Hugo Fonseca, a Colombian student of environmental and sanitary engineering at Universidad del Magdalena, completed a four-month work placement at the Sustainable University and Welcome office this year. He also studied at Palacký University last year as part of the Erasmus programme. As part of his internship at the Sustainable University office, he actively helped in organizing events and spreading awareness towards sustainable development at UP. Now we bring you his reflective essay on the interaction between humans and nature.
One Hundred Years of Solitude, a classic of Latin American literature, is much more than a masterpiece of magical realism; it is a window into deep reflections on the interaction between humans and nature, and a vivid example of how human decisions can unleash devastating ecological consequences. Gabriel García Márquez's work invites us to contemplate personal, professional, and global issues, including the current climate and environmental crisis we are facing.
The story of Macondo, the mythical town founded by the Buendía family, undergoes several stages of ecological transformation. From its inception, Macondo confronts extreme climate events, such as torrential rains and prolonged droughts, which symbolize the vulnerability of societies in the face of nature. The arrival of a foreign company that exploits banana crops not only creates economic dependence but also brings ecological destruction. The unchecked exploitation of natural resources turns Macondo into a reflection of industrial exploitation in Latin America, with unsustainable development that impacts both the land and its inhabitants. At what cost is this "development" achieved? This is a question we continue to ask in the present.
This story inevitably relates to current situations, not only in Latin America but also in Europe. One example is the floods that have repeatedly affected the Czech Republic in recent years. The floods of 2002, one of the most devastating ones in the country in years, were caused by intense rains that overflowed rivers like the Vltava and the Elbe. The city of Prague saw its iconic streets and historic buildings inundated, and the impact on infrastructure was immense. Rapid urbanization and river modification, much like in Macondo, played a significant role in the magnitude of the disaster. The extreme rains that caused floods in 2013 repeated this pattern, highlighting that, like Macondo, the Czech Republic suffers the consequences of excessive intervention in the natural water cycle. Talking about magical realism in Olomouc and at Palacký University is nothing out of the ordinary. The memory of the 1997 floods in the Moravian region is not so different from what happened in Macondo in this book. On both occasions the same feelings are shared: worries, anguish and a feeling of need for divine help to control the chaos of wild nature.
A group of engineers, agronomists, hydrologists, surveyors, and land assessors arrived in Macondo and, with their intervention, modified the rainfall regime, accelerated the harvest cycle, and overexploited the land with intensive agriculture. Moreover, they diverted the river from its natural course, which, although initially perceived as progress, had disastrous consequences. Over time, these climatic and ecological alterations led to irreversible collapse. The land, exhausted and transformed, unleashed an apocalyptic whirlwind that wiped out what little remained of the Macondo population, marking the end of generations condemned to a hundred years of solitude, without a second chance on Earth. Torrential rains, exacerbated by climate change, are no longer events that happen every 50 years; instead, they have increased in frequency, increasingly affecting Central Europe.
The connection between the story of Macondo and the floods in the Czech Republic highlights that nature, when manipulated without regard for its balance, can react violently. Whether in literature or in reality, the overexploitation of the environment reminds us that there are limits, and many times the consequences are irreversible.
Just as in Macondo, where an endless rain of four years, eleven months, and two days marked the beginning of the end, the floods ravaging cities compel us to rethink our actions. One Hundred Years of Solitude is an invitation to reflect on the human impact on the environment, suggesting that as a global society, we must learn from these narratives to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. García Márquez, who was also part of the Group of “One Hundred”, a collective of intellectuals and artists fighting against environmental degradation, left us a legacy that resonates more strongly than ever: the relationship between humans and their environment is complex, and its balance is fragile.
García Márquez said, “The world will end up screwing itself the day that men travel first class and literature in the freight car.” This reflection, laden with irony, invites us to reconsider our priorities. What if, in addition to literature, we added to that “first class” the urgency of sustainability and environmental care? In a world where natural resources are on the brink of collapse, it is imperative that we prioritize not only art and culture but also the protection of the planet we inhabit.