Latin American Narrative: Realism to Boom
Latin American Narrative in the Second Half of the 20th Century
Two Stages
The Latin American narrative in the second half of the 20th century can be divided into two main stages:
- Overcoming Realism: Initially, realism was the dominant form, represented by authors like Mariano Azuela and Ricardo Güiraldes. This stage saw the emergence of regional and indigenous novels, characterized by their realistic portrayal of diverse and magnificent nature, political conflicts, and social problems.
- The Emergence of Magical Realism: This movement began to overcome traditional realism, representing the urban world and exploring existential problems by mixing reality and fantasy. Key figures include Jorge Luis Borges, Miguel Angel Asturias, Alejo Carpentier, and Juan Rulfo. These authors were heavily influenced by European writers like Proust, Kafka, and Joyce, and are considered pioneers of magical realism.
The Latin American Boom
The second stage, known as the “Boom Hispanoamericano,” introduced a completely new type of novel. It featured innovative formal techniques, experimentation with language (as seen in Julio Cortázar’s *Rayuela*), and a focus on urban themes. This resulted from the total consolidation of the integration between fantasy and reality.
Ernesto Sabato, Mario Vargas Llosa, and Gabriel García Márquez are among the most prominent representatives of this successful stage in Latin American narrative.
Literary Acts of Communication
Literary acts of communication have specific characteristics and elements:
- Sender (Author): The creator of the original and unpublished work, intended to transcend time. The author acts as an artistic stimulus, crafting the work with care and thoroughness.
- Receiver (Reader/Viewer): A heterogeneous group that interprets and recreates the work through reading.
- Message (Literary Work/Text): The work itself, presented in an aesthetic and beautiful way. The form is as crucial as the content.
- Original Channel: The book, theatrical performance, composition, or audiovisual medium.
- Context: The author’s and reader’s contexts differ. The author creates from their point of view, while the receiver interprets from their own.
- Code: Common language modified for expressive and aesthetic purposes.
Features of Literary Language
- Based on common language, but the writer manipulates and modifies it to create an innovative code.
- Possesses its own means of expression, often with its own grammar.
- Uses varied, precise, and connotative language.
- Rich vocabulary, sometimes including words unknown to the reader.
- Presence of connotation, carrying multiple messages and polysemic interpretations.
- Predominance of the poetic function, but also expressive and conative functions.
- The author seeks to astonish or surprise the reader.
Means of Intensification and Nonverbal Effects
Musicality is used to achieve rhythm and expressive poetic function. Literary figures (rhetorical devices) enhance the language:
- Phonetic: Alliteration, paronomasia.
- Morphosyntactic: Anaphora, hyperbaton, polysyndeton, parallelism.
- Semantic: Hyperbole, personification, antithesis, metaphor, simile.
Theater
Key elements of theater include:
- Dramatic structure.
- Characters (typology and function, similar to narrative).
- Dialogue.
- Stage directions.