1. Latin American literature has evolved over many centuries, from oral pre-Columbian traditions through colonial-era accounts to modern styles like magical realism. 2. Key periods include the 19th century foundational novels, early 20th century Modernismo movement led by Rubén Darío, and the postwar Boom of the 1960s-70s featuring authors like García Márquez. 3. Major authors discussed include Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel García Márquez, Pablo Neruda, Octavio Paz, Alejo Carpentier, Gabriela Mistral, Carlos Fuentes, and Isabel Allende. Their works employ styles like magical realism, fantasy,

1. 21ST CENTURY LITERATURE
PRESENTATION

2.  Consist of oral & written literature in several languages
(Spanish, Portuguese, and the indigenous languages of the Americas as wellas
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.

4. Pre-Columbian Literature
• Primarily oral, though the Aztecs andMayans
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

5. Modernismo and Boom precursors
Emerged in the late 19th century
• A poetic movement whose founding text wasthe
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 whatwas
almost a new genre, “the philosophical short story”
Modernismo was an end of
Nineteenth and early
Twentieth-century Latin-
American literary
movement, best exemplified
•
by Rubén Darío.

6. • 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

7. 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 excerptsof
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.

8. 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.

10. 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 mostoften
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).

11. 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, andArias.
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. andFerré.

12. 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.

13. • 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 learnnot to repeat
the mistakes of thepast.

14. Reader participation —Cortázar’s characters aremore
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?)

16. 1. Jorge Luis Borges (Argentine,1899-1986)
• Author of Ficciones, ElAleph
• 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.”
• Credited 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)

17. 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)

18. 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.
• 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.

19. 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 sensualityas
well as language and silence.

20. 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.

21. 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.

22. 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.

23. 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.
• 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

24. Britannica.com
myblog.worpress.com
Wikipedia
bookstellyouwhy.com
telegraph.com