20th-Century Latin American Literature: Poetry and Narrative
20th-Century Latin American Poetry
In the early 1940s, artistic shifts emerged in poetry, though it’s difficult to generalize about the poets of this era. Surrealism significantly influenced both style and themes. This period saw a renewed focus on Latin American literary and cultural traditions and a search for national poetic elements. By the 1960s, political commitment and a broader interest in Spanish American or universal themes influenced poetic expression.
The diverse works of poets like Pablo Neruda and Octavio Paz illustrate the evolution of Latin American poetry in the latter half of the 20th century.
20th-Century Latin American Narrative
The development of Latin American fiction in the 20th century reflects evolving understandings of historical, political, and cultural realities. In the 1920s, avant-garde innovations challenged traditional realism. Influences from European and American writers (Proust, Joyce, Faulkner, Woolf) shaped modern literature.
Overview
Two main strands emerged: realistic and innovative, the latter culminating in the new narrative.
Realism
The first three decades of the century emphasized representing specific social and political realities, including Indigenous, Black, and mixed-race populations. Realism, grounded in the belief in objective representation of landscape, people, and conflicts, was dominant.
The New Narrative
A break from traditional realism involved questioning perceived reality and verisimilitude. The works of Borges and the influence of surrealism were key factors. The 1940s saw publications hinting at this change, but the new narrative’s full impact arrived in the 1960s. Two trends dominated: a renewed realism with narrative and linguistic innovations, and a focus on imagination, manifested in magical and fantastic realism.
Latest Trends
The late 20th century saw a shift away from structural and linguistic complexity. A return to realism, a more accessible style, humor, parody, and the theme of love emerged. Experimentalism and anti-realism persisted, exemplified by Ricardo Piglia’s Artificial Respiration (1980). Three main lines developed: the testimonial novel (blending fact and fiction), the historical novel, and the detective novel.
Features of the New Narrative
The new Latin American narrative combined thematic and formal features reflecting a new worldview.
Thematic Features
Key features, though diverse given the vast geographical and cultural context, include:
- Fantasy: The irrational emerged as an element of daily reality, drawing from popular beliefs, pre-Hispanic myths, superstitions, and dreams. This is the essence of magical realism.
- The Fantastic: A complex, messy, and ambiguous reality is reflected in the eruption of the mysterious and unexplained in everyday life, or through extraordinary elements and worlds that challenge rational certainty. This is the essence of fantastic realism.
- The Human Condition: Major problems of contemporary society, rooted in Latin American history, society, and environment, are explored. A generally pessimistic vision prevails, with themes of fatalism, despair, loneliness, and cyclical history. Existential angst, isolation, and time are prominent.
- Literature and Language: Literature itself becomes a theme, with debates about its nature and a focus on renewing literary language.
- Humor: Expressed through various forms, including lighthearted fun, satire, and metaphysical humor.
- Eroticism: Presented as part of the human condition, linked to characters’ social and cultural circumstances. Love is not generally portrayed as an escape from existential angst.
Formal Traits
Renewals in narrative techniques and language are evident. Narrative structures become more complex, with fragmentation, alternating storylines, and shifts in time and logic. The omniscient narrator is combined with other narrative voices and interior monologue, leading to overlapping and multiple perspectives. A new literary language is sought, emphasizing local varieties, especially spoken and popular language, alongside poetic, symbolic language, and neologisms.