Costa Rica: Carmen Naranjo, Writer and Politician, Dies · Global Voices
Oscar Howell

Carmen Naranjo (born Cartago, 1928) passed away last January 4. She was a writer and a woman engaged in politics in the 60s and 70s, something then uncommon in Latin America. She became Culture and Youth Minister of Costa Rica in 1974, and was the first woman appointed as a member of the Costa Rican Academy of the Spanish Language. Already a towering figure in Costa Rican culture, she became the Director of the Museum of Costa Rican Art and Chief Editor at Costa Rica University Press EDUCA.
Among the awards she received were the Order of Alfonso X El Sabio (Spain, 1977) and the Order to Academic Merit Gabriela Mistral (Chile, 1996). At least three of Naranjo's novels are regarded as key to Costa Rican Literature: Los Perros no ladraron (“The dogs didn't bark”) (1966), Diario de una Multitud (“Diary of a multitude”) (1974) and Ondina (1983).
Carmen Naranjo in 2008, photo by Julia Ardón, used with permission
Carmen Naranjo did not only represent the capacity of women to achieve positions of relevance in a traditional society, she was also a pioneer in her views about culture, literature and writing, and media and communications. She was an early proponent of gender equality in Costa Rica, which today has become law. Today Costa Rica has its first female president: Laura Chinchilla.
When asked in a 2008 interview with Ailyn Morera [es] what her contribution to culture was she responded:
He encontrado que lo fundamental es trabajar en términos universales dentro del país para que la cultura aunque sea un milímetro crezca en todo el territorio. Por eso encuentro que es indispensable que la cultura tenga medios modernos de comunicación. Considero la radio fundamental y también la televisión, las fuentes que fluyen del Internet y todas esas cosas que le permiten a la gente comunicarse y tener fácil acceso a la cultura, y al conocimiento universal. Todo lo que fortalezca el conocimiento debe ser implementado por eso es tan importante que las universidades se proyecten para valorar lo que las comunidades tienen y desarrollarlo. No se necesita sacar a la gente de sus sitios sino llegar a ellos y lograr encender la espiral del desarrollo.
As a writer Carmen Naranjo was a key figure during the change that Costa Rican society suffered in the decades starting in the 50s, after the collapse of the government of Calderón Guardia, and up until the early 80s. In Carmen's time, the country was defined by a conservative society and a rigid class system. The main literary trope was the honorable and sincere man of the countryside. It was a figure of simple wit and common sense, reflecting the idea that the upper class had of their origins and destiny.
Carmen Naranjo wrote from the attitudes of the new urban middle class, challenging the imaginary cherished by a society that was changing forever. The young urban people experienced the pressure of coming to terms with a new and diverse society, with politics that began to be pervaded by new ideas and upwardly moving young and ambitious politicians. Hers was a literature of rupture, protest and renovation.
Alfonso Chase, a fellow writer and friend, is quoted by Michelle Soto in La Nación [es]:
La aparición de Carmen Naranjo como poeta en los años 60 fue una revelación, pero también un rompimiento con la tradición literaria costarricense. Ya el campesino no era tan Magón ni tan Aquileo. Carmen era totalmente urbana y era una hija de la Segunda República. […]Era una mujer para ahora. Hubiera sido muy interesante en estos momentos porque este es el tiempo de los indignados.
Benedicto Víquez writes about Carmen Naranjo in the blog El arte literario y su teoría [es]:
Sus personajes son innominados, se convierten en voces llenas de angustia, luchando por encontrarle sentido a la vida y la muerte, rescatando los instantes de felicidad en su larga lucha por sobrevivir en una sociedad llena de prejuicios, superficialidad, vacuidad y alienante […]
Finally, Víquez writes in El arte literario y su teoría [es] about Naranjo's novel Los perros no ladraron:
Los personajes viven directamente la burocracia de la ciudad, se enfrentan crudamente a ella, en vivo, sufren la impotencia para resolver las más insignificantes diligencias, tales como buscar trabajo, ser atendidos por un empleado ante una solicitud, tan simple como pagar un recibo, sacar una cita, subir en un ascensor, caminar por la ciudad, aspirar a un ascenso, etc.