Latin American boom: representative authors
Image: El Comercio / Peru
When we talk about "Latin American Boom" We are referring to a group of writers who emerged at the same time in different Latin American countries and who, for commercial reasons, were encompassed with this "boom" label. However, it is important to point out that this phenomenon is not a generation of writers but, rather, a marketing tactic promoted by the editor Carmen Balcells.
But, finally, what this brought as a consequence was the appearance of a large number of authors who elaborated a surprising, innovative and Americanist type of writing that, until then, had not existed in the literature. In this lesson from a TEACHER we are going to discover you who were the representative authors of the Latin American Boom So that, thus, you meet 5 of the most important names in this phenomenon.
Index
- What was the Latin American Boom: brief summary
- Gabriel García Márquez, the representative author of the Boom
- Julio Cortázar, another author belonging to the Boom de Hispanoamérica
- José Donoso, one of the lesser known writers of the Boom
- Mario Vargas Llosa, another of the essential voices of Boom
- Carlos Fuentes, another proper name of the Boom
What was the Latin American Boom: brief summary.
But before starting to talk about the representative authors of the Latin American Boom, we believe that It is important to get closer to this publishing phenomenon to understand what it was and what are its features. Therefore, here we offer you a short summary on the Latin American Boom and that will help you better understand this moment in the history of literature.
This concept refers to the proliferation of authors in different Latin American countries and that, all of them, opted to create a type of narrative of their own, away from European influence and seeking its own identity in the letters. However, all the authors of the Boom were influenced by the avant-garde movement that prevailed in Europe and that what he was looking for was to experiment with art and find other ways of expressing reality.
The authors of the Boom wanted to apply this cultural and artistic deconstruction in your own reality. And, for that reason, they turned their eyes to the American reality, its traditions, its popular folklore and the political reality of its countries. This is how a new point of view began to be fostered that could be sensed in both his stories and novels. In all of them you can see a predominance of elements such as:
- Defense of American culture and its roots
- Search for a literature of its own that is different from the European one
- Denunciation of the political situation of the countries
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Gabriel García Márquez, the representative author of the Boom.
One of the best-known authors of the Latin American Boom worldwide is Gabriel Garcia Marquez. In fact, this writer is considered as the creator of a narrative style that greatly influenced the writers of this current: the real magic. This author is one of the best valued writers in contemporary literature and, also, is considered as one of the founders of this new literary trend that appeared in countries Latin Americans.
The work of his summit of his and that was the one that inaugurated the subgenre of magical realism was "One Hundred Years of Solitude", a novel that places us in Macondo, an invented population and in which the inhabitants live experiences that move between reality and fiction, between truth and lies. A correlation of stories that are intertwined and that introduce us to different generations of the Buendía family.
The importance of this work in the Hispanic American narrative is centered on the fact that the town of Macondo could be extrapolated and considered as the history of Latin America in general. Although García Márquez was Colombian, the truth is that this city can become an example that can be applied to any Latin American country of the time.
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Julio Cortázar, another author belonging to the Boom de Hispanoamérica.
Julio Cortazar is another of the essential names within this literary current of the middle of the century. This is an Argentine author who, in fact, is considered one of the best storytellers in Latin America. He also attached himself to the García Márquez subgenre of magical realism and, in this fantastic and real environment, he framed most of his stories and his writings.
The most outstanding characteristic of Cortázar's literary creation is that he considered that literature was a game. Following the printing started by the avant-garde, Cortázar wanted to investigate about the multiple possibilities that literature brought to authors and to the communication and recreation of the world. One of his great experiments and with which he achieved worldwide recognition was the publication of "Hopscotch", a work in which the author tests a large number of literary elements that play with deconstruction and tests with other types of communication.
"Hopscotch" was one of the most original, surprising and innovative novels offered by the Latin American Boom. He places us in Paris, a European city to which the author himself went into exile due to the dictatorship in his country. He was a writer who tried the well-known "metaphysical writing", a way of communicating through letters and speaking to that other higher spiritual plan. However, all this was done with a simple, close and innovative language.
But not only by "Hopscotch" is Cortázar known. This author was a prolific short story writer that, really, are masterpieces of the genre. He, together with Jorge Luis Borges, They gave a new impetus to short story writing and positioned the genre in a more reputed and higher stage in the literature of its time. In his stories is where we see more the influence of magical realism since the author places us in stories that move between fantasy and reality without the characters in his stories being aware of the extraordinary of events.
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José Donoso, one of the lesser known Boom writers.
Continuing with this lesson in which we meet the representative authors of the Latin American Boom, we will now talk about one of the lesser known names but that, nevertheless, caused a great impact at the time and in the history of literature. The reason is that José Donoso was linked at first with the authors of this trend but, years later, he decided to separate from the group voluntarily.
This author was a tireless traveler. He wanted to have adventures at all times and to enjoy an amazing and exciting life. Therefore, despite being part of a good family, the author decided to leave everything and work on farms in Latin America and on part of Europe. He was marked out of Chile due to the Pinochet dictatorship but, when he returned to his country, he was arrested for participating in a protest against the regime. This made the writer become one of the most oppositional personalities to the regime and became the visible face of the fight against the dictatorship.
One of his best known works is "The place without limit", a novel that introduces us to La Manuela, a transvestite who works in a brothel. This is one of the author's best-known novels and one that managed to exert a great influence among young Latin American authors.
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Mario Vargas Llosa, another of the essential voices of Boom.
Another of the writers of the Hispanic American Boom who is better known, even today, is Mario Vargas Llosa. It is about an author who, today, is alive and it is that when the Boom took place he was the youngest writer of the movement. It is about an author of Peruvian origin who, with his novels, tried to make a faithful description of the society of his country. With this portrait he managed to create a portrait of humanity in a global way.
The objective that Vargas Llosa was pursuing with his writings was to try understand political and historical events that were lived in Latin American countries. But not all of his works are part of the "Boom" but, of all his literary production, only 3 of them are considered to meet the characteristics of the current:
- The city and the Dogs
- The green House
- Conversation in the Cathedral
Of all of them, the most relevant is "The city and the Dogs" which, moreover, coincides in being his first published novel by him. This story places us in a military college and during the course of the plot the author questions the authority of the military.
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Carlos Fuentes, another proper name for Boom.
And we end this lesson talking about another of the essential names in the Latin American boom: Carlos Fuentes. This author is one of the most influential writers from his time. Originally from Mexico, Fuentes traveled and lived in many cities on the continent because his father was a diplomat. This made him know well the cultures and traditions of different Latin American peoples who had seen their culture intimidated by the Spanish influence.
One of the most outstanding works of Carlos Fuentes and that are part of the Boom group is "The death of Artemio Cruz", a novel in which we are told about the history of Mexico and that is narrated from a character who sees how his country is being corrupted. A work that talks about Mexican society and that launches a fierce criticism of the political life of the time.
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