Gonzalo Arango
Encyclopedia
Gonzalo Arango Arias was a Colombia
n poet, journalist and philosopher. He was famous in his country for being the founder of a literature and philosophy movement called "Nadaísmo" (Nothing-ism) with other young Colombian thinkers of his generation and that was inspired by the Colombian philosopher Fernando González Ochoa
. The intensity of his life is full of contrasts from an open atheism to an intense spirituality, and a strong criticism of the society of his time. Those contrasts can be read in the First Manifesto of Nadaísmo as "The artist is considered sometimes a symbol fluctuation between holiness and madness". Arango died in a tragic car accident in the city of Tocancipá
in 1976 when he was planning to move to London
so that "by losing me, Colombians win me".
, a town of the Antioquian South-Eastern region in 1931, in a time known in Colombia
as the Regimen of the Liberals that had to face the Great Depression
. It was also the time of Constitutional and social reforms such as that of president Alfonso López Pumarejo
. When he was an adolescent he saw the falling of the country in a bloody fight between the two traditional political parties after El Bogotazo of April 9, 1948 with the murder of the presidential candidate Jorge Eliecer Gaitán
. He lived also a time when the Catholic Church in Colombia possessed the control of education, thanks to the Colombian Constitution of 1886, and thus exerted a great authority over political, cultural and social matters, such as in the censorship over intellectual material produced in the nation. As an example, one of the works by philosopher Fernando González Ochoa
, "Viaje a pie" (Trip by foot) was forbidden by the Archbishop
of Medellín
under death penalty in 1929. This social context witnessed the growing of an eccentric writer and thinker, and would influence Arango's work.
Arango was the last son of the 13 children of Francisco Arango (known as Don Paco) and Magdalena Arias. Don Paco was the telegraphist of the town and Madgalena was a housewife.
in the University of Antioquia
, but three years later he left the studies to devote himself to writing, starting with his first work "Después del Hombre" (After the Man). The eccentric writer stole a skull from the Saint Peter Cemetery of Medellín to be his companion in a country farm of his relatives where he went to live alone. About this time Eduardo Escobar wrote:
led a bloodless Coup d'etat
to president Laureano Gómez
to bring peace to the country. The Assembly that replaced the Congress, composed rather by conservatives
, re-elected him for the next presidential period until 1958. The Rojas coup was seen by many as a solution to the political crisis, the violence in the country, and as an alternative to the two traditional national parties. Young Arango was a Rojas supporter, joining the Movimiento Amplio Nacional - MAN (National Wide Movement) composed of artists and young intellectuals that supported the dictator. In this period, Arango devoted himself to journalism.
Soon, however, the reaction of the leaders of conservatives and liberals against Rojas was manifested in an agreement that caused his fall on May 10, 1957. While the dictator was exiled in Spain
, Gonzalo Arango fled to Chocó.
in 1957 without a fixed direction. It was in the bohemian lifestyle of the salsa music
's city where he started to give form to the Nadaism that he was to express in the First Manifesto, to be published a year later in Medellín
. The dishonour of having supported a lost cause and the feeling of no future, with nothing, brought him to look for other companions who thought likewise about society:
The first people to join the new movement were Alberto Escobar and Amilkar Osorio and, as an inauguration, they burned in 1958 in Plazuela de San Ignacio of Medellín the Colombian literature as a symbol against what was considered the traditional and masterpiece of literature. One of the books was his own first work, "After the Man".
The following year the Nadaists sabotaged the First Congress of Catholic Intellectuals in Medellín, a reason enough to be sent to prison in the same city. In prison he received the visit of Fernando González, the philosopher of Otraparte and one of his first inspirations. Among other Nadaist scandals is the sacrilege of the Holy Host
in the Basilica of Medellín in 1961, a fact that had international consequences, and that he himself later repented for.
In 1963 he began a new change in his life and he was symbolically burned by the Nadaists in a bridge in Cali. He published a poetic anthology of ten Nadaists and wrote for La Nueva Prensa.
and is framed by the flamboyant methods of surrealism
.
More than anything, Nadaísmo was Gonzalo Arango's creation and inspiration, and his goal for it was that of "not leaving intact any faith or any idol in place," according to the First Manifesto. The Movement was deeply entrenched in the 1960s and attracted young talented writers of the time who created a strong literary school in Colombia, especially in poetry. The first Nadaists with Arango were Amílcar Osorio (known as Amílkar U) and Eduardo Escobar. Others would come such as Elmo Valencia and Jotamario Arbeláez. The cities of Medellín
and Cali
became the first setting for the development of the Movement, but it became soon of a national level.
Nadaism manifested its nonconformity against the social order of the time under the rule of the two Colombian traditional political parties (Liberal and Conservative), against a very conservative social structure, against bourgeoisie, and against mass revolutions with totalitarian aims. It was also a bohemian movement dedicated to poetry that was given as closed by its own founder at the beginning of the 1970s, but was continued by some of its followers even until modern times, like Jotamario Arbeláez and Eduardo Escobar.
that caused the disapproval of the Nadaists. It was the beginning of the separation of the founder and his foundation until the day of his death.
The man who wrote manifestos against Catholic writers, began a new time of profound spirituality and the writing of love poems for his lover, the British
Angela Mary Hickie:
However, for Colombian writers of Nadaism like Jotamario Arbeláez and Eduardo Escobar, the movement is still alive in dissenter youngsters:
Gonzalo Arango was also a journalist and he participated in different newspapers and magazines both in his country like Nueva Prensa, Cromos Magazine, and outside, as Corno Emplumado (Mexico
) and Zona Franca (Venezuela
). He published also his Nadaism Magazine.
"The Prophet," as he liked to call himself and was so called by his followers, ended his life in a tragic accident on the road Bogotá
- Tunja
on September 27, 1976.
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
n poet, journalist and philosopher. He was famous in his country for being the founder of a literature and philosophy movement called "Nadaísmo" (Nothing-ism) with other young Colombian thinkers of his generation and that was inspired by the Colombian philosopher Fernando González Ochoa
Fernando González (writer)
Fernando González Ochoa , was a Colombian writer and existentialist philosopher known as "el filósofo de Otraparte" . He wrote about sociology, history, art, moral, economy, epistemology and theology in a magisterial and creative way, using different genres of literature...
. The intensity of his life is full of contrasts from an open atheism to an intense spirituality, and a strong criticism of the society of his time. Those contrasts can be read in the First Manifesto of Nadaísmo as "The artist is considered sometimes a symbol fluctuation between holiness and madness". Arango died in a tragic car accident in the city of Tocancipá
Tocancipá
Tocancipá is a municipality and town of Colombia in the department of Cundinamarca. The race track is located in the surroundings of the town, here they make vintage auto races as well as gt races....
in 1976 when he was planning to move to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
so that "by losing me, Colombians win me".
Life
Gonzalo Arango was born in AndesAndes, Antioquia
Andes is a town and municipality in the Antioquia Department, Colombia. Part of the subregion of Southwestern Antioquia.Statistics:Foundation: 1852,Climate: 22 degrees C,Altitude: 1350 meters,Size: 444 km,Distance from Medellín: 119 km,...
, a town of the Antioquian South-Eastern region in 1931, in a time known in Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
as the Regimen of the Liberals that had to face the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. It was also the time of Constitutional and social reforms such as that of president Alfonso López Pumarejo
Alfonso López Pumarejo
Alfonso López Pumarejo was a two-time Colombian president and political figure, as a member of the Colombian Liberal Party. He served as president of Colombia for the first time between 1934 and 1938 and again between 1942 and 1945....
. When he was an adolescent he saw the falling of the country in a bloody fight between the two traditional political parties after El Bogotazo of April 9, 1948 with the murder of the presidential candidate Jorge Eliecer Gaitán
Jorge Eliécer Gaitán
Jorge Eliécer Gaitán Ayala was a politician, a leader of a populist movement in Colombia, a former Education Minister and Labor Minister , mayor of Bogotá and one of the most charismatic leaders of the Liberal Party.He was assassinated during his second presidential campaign in 1948, setting off...
. He lived also a time when the Catholic Church in Colombia possessed the control of education, thanks to the Colombian Constitution of 1886, and thus exerted a great authority over political, cultural and social matters, such as in the censorship over intellectual material produced in the nation. As an example, one of the works by philosopher Fernando González Ochoa
Fernando González (writer)
Fernando González Ochoa , was a Colombian writer and existentialist philosopher known as "el filósofo de Otraparte" . He wrote about sociology, history, art, moral, economy, epistemology and theology in a magisterial and creative way, using different genres of literature...
, "Viaje a pie" (Trip by foot) was forbidden by the Archbishop
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
of Medellín
Medellín
Medellín , officially the Municipio de Medellín or Municipality of Medellín, is the second largest city in Colombia. It is in the Aburrá Valley, one of the more northerly of the Andes in South America. It has a population of 2.3 million...
under death penalty in 1929. This social context witnessed the growing of an eccentric writer and thinker, and would influence Arango's work.
Arango was the last son of the 13 children of Francisco Arango (known as Don Paco) and Magdalena Arias. Don Paco was the telegraphist of the town and Madgalena was a housewife.
His beginning as a writer
In 1947 he began to study LawLaw
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
in the University of Antioquia
University of Antioquia
The University of Antioquia , also called UdeA, is a public, departmental, coeducational, research university based primarily in the city of Medellín, Antioquía, Colombia. It is the largest higher education institution by student population in the northwest of the country, and the second in...
, but three years later he left the studies to devote himself to writing, starting with his first work "Después del Hombre" (After the Man). The eccentric writer stole a skull from the Saint Peter Cemetery of Medellín to be his companion in a country farm of his relatives where he went to live alone. About this time Eduardo Escobar wrote:
Rojas Pinilla
On June 13, 1953 General Gustavo Rojas PinillaGustavo Rojas Pinilla
Gustavo Rojas Pinilla was a Colombian politician, military officer, General of the Army and President of Colombia between 1953 and 1957.- Biographic data :...
led a bloodless Coup d'etat
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
to president Laureano Gómez
Laureano Gómez
Laureano Eleuterio Gómez Castro was President of Colombia from 1950 to 1953, and long time leader of the Colombian Conservative Party.-Pre-election:...
to bring peace to the country. The Assembly that replaced the Congress, composed rather by conservatives
Colombian Conservative Party
The Colombian Conservative Party , is a conservative political party in Colombia. The party was unofficially founded by a group of Revolutionary Commoners during the Revolutionary War for Independence from the Spanish Monarchy and later formally established during the Greater Colombia...
, re-elected him for the next presidential period until 1958. The Rojas coup was seen by many as a solution to the political crisis, the violence in the country, and as an alternative to the two traditional national parties. Young Arango was a Rojas supporter, joining the Movimiento Amplio Nacional - MAN (National Wide Movement) composed of artists and young intellectuals that supported the dictator. In this period, Arango devoted himself to journalism.
Soon, however, the reaction of the leaders of conservatives and liberals against Rojas was manifested in an agreement that caused his fall on May 10, 1957. While the dictator was exiled in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Gonzalo Arango fled to Chocó.
The creation of Nadaísmo
He took refuge in the city of CaliCalì
Calì, also written in English as Cali, is an Italian surname, widespread mainly in the Ionian side of Sicily.For the surname Calì is assumed the origin of the Greek word kalos , or from its Sanskrit root kali, "time."The surname refers to:...
in 1957 without a fixed direction. It was in the bohemian lifestyle of the salsa music
Salsa music
Salsa music is a genre of music, generally defined as a modern style of playing Cuban Son, Son Montuno, and Guaracha with touches from other genres of music...
's city where he started to give form to the Nadaism that he was to express in the First Manifesto, to be published a year later in Medellín
Medellín
Medellín , officially the Municipio de Medellín or Municipality of Medellín, is the second largest city in Colombia. It is in the Aburrá Valley, one of the more northerly of the Andes in South America. It has a population of 2.3 million...
. The dishonour of having supported a lost cause and the feeling of no future, with nothing, brought him to look for other companions who thought likewise about society:
The first people to join the new movement were Alberto Escobar and Amilkar Osorio and, as an inauguration, they burned in 1958 in Plazuela de San Ignacio of Medellín the Colombian literature as a symbol against what was considered the traditional and masterpiece of literature. One of the books was his own first work, "After the Man".
The following year the Nadaists sabotaged the First Congress of Catholic Intellectuals in Medellín, a reason enough to be sent to prison in the same city. In prison he received the visit of Fernando González, the philosopher of Otraparte and one of his first inspirations. Among other Nadaist scandals is the sacrilege of the Holy Host
Sacramental bread
Sacramental bread, sometimes called the lamb, altar bread, host or simply Communion bread, is the bread which is used in the Christian ritual of the Eucharist.-Eastern Catholic and Orthodox:...
in the Basilica of Medellín in 1961, a fact that had international consequences, and that he himself later repented for.
In 1963 he began a new change in his life and he was symbolically burned by the Nadaists in a bridge in Cali. He published a poetic anthology of ten Nadaists and wrote for La Nueva Prensa.
Nadaísmo (Nothing-ism)
The Nadaísmo movement continues to be a matter of study, because it was an authentic literary revolution in the Colombia of the second part of the 20th century. It has as its first inspiration the books of the philosopher Fernando González OchoaFernando González (writer)
Fernando González Ochoa , was a Colombian writer and existentialist philosopher known as "el filósofo de Otraparte" . He wrote about sociology, history, art, moral, economy, epistemology and theology in a magisterial and creative way, using different genres of literature...
and is framed by the flamboyant methods of surrealism
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
.
More than anything, Nadaísmo was Gonzalo Arango's creation and inspiration, and his goal for it was that of "not leaving intact any faith or any idol in place," according to the First Manifesto. The Movement was deeply entrenched in the 1960s and attracted young talented writers of the time who created a strong literary school in Colombia, especially in poetry. The first Nadaists with Arango were Amílcar Osorio (known as Amílkar U) and Eduardo Escobar. Others would come such as Elmo Valencia and Jotamario Arbeláez. The cities of Medellín
Medellín
Medellín , officially the Municipio de Medellín or Municipality of Medellín, is the second largest city in Colombia. It is in the Aburrá Valley, one of the more northerly of the Andes in South America. It has a population of 2.3 million...
and Cali
Calì
Calì, also written in English as Cali, is an Italian surname, widespread mainly in the Ionian side of Sicily.For the surname Calì is assumed the origin of the Greek word kalos , or from its Sanskrit root kali, "time."The surname refers to:...
became the first setting for the development of the Movement, but it became soon of a national level.
Nadaism manifested its nonconformity against the social order of the time under the rule of the two Colombian traditional political parties (Liberal and Conservative), against a very conservative social structure, against bourgeoisie, and against mass revolutions with totalitarian aims. It was also a bohemian movement dedicated to poetry that was given as closed by its own founder at the beginning of the 1970s, but was continued by some of its followers even until modern times, like Jotamario Arbeláez and Eduardo Escobar.
Abandonment of Nadaism
As a surprise for his followers, Gonzalo Arango abandoned Nadaísmo in 1970, an event that was considered by the Nadaists as treason to its original principles. Already in 1968 he wrote an article of admiration for president Carlos Lleras RestrepoCarlos Lleras Restrepo
Carlos Lleras Restrepo was a Colombian lawyer and political figure, President of Colombia .- Biographic data :...
that caused the disapproval of the Nadaists. It was the beginning of the separation of the founder and his foundation until the day of his death.
The man who wrote manifestos against Catholic writers, began a new time of profound spirituality and the writing of love poems for his lover, the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Angela Mary Hickie:
However, for Colombian writers of Nadaism like Jotamario Arbeláez and Eduardo Escobar, the movement is still alive in dissenter youngsters:
Gonzalo Arango was also a journalist and he participated in different newspapers and magazines both in his country like Nueva Prensa, Cromos Magazine, and outside, as Corno Emplumado (Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
) and Zona Franca (Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
). He published also his Nadaism Magazine.
"The Prophet," as he liked to call himself and was so called by his followers, ended his life in a tragic accident on the road Bogotá
Bogotá
Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
- Tunja
Tunja
Tunja is a city and municipality located in the central part of Colombia, in the region of "Alto Chicomocha". As of the 2005 Census it had 152,419 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Department of Boyacá and part of the subregion of the Central Boyacá Province. It is approximately 145 km...
on September 27, 1976.
External links
- Gonzalo Arango (in Spanish)
- Gonzalo Arango biography at banrep.gov.co (in Spanish)