Author: Roberto Mart铆nez Bachrich
Source: Revista 脷rsula, N煤mero 7: Literatura y Naturaleza, February 2024
Type of Publication: Article
Abstract: Jos茅 Gumilla鈥檚 El Orinoco ilustrado (1745) offers a repertoire of monsters that includes multiple flying species, from tiny insects to bloodsucking flying mammals. There are countless specimens of these little beasts in the jungle, and those who do not avoid their attack can experience pain, suffering and even death. Among the 鈥渧olatile pests鈥 in the Orinoco, Gumilla distinguishes mosquitoes, gnats, rollers, galofas, wasps, green worm flies and bats. These pages read the tapestries of horror that the friar weaves in his natural history based on N. Carroll鈥檚 idea of 鈥淎rt-Horror鈥. Thus, I suggest that Gumilla, by combining fear and disgust, develops early amazing scenes of animal horror.
Roberto Mart铆nez Bachrich is a visiting assistant professor of Spanish.