Interviews with Latin American Writers (Current Continental Research; 551) - Hardcover

Gautier, Marie Lise; Gazarian-Gautier, Marie-Lise

9780916583323: Interviews with Latin American Writers (Current Continental Research; 551)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0916583325 ISBN 13: 9780916583323

Publisher: Dalkey Archive Press, 1988

No other group of writers in the last twenty years has created so much interest throughout the world than have Latin American writers. Here in one volume are extensive interviews with fifteen of the most influential of them: novelists as well as poets, playwrights, and journalists. While each of the writers has specific concerns, the interviewer's careful use of recurring questions allows this collection to double as an invaluable forum on important themes: the presence of the occult in Latin American life and literature; the effect of censorship and exile on writing; the pressure exerted by North American politics and manners; the challenge of literary translation; the extent and nature of the so-called Boom in Latin American literature; and thoughts on the impending five hundredth anniversary of Columbus's discovery of the New World.

With an introduction to the interviews by the editor, along with a ground-breaking work that will have an immediate appeal to anyone interested in this literature and will exercise a permanent influence on readers and critics for years to come. Marie-Lise Gazarian Gautier has a remarkable ability to bring out the best of these writers in an interview format, serving to introduce both the writer and the work.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly:

The Latin American literature "boom" of the 1960s brought about a worldwide literary consensus that Latin American writers share a rich frame of reference. These post-boom interviews reinforce that opinion, while leaving certain broad issues unresolved (how, for example, a writer's nationalism fits within the broader Latin-American identity). The 15 writers interviewed in Gautier's first book range from the widely translated Isabel Allende, Carlos Fuentes, Luisa Valenzuela and Mario Vargas Llosa to less familiar fiction writers. The interlocutor elicits intricate statements about literature and the craft of writing, but even the most politically engaged authors tell us little about political or social concerns, except how alienation and exile affect them as artists. And it is a shock to learn how few reside in the country from which they claim to draw their inspiration. Several of the writers interviewed--Carlos Fuentes (Mexico), Guillermo Cabrera Infante (Cuba), Elena Poniatowska (Mexico)--are masterful, entertaining subjects, and only Vargas Llosa seems overly posed and packaged. Gautier is a professor of Spanish and Latin American literature at St. John's University in New York City.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal:

The traditional activity of the tertulia, in which intellectuals come together to exchange ideas on diverse topics of general social and political interest, reflects the sense of community among Hispanic people. Controversial topics are breached, personal ideas and frustrations vented. Interviews is such a powerful tertulia, with its author and 15 Latin American writers disclosing their most private emotions. Collectively, the authors discuss a variety of subjects, ranging from talks on Latin America's contemporary literary productions to the ever-present issues of local politics. Taken as a whole, the discussions are so strong and engaging that one is compelled to continue reading.
- Rafael Ocasio, Agnes Scott Coll., Decatur, Ga.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.