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Latin American 170610002723
Latin American 170610002723
PRESENTATION
Consist of oral & written literature in several languages
(Spanish, Portuguese, and the indigenous languages of the Americas as well as
literature of the United States written in the Spanish language)
Rose to particular prominence globally during the second half
of the 20th century, largely due to the international success of
the style known as magical realism. As such, the region's
literature is often associated solely with this style, with the
20th Century literary movement known as Latin American
Boom, and with its most famous exponent, Gabriel García
Márquez. Latin American literature has a rich and complex
tradition of literary production that dates back many
centuries.
Pre-Columbian Literature
• Primarily oral, though the Aztecs and Mayans
Colonial literature
• When Europeans encountered the New World, early
explorers and conquistadores produced written
accounts and crónicas of their experience, such as
Columbus's letters or Bernal Díaz del Castillo's
description of the conquest of Mexico
Nineteenth-century literature ("foundational
fictions“)
• Novels in the Romantic or Naturalist traditions that
attempted to establish a sense of national identity,
and which often focused on the indigenous question
or the dichotomy of "civilization or barbarism“
• Additionally, a gradual increase in women's
education and writing during the 19th century
brought more women writers to the forefront
Modernismo was an end of
Nineteenth and early
Twentieth-century Latin-
American literary
Modernismo and Boom precursors
movement, best exemplified
by Rubén Darío. • Emerged in the late 19th century
• A poetic movement whose founding text was the
Nicaraguan Rubén Darío's Azul (1888).
• Had been the renovation of poetic from & techniques,
extending to the use of free verse.
• The first Latin American literary movement to
influence literary culture outside of the region, and
was also the first truly Latin American literature, in
that national differences were no longer so much at
issue.
• In early twentieth century, saw the rise of
indigenismo, a movement dedicated to representing
indigenous culture and the injustices that such
communities were undergoing
• The Argentine Jorge Luis Borges invented what was
almost a new genre, “the philosophical short story”
• Also vanguadria, literally fore-guard
• Next artistic movement after Modernismo which
instituted a radical search for new, daring,
confrontational themes and shockingly novel forms
• People & works have become experimental
• It is to push boundaries of what is accepted as the
norm or status quo
The Boom
• After World War II, Latin America enjoyed increasing
economic prosperity, and a new-found confidence also gave
rise to a literary boom.
• Was a period of literary flourishing in the 1960s and 70s
that brought much of the area’s literature to an
international audience. Famous Boom authors include
Julio Cortázar, Carlos Fuentes, Octavio Paz, Mario Vargas
Llosa, and Gabriel García Márquez.
• Boom writers ventured outside traditional narrative
structures, embracing non-linearity and experimental
narration.
• Launched Latin American literature onto the world stage,
it was distinguished by daring and experimental novels
• Emir Rodríguez Monegal published his influential Latin
American literature monthly Mundo Nuevo (with excerpts of
unreleased novels from then-new writers such as Guillermo Cabrera Infante
or Severo Sarduy, including two chapters of Gabriel García Márquez's Cien
años de soledad in 1966) which was one of the Boom's defining
novels, which led to the association of Latin American
literature with magic realism.
Post-Boom and contemporary literature
• Sometimes characterized by a tendency towards
irony and towards the use of popular genres
• Some writers felt the success of the Boom to be a
burden, and spiritedly denounced the caricature that
reduces Latin American literature to magical
realism.
• Other writers have traded on the Boom's success: see
for instance Laura Esquivel's pastiche of magical
realism in Como agua para chocolate.
• Contemporary literature in the region is vibrant and
varied, ranging from the best-selling Paulo Coelho
and Isabel Allende to the more avant-garde and
critically acclaimed work of writers such as Diamela
Eltit & Giannina Braschi.
1. The Fantastic — odd, remarkable or bizarre;
grotesque and highly unbelievable or unrealistic
events occur in fiction. The Fantastic tests and
often bends the limits of reality. Authors most often
associated with the “Fantastic” are Borges and
Cortázar.
2. Magical realism — there is argument between
those who see magical realism as a Latin American
invention and those who see it as the global product
of a postmodern world
— when magical or supernatural
elements are introduced into an otherwise realistic
fictional setting; magical realism will depict believable
settings, characters, and circumstances, but the
supernatural or magical is incorporated into the fiction.
Carpentier coined the term “lo real maravilloso.”
Authors associated with magical realism include Garcia
Marquez, Carpentier, and Esquivel (especially Like
Water for Chocolate).
3. Social realism — dark and often depressing
depictions of life in Latin America; sometime the
literature reflects the violent history of the region:
“Torrents of blood.” Authors associated w/social realism
are Novas Calvo, Rulfo, and Arias.