Hispanic American Literature: A 20th-Century Overview
The Novel
Early Influences (Until 1945)
The Hispanic American novel experienced a boom in the mid-20th century, influenced by foreign literature. Early novels, marked by realism, naturalism, and modernism, explored social conflicts, exploitation, colonization, revolution, and the struggle against nature. Key themes included the exploited Indigenous population, tyrannical landowners, and powerful women. Notable works include Mariano Azuela’s The Underdogs, Martín Luis Guzmán’s Memories of Pancho Villa, Arturo Uslar Pietri’s The Red Lances, Alcides Arguedas’ Raza de Bronze, Jorge Icaza’s Huasipungo, and Miguel Otero Silva’s Fever (dealing with military dictatorships). The regional novel, exemplified by Eustasio Rivera’s The Vortex, Rómulo Gallegos’ Doña Bárbara and Canaima, and Ricardo Güiraldes’ Don Segundo Sombra, focused on the Hispanic American landscape and its influence on individuals.
International Recognition (1945-1960)
From 1945 to 1960, Hispanic American authors gained international recognition. Magical realism, blending reality and fantasy, emerged as a prominent style. Authors explored urban themes, human rights, and dictatorships, drawing on surrealist and expressionist influences. Miguel Ángel Asturias’ Mr. President and Alejo Carpentier’s Ecue-Yamba pioneered new techniques. Jorge Luis Borges, in works like The Aleph, incorporated classical myths, symbols, and metaphors. Juan Carlos Onetti’s The Pit, Ernesto Sabato’s On Heroes and Tombs, Julio Cortázar’s Hopscotch, Juan Rulfo’s Pedro Páramo, Augusto Roa Bastos’ Son of Man, Mario Benedetti’s The Truce, and Adolfo Bioy Casares’ The Invention of Morel represent the diverse literary landscape of this period.
The Boom and Beyond (1960s Onward)
The 1960s saw the Latin American Boom, with authors blending new and old techniques. Magical realism continued to flourish, critiquing military and religious institutions. The traditional novel’s linearity was challenged, with multiple narrators and internal monologues. Mario Vargas Llosa’s The Time of the Hero and The Feast of the Goat examined individual and societal behavior. Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude became a cornerstone of magical realism. Other key figures include Carlos Fuentes (The Death of Artemio Cruz) and Guillermo Cabrera Infante (Three Trapped Tigers). Contemporary Hispanic American novels, while diverse, often incorporate oral traditions, social concerns, and a yearning for freedom, as seen in works by Isabel Allende (The House of the Spirits), Laura Esquivel (Like Water for Chocolate), Luis Sepúlveda (The Old Man Who Read Love Stories), and Cristina Peri Rossi (The Ship of Fools).
Hispanic American Lyric Poetry
Early 20th-century Hispanic American lyric poetry was distinctly modernist, influenced by various avant-garde movements. This led to a more intimate, human, and experimental style, breaking with traditional verse structures in favor of free verse. Poets explored new themes related to futurism, urbanism, and everyday life, while also continuing the tradition of socially committed poetry.
Postmodernist poetry, influenced by Rubén Darío (Prosas Profanas) and Leopoldo Lugones, gave way to a more intimate style in the 1910s and 1920s with poets like Gabriela Mistral (Desolation) and Ramón López Velarde (The Heart). The 1930s saw the rise of avant-garde influences, including Creationism (Vicente Huidobro’s Altazor), Ultraism (Jorge Luis Borges, Ricardo Güiraldes), and Surrealism (Octavio Paz, Pablo Neruda, César Vallejo). These movements embraced metaphor, free verse, and non-linear structures.
The pursuit of pure poetry, influenced by the Generation of ’27 and Juan Ramón Jiménez, coexisted with a socially conscious poetry focused on Hispanic culture and customs, exemplified by Nicolás Guillén (Motivos de Son). Socially committed poetry addressed themes of dictatorship, oppression, and revolution.
César Vallejo’s poetry, marked by surrealism and a sense of guilt, evolved from modernist works like The Black Heralds to the more socially engaged Trilce and Spain, Take this Cup from Me. Pablo Neruda’s work ranged from the romantic Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair to the formally innovative and politically charged Third Residence, the epic Canto General, and the diverse themes of Estravagario.
The latter half of the century saw the continued influence of avant-garde movements, including Nicanor Parra’s antipoetry, with its casual, ironic, and colloquial style. Octavio Paz’s work, influenced by Baroque and existentialism, includes The Labyrinth of Solitude and the surrealist Topoemas.