Man vs. Nature: The Role of <i>la selva</i> in Horacio Quiroga’s “La insolación” and “La miel silvestre”

Abstract

Uruguayan writer Horacio Quiroga is notorious for his literary explorations of man’s relationship with the savage frontier, or la selva. His works embed a level of mystery and horror that are consistent with the gothic Latin American tradition. In the regionalist genre, Nature is a national symbol, a reflection of the socioeconomic situation, and a willful being of a story’s narrative. For Quiroga, his portrayal of la selva has also been widely interpreted as a backdrop against which man’s ability to survive and dominate Nature is questioned. Quiroga’s selva alternatively manifests as an intermediary form that facilitates the actions of man. This paper explores the various representations of la selva in “La insolación” and “La miel silvestre,” stories from his collection, Cuentos de amor de locura y de muerte.