''Mundo Nuevo'' (1966–1971, Spanish for "the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...

") was an influential Spanish-language periodical, being a monthly ''revista de cultura'' ( literary magazine) dedicated to new

Latin American literature Latin American literature consists of the oral and written literature of Latin America in several languages, particularly in Spanish, Portuguese, and the indigenous languages of the Americas. It rose to particular prominence globally during the ...

. Sponsored by the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

, the magazine was founded by

Emir Rodríguez Monegal Emir Rodríguez Monegal (28 July 1921 – 14 November 1985), born in Uruguay, was a scholar, literary critic, and editor of Latin American literature. From 1969 to 1985, Rodríguez Monegal was professor of Latin American contemporary literatur ...

in Paris, France, in 1966 and distributed worldwide. Monegal edited it until 1968 and resigned after a five-part installation in ''

the New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' that revealed the

Congress for Cultural Freedom The Congress for Cultural Freedom (CCF) was an anti-communist advocacy group founded in 1950. At its height, the CCF was active in thirty-five countries. In 1966 it was revealed that the CIA was instrumental in the establishment and funding of the ...

, a source of funding for the magazine, was a front for the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

. In fact, it was started as a successor of another Spanish language magazine of the Congress, namely ''

Cuadernos ''Cuadernos'' (Spanish: ''Notebooks'') was a Spanish-language magazine that was published in Paris, France, in the period 1953–1965. Its full title was ''Cuadernos del Congreso por la Libertad de la Cultura''. It was one of the publications of ...

''. ''Mundo Nuevo'' stopped in 1971 after 58 issues. ''Mundo Nuevo'' prepublished then-new writers, such as

Mario Vargas Llosa Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, 1st Marquess of Vargas Llosa (born 28 March 1936), more commonly known as Mario Vargas Llosa (, ), is a Peruvian novelist, journalist, essayist and former politician, who also holds Spanish citizenship. Vargas Ll ...

or chapters of

Gabriel García Márquez Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter, and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one ...

's '' One Hundred Years of Solitude'', famous poets such as

Octavio Paz Octavio Paz Lozano (March 31, 1914 – April 19, 1998) was a Mexican poet and diplomat. For his body of work, he was awarded the 1977 Jerusalem Prize, the 1981 Miguel de Cervantes Prize, the 1982 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, and ...

and younger writers, such as Guillermo Cabrera Infante or Severo Sarduy. It contributed to the 1960s publishing phenomenon dubbed "

The Boom ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

" in Latin American literature.Jaime Perales Contreras, "Octavio Paz y el círculo de la revista Mundo Nuevo"
''Estudios Magazine'' 112, October 2012:185-193

History

Foundation

In 1966, the

decided to publish a Latin American literary magazine. They approached

, scholar of

and friend of

Borges Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo (; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, as well as a key figure in Spanish-language and international literature. His best-known bo ...

and Neruda. The magazine was published via ILARI (Instituto Latinoamericano de Relaciones Internacionales) which was habilitated to receive the Ford funding. Monegal's only demand was to establish it in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, France, because, as he explained later, "Paris ..has the advantage of being a great city where you can still live cheaply. Latin American writers, especially during the sixties, always made their sentimental journey to Paris, and I knew that I could always find talent just outside the door. Besides, if you publish a magazine in any Latin American city, it inevitably takes on a local air. This was just what I wanted to avoid. And the French postal service enabled us to reach the entire New World."Mac Adam 1984, primary sources.

Contribution (1966–1968)

In July 1966, the first issue was published. It was a 23 cm illustrated magazine.LOC, tertiary sources. ''Mundo Nuevo'' published articles and interviews, prose, poetry, and essays, but also excerpts of unreleased texts. It helped launch the career of younger writers such as Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Severo Sarduy,

Manuel Puig Juan Manuel Puig Delledonne (December 28, 1932 – July 22, 1990), commonly called Manuel Puig, was an Argentine author. Among his best-known novels are '' La traición de Rita Hayworth'' (''Betrayed by Rita Hayworth'', 1968), ''Boquitas pint ...

but also helped then-new writers such as

Carlos Fuentes Carlos Fuentes Macías (; ; November 11, 1928 – May 15, 2012) was a Mexican novelist and essayist. Among his works are ''The Death of Artemio Cruz'' (1962), ''Aura'' (1962), '' Terra Nostra'' (1975), ''The Old Gringo'' (1985) and ''Christopher ...

, or

José Donoso José Manuel Donoso Yáñez (5 October 1924 – 7 December 1996), known as José Donoso, was a Chilean writer, journalist and professor. He lived most of his life in Chile, although he spent many years in self-imposed exile in Mexico, the United ...

. During 1966, ''Mundo Nuevo'' prepublished two chapters of García Márquez's breakthrough novel '' One Hundred Years of Solitude'' one year before the book's release; Monegal explained, "I wanted to prepare the ground for the book, which came out in 1967." ''Mundo Nuevo'' contributed to the 1960s publishing phenomenon dubbed "The Boom" in Latin American literature that led to many Latin American writers being published outside of their home countries and gaining critical recognition.

Opposition

Monegal directed ''Mundo Nuevo'' with full editorial control. In those times of Cold War, the magazine was attacked and boycotted from the beginning by

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

and Latin-American Castrists or Marxists. Monegal defined himself as "a socialist of the English Labour Party type" who "had nothing to do with what they call socialism in the Soviet Union" and he refused to turn ''Mundo Nuevo'' into yet another pro-Communist or anti-Communist journal. He explained later, "I conceived Mundo Nuevo as an open forum and invited writers of all political persuasions to contribute to it." This stand of independence also attracted the ire of the anti-Castro in exile. In 1967, a political scandal was manufactured, with a rumor alleging that ''Mundo Nuevo'' was funded by the

.EB, tertiary sources. In answer, Monegal published in the July 1967 issue of ''Mundo Nuevo'' "La CIA y los intelectuales" ("The CIA and the intellectuals"), an article not only debunking the rumor, but also lambasting both the Stalinists and the CIA. He expressed (translated from the Spanish) "the strongest condemnation" of the CIA's actions against intellectuals "who had demonstrated independence against Fascism and Stalinism", being "victim of slander of the organized reaction of the McCarthyist or Stalinist gangs" and of "the deceit" of "the CIA or other corrupters from other sides". Monegal 1967, primary sources. This article, and its follow-up two months later, did not amuse Monegal's backers. Escalating disagreements with the Ford Foundation and the ILARI eventually led to Monegal's resignation in July 1968.

Dissolution (1968–1971)

As Monegal explained, the magazine was moved to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, "where it became just one more anti-Communist journal. It died of exhaustion in the early seventies." In 1971, the last issue was the double #57/58 for the months of March/April.WorldCat, tertiary sources.

References

;

Primary source In the study of history as an academic discipline, a primary source (also called an original source) is an artifact, document, diary, manuscript, autobiography, recording, or any other source of information that was created at the time under ...

s consulted * * ;

Tertiary source A tertiary source is an index or textual consolidation of already published primary and secondary sources1966 establishments in France 1971 disestablishments in Argentina CIA activities in France Congress for Cultural Freedom Defunct literary magazines Defunct magazines published in Argentina Literary magazines published in Argentina Magazines established in 1966 Magazines disestablished in 1971 Magazines published in Paris Magazines published in Buenos Aires Monthly magazines published in Argentina Propaganda newspapers and magazines Spanish-language magazines