José Milla y Vidaurre (August 4, 1822 in

Guatemala City Guatemala City (, also known colloquially by the nickname Guate), is the Capital city, national capital and largest city of the Guatemala, Republic of Guatemala. It is also the Municipalities of Guatemala, municipal capital of the Guatemala Depa ...

First Mexican Empire The Mexican Empire (, ) was a constitutional monarchy and the first independent government of Mexico. It was also the only former viceroyalty of the Spanish Empire to establish a monarchy after gaining independence. The empire existed from 18 ...

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Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

September 30, 1882) was a notable Guatemalan writer of the 19th century. He was also known by the name Pepe Milla and the pseudonym Salomé Jil. Son of a governor of the state of Honduras in the Federal Republic of Central America, José Justo de la Milla y Pineda and Mrs. Mercedes Vidaurre Molina, the daughter of a wealthy Guatemalan family. He was married to his cousin, Mercedes Vidaurre and had 7 daughters and sons. Milla grew up in a time of great instability, where the struggles between liberals and

conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

were bringing chaos to Guatemala. He came from a well-to-do family and was not a politically relevant figure. However, it is known that he had conservative tendencies and came to public office under conservative governments. His works can be qualified under various

literary genre A literary genre is a category of literature. Genres may be determined by List of narrative techniques, literary technique, Tone (literature), tone, Media (communication), content, or length (especially for fiction). They generally move from mor ...

s, although they were mainly dedicated to story-telling, novels and more specifically

historical novels Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the Setting (narrative), setting of particular real past events, historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literatur ...

. His main theme was life in the colonial Guatemala. His ''"novelas costumbristas"'' are about the customs of Guatemalan people during colonial times and during the first years after Guatemalan independence. In his works, he shows an ability for story-telling and imagination. For him, one of the main functions of literature was to entertain and his books are examples of such function. Jose Milla was well-educated, an expert of Guatemalan idiosyncrasies, its history and its customs.

Works

Image:Hijadeladelantado.jpg, ''La hija del Adelantado'' (1866) Image:Visitadormilla.jpg, ''El visitador'' (1868) Image:Viajeotromundo.JPG, '' Un viaje al otro mundo pasando por otras partes'' (1875) * ''Don Bonifacio'' (narrative poem) * ''La Hija del Adelantado'' (novel), 1866 * ''Los Nazarenos'' (novel) * ''El Visitador'' (novel) * ''Un viaje al otro mundo pasando por otras partes'' (Volumes 1 & 2) * ''Memorias de un abogado'' (novel) * ''El esclavo de don dinero'' (novel) * ''Historia de un Pepe'' (novel) * ''El canasto del sastre'' (cuadros de costumbres) * ''Libro sin nombre'' * ''Historia de la America Central'' (Volumes 1 & 2)

References

Bibliography

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Milla y Vidaurre works

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External links

Literature and art of Guatemala
(in Spanish) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Milla y Vidaurre, Jose 1822 births 1882 deaths Writers from Guatemala City Guatemalan novelists Guatemalan male novelists Historical novelists Guatemalan politicians Rafael Carrera 19th-century Guatemalan writers 19th-century novelists 19th-century male writers