The Voice of the Masters The Voice of the Masters

The Voice of the Masters

Writing and Authority in Modern Latin American Literature

    • $24.99
    • $24.99

Publisher Description

By one of the most original and learned critical voices in Hispanic studies— a timely and ambitious study of authority as theme and authority as authorial strategy in modern Latin American literature.

An ideology is implicit in modern Latin American literature, argues Roberto González Echevarría, through which both the literature itself and criticism of it define what Latin American literature is and how it ought to be read. In the works themselves this ideology is constantly subjected to a radical critique, and that critique renders the ideology productive and in a sense is what constitutes the work. In literary criticism, however, too frequently the ideology merely serves as support for an authoritative discourse that seriously misrepresents Latin American literature.

In The Voice of the Masters, González Echevarría attempts to uncover the workings of modern Latin American literature by creating a dialogue of texts, a dynamic whole whose parts are seven illuminating essays on seminal texts in the tradition. As he says, “To have written a sustained, expository book ... would have led me to make the same kind of critical error that I attribute to most criticism of Latin American literature.... I would have naively assumed an authoritative voice while attempting a critique of precisely that critical gesture.”

Instead, major works by Barnet, Cabrera Infante, Carpentier, Cortázar, Fuentes, Gallegos, García Márquez, Roa Bastos, and Rodó are the object of a set of independent deconstructive (and reconstructive) readings. Writing in the tradition of Derrida and de Man, González Echevarría brings to these readings both the penetrative brilliance of the French master and a profound understanding of historical and cultural context. His insightful annotation of Cabrera Infante’s “Meta-End,” the full text of which is presented at the close of the study, clearly demonstrates these qualities and exemplifies his particular approach to the text.

GENRE
Fiction & Literature
RELEASED
2014
March 24
LANGUAGE
EN
English
LENGTH
207
Pages
PUBLISHER
University of Texas Press
SELLER
University of Texas at Austin
SIZE
958.7
KB

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More Books by Roberto González Echevarría

Selected Writings Selected Writings
2002
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Modern Latin American Literature: A Very Short Introduction Modern Latin American Literature: A Very Short Introduction
2012
Relecturas del cuento hispanoamericano Relecturas del cuento hispanoamericano
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The Pride of Havana The Pride of Havana
2001
Alejo Carpentier Alejo Carpentier
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