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This dissertation deals with the novel Yo el Supremo written by Augusto Roa Bastos. Through his latest novel (1974), the Paraguayan writer presents a critical and philosophical treatment of Dr. Gaspar Rodr(')iguez de Francias's (El Supremo) dictatorial regime in Paraguay during the first half of the nineteenth century. The study is divided in two major sections.
The first section focuses general considerations of historical and literary aspects. An analysis of a selection of Roa Bastos' literary works--short stories and his first novel Hijo de hombre--has been consistent in showing a writer who is socially committed and who has paved the way for an important novel like Yo el Supremo. Roa Bastos' production can be interpreted in the context of his passion to depict Paraguay's long history of violence, injustice and exploitation as well as his attempt to find delicate and profound structures of national survival.
The second section of this research consists of a detailed textual analysis of Yo el Supremo. This novel is not an isolated text within Roa Bastos' work. Its level of profoundness and complexity goes beyond the level which the writer had previously attained. Throughout his study on historical writings concerning the period before, during, and after Francia's regime, Roa Bastos reveals an extraordinary moment of narrative maturity. The novel becomes an effective vehicle of reflection on the Paraguayan drama through the opposition, confrontation and merging of different texts. For the purpose of this research, these texts have been sub-divided into three--"The Compilation", "The Supremo's Text", and "The Intertext."
The hermeneutic approach uncovers the interaction among associations and connotations of diverse images, themes, symbols, characters and plots in Yo el Supremo. Their patterning across the novel presents a complex reading that varies their meanings through changes in its contexts--from the historical, to the mythical, to the literary.
Roa Bastos has remarkably structured his social message and the most recent techniques of Latin-American fiction today.