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 movement, best exemplified by Rubén Darío.

Modernismo and Boom precursors

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.
Modernismo was an end of Nineteenth and early Twentieth-century Latin-
American literary movement, best exemplified by Rubén Darío.

Modernismo and Boom precursors

• 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.
Modernismo was an end of Nineteenth and early Twentieth-century Latin-
American literary movement, best exemplified by Rubén Darío.

Modernismo and Boom precursors

• 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.
 The Boom
• 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
 The Boom
• 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.
 Post-Boom and contemporary literature
• 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.
4. Female discourse — fiction that makes its main
theme gender role as it critiques marianismo and
machismo in Latin American society. Authors associated
w/female discourse or feminist themes include Allende,
Castellanos. and Ferré.
 Surrealism is often confused with magical realism as they both
explore illogical or non-realist aspects of humanity and existence.
Surrealism "is most distanced from magical realism [in that] the
aspects that it explores are associated not with material reality but with
the imagination and the mind, and in particular it attempts to express the
'inner life' and psychology of humans through art." It seeks to express the
sub-conscious, unconscious, the repressed and inexpressible. Magical
realism, on the other hand, rarely presents the extraordinary in the
form of a dream or a psychological experience.
• Labyrinth — Borges’ fiction relies upon this theme. Many of his
characters are caught in strange mazes or webs of lies. Sometimes,
Borges’ charters’ actions cause them to be trapped in a place or time,
repeating the same bad decisions endlessly.
• Eternal Recurrence of All Things — Borges borrows from
Nietzsche’s concept: the eternal recurrence of all things means
that everything that has happened in the past will happen
again; only characters who are capable of self-knowledge
can learn not to repeat the mistakes of the past.
• Reader participation —Cortázar’s characters are more often
social outcasts: the circus freak, lunatics, even some delusional
characters people Cortazar’s fiction. Instead of the author having
omniscience (being all- knowing), Cortázar invites readers to
construct the meaning of his work.
In the case of Rayuela/Hopscotch (a novel), readers are
encouraged to read chapters in a non-linear fashion. Whether a
reader wants to read from the middle of the novel or from the
last chapter to the first (backwards), each reader will experience
a different story.
• Open doors — rather than placing characters in a maze,
Cortázar risks their lives; some are murderers, some are
insane, and others are suicidal.
• Sudden jolts — the unexpected is bound to happen in
Cortázar’s fiction. In an effort to shake readers from
passivity and complacency, Cortázar wants readers to feel
shocked and surprised when we read his stories. The
conclusion of “Continuity of Parks” is particularly
surprising as readers are suddenly transported into the
narrator’s chair. (How so?)
 1. Jorge Luis Borges (Argentine, 1899-1986)

• Author of Ficciones, El Aleph

• The most eminent Latin American author of any
century, because to read him is to activate an
awareness of literature in which he has gone farther
than anybody else. (According to literary critic Harold Bloom)
• Borges’ work is aesthetic; this means he writes
with the intention of contributing to the world of
literature. As such, his fiction can be viewed as “art
for art’s sake.”
 1. Jorge Luis Borges (Argentine, 1899-1986)

• redited for developing and advancing the

“fantastic” style in the region
• His short stories frequently present his reader with a
dizzying array of libraries, labyrinths, and mirrors.
• “Is an admirable writer pledged to destroy reality
and convert man into a shadow.” (description of Ana
Maria Barrenchea)
 2. Gabriel García Márquez (Columbian)

• Novelists that’s perhaps the most prominent author

to emerge from Latin America in the 20th century
• Author of the Cien Años de Soledad (1967), one of the most
important works in world literature of the 20th century
• Won the Nobel Prize for Literature 1982
• Márquez’s magical realist world blends beautifully the
magically quotidian (ice, magnets) with everyday magic
(divine ascensions, raining flowers)
 3. Pablo Neruda (Chilean)
• A poet of 20th century
• “Is the greatest poet of the 20th century, in any language.“
(according to Gabriel García Márquez)
• Won the Nobel Prize for Literature1971
• An outspoken voice in Latin American world politics, a
move which allowed him, in some ways, to alienate
everyone.
 3. Pablo Neruda (Chilean)
• His poetry is famously romantic and erotic, sometimes
importing sensuality to the most quotidian of objects,
as seen in works like “Ode to the Apple.
• Neruda’s politics made him an exile from his native
Chile, and he recounted his dramatic escape in his
Nobel lecture.
 4. Octavio Paz
• Mexican writer and poet
• Won the Nobel Prize for Literature1990
• Author of the The Labyrinth of Solitude
• Hist poetry often explores solitude and sensuality as well
as language and silence.
 5. Alejo Carpentier (1904-1980)

• great stylistic contribution to Latin American literature was his

magical realism, called lo real maravilloso, which reflects the
fantastic, and often otherworldly, properties of Latin American
life
• Embraces the extreme as never too far from the truth
• His novel The Kingdom of this World depicts the Haitian
uprising in which African slaves rebel against their French
colonial rulers.
 6. Gabriela Mistral (1889-1957)

• Her poetry captures not only the wide political themes of

Latin American identity and progress, but also the intimate
spheres of loss, grief, and motherhood.
• She remains the only female Latin American author to win
the Nobel Prize 1945.
 7. Carlos Fuentes (1928-2012)

• His books reflect a constant political striving,

interrogating the ideals of revolution, power, equality,
justice, and violence.
• Author of The Death of Artemio Cruz, that happily
utilizes the tools of multiple narration and interior
monologue.
 8. Isabel Allende (b. 1947)
• A post-Boom author
• Her novels frequently blend myth and reality.
She draws from the fount of magical realism
that has long helped capture the Latin
American experience.
 8. Isabel Allende (b. 1947)
• As a reporter, she was able to get an interview with Pablo
Neruda, who told her that she had too much imagination for a
journalist. He suggested that she begin writing novels
instead. As a result, her literary career has a semi- accidental
nature. If it wasn’t for outside encouragement, and a letter to
her dying grandfather (that developed into The House of the
Spirits, her first book), who knows how long her career
would have been delayed. Today, she is regarded as a Latin
American treasure and figure of world culture. She has
appeared in Olympic ceremonies, won Chile’s National
Literature Prize, and won a Presidential Medal of Freedom