Jose Enrique Rodo (1871-1917) was a Uruguayan philosopher, educator, and essayist. Born and raised in Montevideo, Rodo was a major figure of the modernismo literary movement. In 1898, he was appointed professor of literature at the University of the Republic. Additionally, Rodo served as the director of the National Library of Uruguay and as a member of the Chamber of Deputies. Through his correspondence with Leopoldo Alas of Spain, Jose de la Riva-Aguero of Peru, and Ruben Dario of Nicaragua, Rodo became the leading theorist of modernista literature, which sought to unite classical values and contemporary culture through a devotion to beauty and form. His major contribution to Latin American literature was Ariel (1900), an influential essay inspired by characters from Shakespeare's The Tempest. The essay is structured as a lecture by Prospero on authors from throughout European history. Ariel and Caliban, respectively the positive and negative aspects of human nature, represent the opposing forces of good and evil, the beautiful and the utilitarian in everyday life. Throughout his career, Rodo criticized the process of nordomania, a term he used to describe the growing influence of North American values on Latin American culture.
