas regime.

To get a complete picture of Rosas it is necessary to take both the contemporary and historical view of his life. The two chief difficulties in the way of a complete judgment upon Rosas are the extensive, complicated, and stormy nature of his times, and the lack of sufficient documentary evidence. Myths always grew up around extremely popular, or extremely unpopular persons who have been much in the public eye, and is often hard to distinguish between fact and fancy.

It seems that no study of the dictator has been made which included both the historical and literary views of the man, although much has been written from the historical standpoint. An attempt has been made in the following pages to give both of those views, and to contrast weigh them to a certain extent. Since most of the literature against Rosas was written for newspapers, and much of it has not been published in book form, a great deal of material has been unavailable. Nor has the author had access to any of the recent biographies of roses, so that this is really a preliminary study. However, it is hoped that a fairly accurate picture of the dictator has been given; a dictator who was a "true representative of the sentiment of his country".

Degree Name

Spanish (MA)

Level of Degree

Masters

Department Name

Spanish and Portuguese

First Committee Member (Chair)

John E. Englekirk

Second Committee Member

Lawrence B. Kiddle

Third Committee Member

Marion Dargan

Language

English

Document Type

Thesis

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