SOURCE: Ward, Thomas. “Nature and Civilization in Sab and the Nineteenth-Century Novel in Latin America.” Hispanofila 126 (May 1999): 25-40.

In the following essay, Ward posits connections between the depictions of nature and the characters in Avellaneda'sSab, suggesting that this allows a critique of social Darwinism.

The relationship between nature and society has long been a theme in Western literature, the pastoral serving as an antidote to the commercial corruption of the city. Horace, Virgil and Ovid, paradigmatic authors, established the notions of beatus ille and locus amoenus as important literary motifs. During the Renaissance, the topos was introduced into Hispanic literature by Garcilaso de la Vega, Fray Luis de León, Jorge de Montemayor and Miguel de Cervantes. It has persisted through the centuries, with each author or movement adding his, her or its own individual slant. We now come to the crux of the matter. What form...