How did regionalist novels portray the conflict between civilization and nature?

In Latin American literature, regionalist novels—often referred to as novelas de la tierra or novela criollista—portrayed the conflict between civilization and nature as a monumental, often allegorical struggle. These works depicted the human effort to tame the natural environment, aiming to make it subservient and productive within the context of national industries, such as cattle ranching on the pampas or rubber prospecting in the jungle.1

This conflict was frequently framed as a binary opposition: man against nature, civilization against barbarism, and good against evil. In these narratives, nature was often characterized as a powerful, relentless, and sometimes merciless force that stood in direct antagonism to the quest for cultural definition.1

This thematic focus was famously articulated by Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, whose work established the "civilization versus barbarism" formula—associating urban, European-influenced culture with civilization and rural, native life with barbarism—as a foundational concept for characterizing Latin American culture. Ultimately, the regionalist novel dramatized the continent's attempt to define its identity as a product of, yet in opposition to, its own natural forces.21