This is a radical reexamination of the regional novel, which plays a central part in the development of Latin American fiction in the first half of the twentieth century. Professor Alonso presents his argument through challenging readings of three works that are universally acknowledged as archetypes of the autochthonous modality: Rivera's La voragine, Gallegos' Dona Barbara, and Guiraldes' Don Segundo Sombra. He proposes a new view of the autochthonous as a discourse rather than a referent, this discourse being organized by the three intertwined categories of language, geography, and work.