Contemporary Latin American Narrative: Magical Realism and Beyond
Contemporary Latin American Narrative
Realism in Latin America
The narrative in Latin America evolved with the arrival of Romanticism and Manners in the 19th century. Only in the 19th and early 20th centuries did the genre begin to consolidate with the influence of Modernism and Realism imported from Europe. The decline of Modernism paved the way for Realism, which dominated Hispanic narrative well into the 1940s.
The Realist Novel
Realist narrators focused their stories on the difficult lives within the American republics, with a testimonial and critical purpose. Notable figures include Mexico’s Mariano Azuela, Venezuela’s Rómulo Gallegos (Doña Bárbara), Argentina’s Ricardo Güiraldes (Don Segundo Sombra), and Colombia’s Eustasio Rivera (La Vorágine). Many realistic novels deal with the oppression of Indigenous peoples, such as Jorge Icaza’s Huasipungo and Ciro Alegría’s The World is Wide and Strange. The Latin American structuralist novel sought to reflect the complexities of military dictatorships and revolutions, denouncing the national oligarchies that exploited resources for their own benefit.
Magical Realism
From 1940 onwards, Hispanic novels and stories embraced new themes and narrative techniques that displaced traditional realism. Without abandoning the political, social, and indigenous themes, they incorporated existential and urban narratives. Authors assimilated storytelling techniques from classical literature, as well as contemporary European and American works. Their innovations were accompanied by a rigorous treatment of language and style, often dazzling with descriptive beauty. The result is a narrative model—story or novel—that recreates a world where reality merges with the fantastic and even the eerie.
The term “Magical Realism” is attributed to Italian writer Massimo Bontempelli, who inspired Futurism, Surrealism, and Magical Realism, which encouraged artists to reveal the magic in everyday life. The fusion of reality and fantasy has been present in literature since its origins, from traditional storytelling and medieval tales to the marvelous elements of chivalric romances. This perspective on reality was championed by extraordinary storytellers like Alejo Carpentier, Jorge Luis Borges, and Miguel Ángel Asturias, who spearheaded the resurgence of Latin American narrative leading to the heyday of Magical Realism.
Key Authors and Works:
- Jorge Luis Borges: The Maker, The Book of Sand
- Manuel Mujica Láinez: Bomarzo, Here Lived
- Miguel Ángel Asturias: El Señor Presidente
- Alejo Carpentier: The Cathedral
- Juan Rulfo: El Llano en Llamas, Pedro Páramo
The New Storytellers
Hispanic narrators of the 1960s followed the path of Magical Realism traced by their predecessors. They continued to explore existential, socio-political, urban, and indigenous themes. Their formal innovations were similar to those of the experimental or structural novel in Spain. Their language and style tended towards simplicity, constantly seeking new expressive possibilities. A rich vocabulary and powerful, poetic prose are hallmarks of their work.
The cultural isolation of post-war Spain explains the lack of awareness of contemporary Latin American narrative in that country. The 1960s witnessed the discovery of authors like Mario Vargas Llosa, Ernesto Sábato, Alejo Carpentier, and Carlos Fuentes. The arrival of these novelists in the Spanish literary scene was a cultural phenomenon known as the “Latin American Boom.”
Key Authors and Works of the Boom:
- Ernesto Sábato: On Heroes and Tombs, The Tunnel
- Julio Cortázar: Bestiario, Secret Weapons
- Gabriel García Márquez: One Hundred Years of Solitude
- Mario Vargas Llosa: The Time of the Hero, The City and the Dogs
- Carlos Fuentes: The Death of Artemio Cruz
- Sergio Pitol: The Art of Fugue
- Elena Poniatowska: Here’s to You, Jesusa!
- Fernando del Paso: Noticias del Imperio
- Laura Esquivel: Like Water for Chocolate
Like Water for Chocolate demonstrates the importance of cuisine as a source of knowledge and pleasure.