The Social Conscience of Latin American Writing
The Social Conscience of Latin American Writing
A CHOICE Outstanding Academic Book
Literature in Latin America has long been a vehicle for debates over the interpretation of social history, cultural identity, and artistic independence. Indeed, Latin American literature has gained international respect for its ability to present social criticism through works of imaginative creation.
In this comprehensive, up-to-the-minute survey of research and opinion by leading Latin American cultural and literary critics, Naomi Lindstrom examines five concepts that are currently the focus of intense debate among Latin American writers and thinkers. Writing in simple, clear terms for both general and specialist readers of Latin American literature, she explores the concepts of autonomy and dependency, postmodernism, literary intellectuals and the mass media, testimonial literature, and gender issues, including gay and lesbian themes. Excerpts (in English) from relevant literary works illustrate each concept, while Lindstrom also traces its passage from the social sciences to literature.
Lindstrom's concise, yet sophisticated, synthesis sets out the broad, complex, and interrelated themes of social and economic inequalities between cultures and nations; the meaning of postmodernism in Latin American culture; the difficulty of obtaining first-hand accounts from nonmainstream groups; the effects of technology on modern life; and the incorporation of gendered perspectives into the critical discourse. Lindstrom writes for the English speaking non-specialist, but specialists will also welcome her cogent exposition of significant, but often confusing, issues.
On one level, this is a brilliant scholarly answer to the bedeviling question asked by non-Latin Americanists, 'What is Latin American literature like?' On another level, it coordinates and clarifies, for specialists, the complex of current issues that are often confusing and even discouraging because they are incompletely understood.
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- One. Autonomy and Dependency in Latin American Writing
- Two. Postmodernism in Latin American Literary Culture
- Three. Testimonial Narrative: Whose Text?
- Four. Literary Intellectuals and Mass Media
- Five. Latin American Women's Writing and Gender Issues in Criticism
- Conclusion
- Notes
- Selected Bibliography
- Index
