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El chulla Romero y Flores is a 1958 novel by the Ecuadorian writer Jorge Icaza (1906–1978).
Contents
The book explores mestizo cultural identity. The protagonist Romero y Flores is conflicted between identifying with either his father's Spanish descent or his mother's Amerindian origins. He finds the tranquility he has been searching for once he attains a balance of identity.
The book has been translated into many languages, including Czech, German, French, among others. The book has not yet been translated into English.
Criticism
While Jorge Icaza's 1934 novel Huasipungo (English trans: The Villagers, 1964) is his most famous work, many literary experts have hailed El chulla Romero y Flores as Icaza's masterpiece, such as Theodore Alan Sackett in El arte en la novelística de Jorge Icaza (1974).
Chulla meaning
A chulla is a middle class man or woman of mixed European and Ameridian descent who scorns his Amerindian side while exalting his European side. The chulla is obsessed with maintaining the appearance of status and social success.
Considering "chulla" an antonomasia of Ecuador, Claude Couffon titled his 1993 French translation "L'homme de Quito" (The Man from Quito).
Chulla's origin comes from the Quichua language, where it means: Alone. Odd.
Film
El chulla Romero y Flores was made into a TV movie in 1995 for Ecuavisa. It was filmed in Ecuador and directed by Carl West. The story takes place in the 50s Ecuador, and narrates the activities of the chulla Luis Alfonso Romero y Flores, his job as a bureaucrat, bohemian nights spent among friends, and his romance with Rosario Santacruz.