The Latin American “boom” may be defined as a movement closely associated with the works of the Argentinean Julio Cortazar, the Mexican Carlos Fuentes, the Peruvian Mario Vargas Llosa, and the Colombian Gabriel Garcia Marquez. On the other hand, one of the two main influences of this trend were European and North American modernism. Moreover, it was also influenced by the Latin American avant-garde movement. The Latin American “boom” changed the established perceptions of the region’s literature. The authors’ works were experimental and, due to the political climate of Latin America in the 1960s, was also substantially political.
These writers became world-famous for their writings and political advocacy, drawing attention to the conditions of political authoritarianism and social inequality. In addition, many relate their success to the following – their novels were among the first ones that were published in the European literature dimension. Spanish avant-garde publisher Seix Barral played a significant role in such a state of affairs.
The “boom” was not limited to local audiences but identified with an international profile and global reputation. Novels and short stories from several countries of the subcontinent were published in large numbers (Cohn 150). Overall, they were written in a high-quality manner, as well as contained a number of literary innovations and experiments. This is perceived as the launching stages of modern Latin American literature with a strong international appeal.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the conditions of the Cold War caused the political and cultural tension in the world. At this time, Latin America experienced intense political upheavals (Larsen 772). Thus, this climate became the backdrop for the representatives of the Latin American “boom” – its ideas, often radical, operated in this context. Many experts point to the triumph of the 1959 Cuban Revolution as the source of this “boom”. This revolution, which promised a new era, drew the world’s attention to the region and its writers.
Then, in the 60s and 70s, authoritarian military regimes ruled in plenty of Latin American countries – starting from Argentina and ending with Peru. For instance, there was a period of General Augusto Pinochet – he ruled until 1990. Countless acts against human rights have been committed in Chile under his rule; these included many cases of torture. In Argentina, the 1970s were characterized by a severe war. The so-called Operation Condor, for example, involved the enforced disappearance of people.
Between 1950 and 1975, important changes took place in the interpretation and writing of history and literature in the region. There has also been a change in the self-perception of Spanish-American writers (Cohn 155). Within this scope, several elements have contributed to this modification. Some of these were urban development, the maturity of the middle class, and the expansion of ties between Latin American countries. In addition, the Alliance for Progress, the growing visibility of the media, and the increased focus on Latin America from many Western civilized and democratic countries were the determining factors. Moreover, the political events in the region affected the writers (Cohn 140). It included the famous brutal repression of urban guerrillas in Argentina and Uruguay. These and other violent situations in the subcontinent have provided a particular context for the authors of the “boom”. It might be stated that the boom is among the crucial movements in the history of Latin American literature.
Works Cited
Cohn, Deborah. “A Tale of Two Translation Programs: Politics, the Market, and Rockefeller Funding for Latin American Literature in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s”, Latin American Research Review, vol. 41, no. 2, 2006, pp. 139–164.
Larsen, Neil. “The “Boom” Novel and the Cold War in Latin America”, Modern Fiction Studies, vol. 38, no. 3, 1992, pp. 771–784.