Some notes on Costa Rican Science Fiction
Daniel W. Koon
August, 2006

      Costa Rica is not a country noted for its science fiction. My own experience is that few Costa Ricans can name a single native author of the genre. In fact, in my professional interactions with Costa Ricans (“Ticos” or “Ticas” as they call themselves), the question arose: is there such a thing as Costa Rican Science Fiction? The answer seems to be yes, but not much.

      As is the case for Latin America in general, one can find instances of science fiction in Costa Rican literature stretching back at least a century. Interestingly enough, in a country whose mythic national hero, Juan Santamaria was a 24 year-old who burned down the headquarters of American adventurer William Walker, the first two notable science fiction novels from this country are works with a strong anti-imperialist streak.
  • “El problema” (1899) -- Maximo Soto Hall (1871 - 1944), a Guatemalan who moved to Costa Rica, died in Buenos Aires. A story placed 30 years in the future (i.e. 1928), it can be considered the first Hispanoamerican anti-imperialist novel. [1,2,3]
  • “La caída de águila” (1920) -- Carlos Gagini (1865-1925), of the so-called “Generation of 1900”. His first novel, it is a story of an alliance among the nations of Central America against the US.
      Fast forward to the present. There are miscellaneous SF stories along the way by Fernando Duran Ayanegui (born 1939) and Alberto Cañas (born 1920), and Alfredo Cardona Peña [1917-1995], but otherwise not much. The most successful writer -- okay, the most notable “repeat offender” -- of science fiction today is Iván Molina Jiménez -- Professor in the Department of History and researcher in CIICLA, the Center for Research in Latin American Identity and Culture at the University of Costa Rica -- who has published two thin collections of his own science fiction short stories, and is almost undoubtably the first Costa Rican author to include the phrase “ciencia ficción” in the title of his works.
  • “Cundila” (San José: Varitec, 2002) -- a novel with science fiction elements, but, according to the author, not an SF work itself.
  • “La miel de los mudos - y otros cuentos ticos de ciencia ficción” (The honey of the mutes -- and other Costa Rican science fiction stories) (San José: Editorama, 2003). A collection of short SF stories, most having a distinctly Costa Rican flavor, whether from location, characters, or issues of current interest in the country. The book is mentioned in an article in the New York Review of Books [4].
  • “El alivio de las nubes y más cuentos ticos de ciencia ficción” (The relief of the clouds and more Costa Rican science fiction stories) (San José, ICAR, 2005)
  • “Bicentenario”, (Bicentennial) June 2006, in issue 25 of Velero, a Peruvian SF ezine. http://www.velero25.net/2006/jun2006/jun06pg01.htm. A short story, previously unpublished, about the future privatization of national patrimony and national holidays, in particular the upcoming (2056) bicentennial of Juan Santamaría’s arson of the headquarters of the invading Yankee imperialists. (The rights to the patrimony, not surprisingly, having been purchased by the Yanks)
      Just as a personal aside to my North American friends: Despite what I’ve written above, Costa Ricans really do like us. I never felt, when interviewing Sr. Molina, that he was plotting how to burn my house down.

      Molina counts among his influences the American ABCs -- Asimov, Bradbury, and Clarke -- as well as Ben Bova, Philip K. Dick, and the Argentine Adolfo Bioy Casares. Molina cites the following as reasons for the lack of a science fiction tradition in Costa Rica.
  1. Costa Rican literature is very “provincial”.
  2. Science fiction is not held in high respect as a literature in Costa Rica
  3. There is a prejudice among readers against Latin science fiction.
      To these one would have to add a less subtle reason, given by Argenine SF writer Sergio Gaut vel Hartman [5], namely the small, fragmented Central American literary market. There are only 4 million Costa Ricans, 40 million Central Americans in all, divided into seven countries.

      While it is difficult to find science fiction by Spanish-speaking authors in Costa Rican bookstores, let alone SF by native writers, I did manage to stumble across Laura P. Quijano Vincenzi’s (http://www.lauraquijano.com/) “Una sombra en el hielo” (A shadow on the ice) (1995: San José, La Imprenta Nacional). This book was the winner of the “Joven Creación” (Young Creation) Prize presented by Editorial Costa Rica, 1994. It describes the mystery, in 2195, surrounding an abandoned underground polar research station and an enigmatic figure who disappeared with that station. Ms. Quijano’s latest book, “A través del Portal: Magia”, is a trilogy of which the first part is available in either “print-on-demand” or PDF format through Lulu Press.

      Another Costa Rican SF book I've seen cited is “C.R. 2040” (1996: San José : Editorial de la Universidad Estatal a Distancia), apparently a collection of stories from a local SF-writing competition, edited by Roberto Sasso.

      Finally, the novel “Azor y Luna” (Lumen, Argentina, 2003) by Alberto Ortiz is set in the post-apocalyptic Caribbean Basin, the birthplace of a “New Civilization”. It combines elements of SF, magical realism and self-help. [6]

      But wait: there's more! Editorial Costa Rica is slated to publish Jessica Clark's SF novel Telemacus in 2007, the first of a trilogy she has planned with future novels Beowulf and Gilgamesh. She is also working on translating the work into comic book format. This publisher has already published her short story collection Los salvajes (The savages) in 2006: neither sf nor fantasy, but influenced by both. Add to that a science fiction short story Note to self and a script for a short movie, Mandelbrot, and I might soon be eating my own words about there not being much Costa Rican SF.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
  1. Adriano Corrales Arias, La Nueva Novela Costarricense: Los Orígenes, Revista Comunicación, Instituto Tecnológica Costa Rica (ITCR), http://www.itcr.ac.cr/revistacomunicacion/2_2001/la_nueva_novela_costarricense.htm, Accessed 8/24/2006.
  2. Veronica Rios Quesada, "El impacto de la novela El problema de Maximo Soto Hall en 1899. Primera aproximacion", Káñina, July 1, 2002. Summary: http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-844492_ITM
  3. Iván Molina Jiménez, Verónica Ríos Quesada, La primera polémica que provocó El problema, novela del escritor guatemalteco Máximo Soto Hall. Una contribución documental Universidad de Costa Rica, San José http://www.denison.edu/collaborations/istmo/n03/proyectos/problema.html, Accessed 8/24/2006
  4. Stephen Kinzer, “The Trouble with Costa Rica”, New York Review of Books, 53 (10), June 8, 2006.
  5. Sergio Gaut vel Hartman, “La escena continental”, Asimov 20 (Sept/Oct 2005) .
  6. Bibliomanía, El Universal Online, 15 April 2003. http://www2.eluniversal.com.mx/pls/impreso/web_histo_cultura.despliega?var=27685&var_sub_actual=a&var_fecha=15-ABR-03
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