Social Change and Cultural Stress (01:51)

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From the mid-1960s to the early 1980s, Latin America experiences tumultuous times. It was a time of social change and cultural stress. The literature of this period reflects these dynamic tensions.

Literature of Revolution (03:08)

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the convergence of politics, intellectual trends, and aesthetics restructured the institutions of literature. There was a strong sense that revolution was imminent. The Latin American Boom ushered in the "superstar" auth

Literature as a Cultural Necessity (01:21)

Literature was culturally necessary, a communal search for truth in morally ambiguous times. Literary expression becomes more cautious, and began to focus on innuendo and suggestion rather than on declarative statements.

Chronicles and Testimonials (03:54)

Chronicles or urban "cr+¦nica" are a hybrid genre of journalism and literature. It attempts to capture the essence of a particular moment in time through words and pictures. Carlos Monsiv+íis captures the chaos of the urban experience. Excerpt is included.

Elena Poniatowska: Genre of Collective Testimony (02:49)

Elena Poniatowska is best known for her 1971 work "La noche de Tlatelolco," based on interviews with families of victims of the 1968 massacre. Her work is a collective testimony that allows readers to insert their interpretations between narratives.

Non-Fiction Testimonial: Open-Ended Literature (04:22)

Rodolfo Walsh is a primary contributor to the genre of non-fiction testimonial. His work proposes a fresh approach to literature that is at odds with traditional journalism and history writing. The bright line between literature and popular culture was ba

Literature and Compromise (04:45)

The realism or the latter half of the 20th century, was intertwined with Marxist conceptions. Writers like Sartre and Foucault inspired the people. Miguel Guti+¬rrez and Oswaldo Reynoso championed compromise literature. Julio Cort+ízar writes prolifically i

Return of Lyricism (03:58)

Latin American poetry reinvents itself in the late 20th century. Poetry was a vehicle of political activism. Writers of note include Benedetti, Gelman, Galeano, Urando, Dorfmann, and Pablo Neruda.

Priest and Poet: Ernesto Cardenal (01:56)

Visionary poet Ernesto Cardenal allied himself with the Sandinistas, a leftwing Nicaraguan political party. He was a seminal thinker in the liberation theology movement.

Latin American Militant Poets (03:14)

Juan Gelman was forced into political exile for his militant poetry. Francisco Urondo dared confront his country's ruling military junta. Jos+¬ Emilio Pacheco is regarded as one of the major Mexican poets of the second half of the 20th century.

Latin American New Historical Novel (04:53)

The genre of the historical novel embodies some of the most important texts from the last thirty years. Notable authors include Reinaldo Arenas, Augusto Roa Bastos, Alejo Carpentier, Guillermo Cabrera Infante, and Carlos Fuentes.

Dictatorships, Exiles, and New Quests (03:31)

The periods of 1973 and 1976 saw the rise of brutal military dictatorships throughout Latin America. This brought about a radical reformulation of Latin American literature. Key figures include H+¬ctor Tiz+¦n and Diamela Eltit.

Reality, Literalness, and Treachery (02:14)

Also from the 1970s, "Artificial Respiration" by Ricardo Piglia has had a great impact on subsequent literature. This book denounces crimes committed during the Argentinean military dictatorship, but does so through innuendo and suggestion.

Fusion of Politics and Literature (03:32)

Key texts also address the misery of life under the dictatorships, especially in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Paraguay. Writers include Libertad Demitr+¦pulos, Luisa Valenzuela, and Diamela Eltit. Excerpts included.

Post-Latin American Boom: Period of Uncertainty and Anguish (01:31)

The decades that followed the Latin American Boom did not go as planned. Dictators flourished, economies struggled, and the attention of the world's readership drifted elsewhere. Writers of Latin America have blazed a new path to the future.