J. de la R.: author of Memorial del último soldado de la independencia

Abstract

In 1885, El Heraldo of Cochabamba published a misterious text signed by Juan de la Rosa: Memoirs of the Last Soldier of the Independence Movement. In Bolivia this work, one of the most important Latin American narratives of the 19th century, promotes a curious cult: everybody cites it but few read it. As with all cults, this implies dogmas and prejudices that obscure its interpretation. Here is the most enigmatic: nobody doubts that the author is Nataniel Aguirre. The anonymous editors of the second edition (1909), when Aguirre already had died (1888), attributed the authorship to him and incorporated “Juan de la Rosa” into the original title. Since then Memorias was transformed into Juan de la Rosa. Memoirs of the Last Soldier of the Independence Movement, the mythic “novel” of Nataniel Aguirre. This new book was the basis for future editions that repeat its additions, erratas and omissions. My essay postulates a hybrid and joint production. The manuscripts of an anonymous author of genius – J. de la R. (the prologue is signed this way) – were edited and published in El Heraldo by Nataniel Aguirre, a distinguished man of letters of the time period that respects the name (or pseudonym) of the author.