El Gibaro: Cuadro de Costumbres de La Isla de Puerto Rico

by Manuel Antonio Alonso

El Gibaro in Spanish

Genres: History, Classics

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Miguel]

Written in 1849, El Gibaro is considered the seminal work describing the customs of the Puertorrican peasant (Gibaro, jibaro) in the mid 19th century countryside. Presented through a series of articles depicting the food, dance, festivities and vernacular. It also describes the educational disparities between Puerto Rico and Spain.

[Ricardo]

El Gibaro

Un gran libro que guarda ensayos, cuentos y historias de un Puerto Rico colonial español. La narrativa ocurre un poco después de la abolición de la exclavitud en Puerto Rico y un par de décadas antes de la invasion norteamericana.

[Nicole]

I can't really said this is an accurate review because there were some pages that I didn't read. BUT, as a puertorican and after what I've read, it's desvriptive of our culture in the early days. Personally, I've never really love the language, that's why I don't enjoy it as much.

[Jeremy]

I was forced to read this book in highschooler. Needless to say, that I would not have read fully if i had the ability to.

[Carmen Pérez]

This work is the affirmation of the national and identity feeling of the Puerto Ricans in the mid-19th century. Alonso relates the distinctiveness of Puerto Rico still in political and social formation. He writes about the customs and ways of the Creole that stand out in the new bourgeoisie that encourages progress and settles in urban areas in contrast to those of the Jíbaros, island peasants, with more rustic and ordinary ways of life, attached to the land and hard work. In scene 20 the author offers a physiognomic portrait of the Puerto Ricans and the attributes that he considered typical of their personality. The two scenes that I liked were: 1) Reflections on public education and 2) A disillusion. I give it 3 stars out of 5.

[lol]

i thought it was a neat look into what puerto rican life was like in the XIX century, but it didn't really wow me and i missed a lot of the discussions in class so i felt like i didn't have the whole ~picture~