One Day of Life
Encyclopedia
One Day of Life is a novel by Salvadoran
author Manlio Argueta
. The novel is set in Chalatenango
, El Salvador and follows the daily life of Guadalupe Guardado and the women of her family just prior to the Salvadoran Civil War. The book was banned by the government of El Salvador after its 1980 release for its descriptions of human rights
violations by the Organización Democrática Nacionalista
, the government's paramilitary
intelligence organization.
Argueta spent over 20 years exiled in Costa Rica
following arrests for his involvement in political activity against the government. One Day of Life was published in 1980, the year of the beginning of the Salvadoran Civil War.
One Day of Life was nominated by Modern Library
as the fifth-best Latin America
n book of the 20th century. The conservative, pro-government Salvadoran newspaper El Diario de Hoy
expressed doubt in the nomination. Other critics expressed disapproval of Argueta's novel being selected higher than popular writers like Ernesto Sabato
and Alejo Carpentier
.
." Guadalupe's granddaughter Adolfina relays the protest at a cathedral, as well as a massacre of students on a bus. At the end of the novel, the authorities bring a beaten man to Guadalupe and Adolfina who had said the name "Adolfina" after being severely beaten. Adolfina does not recognize the man, but Guadalupe recognizes her husband José. On his previous advice, she denies knowing him, and he is taken away.
El Salvador
El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
author Manlio Argueta
Manlio Argueta
Manlio Argueta is a Salvadoran writer, critic, and novelist born in 1935. Although he considers himself first and foremost a poet, he is known in the English speaking world for his book One Day of Life.- Life :...
. The novel is set in Chalatenango
Chalatenango, Chalatenango
Chalatenango is a town and municipality in the Chalatenango department of El Salvador. It is the capital of the department.The coat of arms is actually the same as the department's, as is the flag....
, El Salvador and follows the daily life of Guadalupe Guardado and the women of her family just prior to the Salvadoran Civil War. The book was banned by the government of El Salvador after its 1980 release for its descriptions of human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
violations by the Organización Democrática Nacionalista
Organización Democrática Nacionalista
ORDEN, or Organización Democrática Nacionalista was a Salvadoran paramilitary organization founded under the military rule of Julio Adalberto Rivera, headed by José Alberto Medrano, and supported initially by the Green Berets...
, the government's paramilitary
Paramilitary
A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....
intelligence organization.
Argueta spent over 20 years exiled in Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
following arrests for his involvement in political activity against the government. One Day of Life was published in 1980, the year of the beginning of the Salvadoran Civil War.
One Day of Life was nominated by Modern Library
Modern Library
The Modern Library is a publishing company. Founded in 1917 by Albert Boni and Horace Liveright as an imprint of their publishing company Boni & Liveright, it was purchased in 1925 by Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer...
as the fifth-best Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
n book of the 20th century. The conservative, pro-government Salvadoran newspaper El Diario de Hoy
El Diario de Hoy
El Diario de Hoy is a national newspaper published in San Salvador, El Salvador, one of the two dailies of highest circulation in the Central American country...
expressed doubt in the nomination. Other critics expressed disapproval of Argueta's novel being selected higher than popular writers like Ernesto Sabato
Ernesto Sabato
Ernesto Sabato , was an Argentine writer, painter and physicist. According to the BBC he "won some of the most prestigious prizes in Hispanic literature" and "became very influential in the literary world throughout Latin America"...
and Alejo Carpentier
Alejo Carpentier
Alejo Carpentier y Valmont was a Cuban novelist, essayist, and musicologist who greatly influenced Latin American literature during its famous "boom" period. Born in Lausanne, Switzerland, Carpentier grew up in Havana, Cuba; and despite his European birthplace, Carpentier strongly self-identified...
.
Plot summary
Guadalupe "Lupe" Guardado is a middle-aged Salvadoran woman who lives near Chalatenango, El Salvador. During the day she is required to do what she can to support her family, while her husband works for a wealthy landowner. Her husband José has become involved in rebellion against the economic conditions and became a leader in the Christian farmers organization. Fearing persecution for his opposition, José regularly stays "in the hills" after work and sees his family little. The Guardado's son Justino was killed by the "authorities" prior to the events in the novel, and their son-in-law Helio has "disappearedForced disappearance
In international human rights law, a forced disappearance occurs when a person is secretly abducted or imprisoned by a state or political organization or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organization, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the...
." Guadalupe's granddaughter Adolfina relays the protest at a cathedral, as well as a massacre of students on a bus. At the end of the novel, the authorities bring a beaten man to Guadalupe and Adolfina who had said the name "Adolfina" after being severely beaten. Adolfina does not recognize the man, but Guadalupe recognizes her husband José. On his previous advice, she denies knowing him, and he is taken away.