South 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 second half of the 20th century, largely due to the international success of the style known as magical realism. As such, the region's literature is often associated solely with this style, with the 20th century literary movement known as Latin American Boom, and with its most famous exponent, Gabriel García Márquez. Latin American literature has a rich and complex tradition of literary production that dates back many centuries.

History

Pre-Columbian literature

Pre-Columbian cultures were primarily oral, though the Aztecs and Mayans, for instance, produced elaborate codices. Oral accounts of mythological and religious beliefs were also sometimes recorded after the arrival of European colonizers, as was the case with the Popol Vuh. Moreover, a tradition of oral narrative survives to this day, for instance among the Quechua-speaking population of Peru and the Quiché of Peru.

Colonial literature

From the very moment when Europeans encountered the New World, early explorers and conquistadores produced written accounts and crónicas of their experience, such as Columbus's letters or Bernal Díaz del Castillo's description of the conquest of the Aztec Empire. At times, colonial practices stirred a lively debate about the ethics of colonization and the status of the indigenous peoples, as reflected for instance in Bartolomé de las Casas's ''Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies''. The first printing press in North America was established in present-day Mexico City in 1539 by publisher Juan Cromberger.

Mestizos and natives also contributed to the body of colonial literature. Authors such as El Inca Garcilaso de la Vega and Guaman Poma wrote accounts of the Spanish conquest that show a perspective that often contrasts with the colonizers' accounts.

During the colonial period, written culture was often in the hands of the church, the context within which Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz wrote memorable poetry and philosophical essays. Her interest in scientific thought and experiment led to professional discussions and writings with Isaac Newton. Toward the end of the 18th Century and the beginning of the 19th, a distinctive criollo literary tradition emerged, including the first novels such as José Joaquín Fernández de Lizardi's El Periquillo Sarniento (1816). The "libertadores" themselves were also often distinguished writers, such as Simón Bolívar and Andrés Bello.

Nineteenth-century Literature

The 19th century was a period of "foundational fictions" (in critic Doris Sommer's words), novels in the Romantic or Naturalist traditions that attempted to establish a sense of national identity, and which often focused on the role and rights of the indigenous or the dichotomy of "civilization or barbarism", pioneered in Latin America by Esteban Echeverría who was influenced by the Parisian romantics while he lived there from 1825 to 1930. Romanticism was then taken up by other prominent literary figures, for which see, the Argentine Domingo Sarmiento's ''Facundo'' (1845). Likewise, Alberto Blest Gana's Martin Rivas (1862), widely acknowledged as the first Chilean novel, was at once a passionate love story and a national epic about revolution. Other foundation fictions include the Colombian Jorge Isaacs's '' María'' (1867), Ecuadorian Juan León Mera's '' Cumandá'' (1879), or the Brazilian Euclides da Cunha's '' Os Sertões'' (1902). Such works are still the bedrocks of national canons, and usually mandatory elements of high school curricula.

Other important works of 19th century Latin American literature include regional classics, such as José Hernández's epic poem ''Martín Fierro'' (1872). The story of a poor gaucho drafted to fight a frontier war against Indians, ''Martín Fierro'' is an example of the "gauchesque", an Argentine genre of poetry centered around the lives of gauchos.

The literary movements of the nineteenth century in Latin America range from Neoclassicism at the beginning of the century to Romanticism in the middle of the century, to Realism and Naturalism in the final third of the century, and finally to the invention of Modernismo, a distinctly Latin American literary movement, at the end of the nineteenth century. The next sections discuss prominent trends in these movements more thoroughly.

Romanticism, Realism, Naturalism, and Emerging Literary Trends

The Latin American wars of Independence that occurred in the early nineteenth century in Latin America led to literary themes of identity, resistance, and human rights. Writers often followed and innovated popular literary movements (such as Romanticism, Realism, and Naturalism), but many were also exploring ideas such as nationalism and independence. Cultural independence spread across Latin America during this time, and writers depicted Latin American themes and locations in their works. While literature that questioned the colonial order may have emerged initially during the seventeenth century in Latin America, it rose in popularity in the form of resistance against Spain, the United States, and other imperialist nations in the nineteenth century. Latin American writers sought a Latin American identity, and this would later be closely tied with the ''Modernismo'' literary movement.

Male authors mainly dominated colonial literature, with the exception of literary greats such as Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, but a shift began in the nineteenth century that allowed for more female authors to emerge. An increase in women's education and writing brought some women writers to the forefront, including the Cuban Romantic author Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda with the novel ''Sab'' (1841), a romantic novel offering subtle critique of slavery and the treatment of women in Cuba, the Peruvian Naturalist author Clorinda Matto de Turner who wrote what is considered one of the most important novels of "indigenismo" in the 19th century: ''Aves sin nido'' (1889), and the Argentinian Romantic writer Juana Manuela Gorriti (1818-1892), who penned a variety of novels and short stories, such as ''La hija del mashorquero'' (1860) and directed a literary circle in Peru. A Naturalist trail-blazer, Peruvian Mercedes Cabello de Carbonera penned ''Blanca Sol'' (1888) to critique women's lack of practical work options in her society. Women writers of the nineteenth century often wrote about the inequalities in Latin America that were vestiges of colonialism such as the marginalization and oppression of Indigenous peoples, slaves, and women. Many works by women in this period challenged Latin American patriarchal societies. These prominent women writers discussed the hypocrisy of the dominant class and institutions that existed in their nascent nations and criticized the corruption of the government. Some prime examples of such works include Clorinda Matto de Turner's ''Indole'', ''Herencia'', and ''El Conspirador: autobiografia de un hombre publico''.

Modernismo, the Vanguards, and Boom precursors

In the late 19th century, ''modernismo'' emerged, a poetic movement whose founding text was the Nicaraguan Rubén Darío's ''Azul'' (1888). This was the first Latin American poetry movement to influence literary culture outside of the region, and was also the first truly Latin American literature, in that national differences were no longer as much of an issue and authors sought to establish Latin American connections. José Martí, for instance, though a Cuban patriot, also lived in Mexico and the United States and wrote for journals in Argentina and elsewhere. In 1900 the Uruguayan José Enrique Rodó wrote what became read as a manifesto for the region's cultural awakening, ''Ariel''. Delmira Agustini, one of the female figures of modernismo, wrote poetry that both utilized typical modernist images (such as swans) and adapted them with feminist messages and erotic themes, as critic Sylvia Molloy describes.

Though modernismo itself is often seen as aestheticist and anti-political, some poets and essayists, Martí among them but also the Peruvians Manuel González Prada and José Carlos Mariátegui, introduced compelling critiques of the contemporary social order and particularly the plight of Latin America's indigenous peoples. In this way, the early twentieth century also saw the rise of indigenismo, a trend previously popularized by Clorinda Matto de Turner, that was dedicated to representing indigenous culture and the injustices that such communities were undergoing, as for instance with the Peruvian José María Arguedas and the Mexican Rosario Castellanos.

Resistance against colonialism, a trend that emerged earlier in the nineteenth century, was also extremely important in modernismo. This resistance literature was promoted by prominent modernists including the aforementioned José Martí (1853-1895) and Rubén Darío (1867-1916). Martí warned readers about the imperialistic tendencies of the United States and described how Latin America should avoid allowing the United States to intervene in their affairs. A prime example of this sort of message is found in Martí's ''Our America'', published in 1892. Darío also worked to highlight the threat of American imperialism, which can be seen in his poem ''To Roosevelt'', as well as his other works ''Cake-Walk: El Baile de Moda''. Many of his works were published in ''La Revista Moderna de Mexico'', a modernist magazine of the time.

The Argentine Jorge Luis Borges invented what was almost a new genre, the philosophical short story, and would go on to become one of the most influential of all Latin American writers. At the same time, Roberto Arlt offered a very different style, closer to mass culture and popular literature, reflecting the urbanization and European immigration that was shaping the Southern Cone. Both writers were the most important emergents in an important controversy in Argentinian literature between the so-called Florida Group of Borges and other writers and artists that used to meet at the Richmond Cafe in the centrical Florida street of Buenos Aires city vs. the Boedo Group of Roberto Arlt that used to meet at the Japanese Cafe in the most periferical Boedo borough of the same city.

The Venezuelan Romulo Gallegos wrote in 1929 what came to be one of the most well known Latin American novels in the twentieth century, ''Doña Barbara''. ''Doña Barbara'' is a realist novel describing the conflict between civilization and barbarism in the plainlands of South America, and is a masterpiece of criollismo. The novel became an immediate hit, being translated into over forty languages.

Notable figures in Brazil at this time include the exceptional novelist and short story writer Machado de Assis, whose both ironic view and deep psychological analysis introduced a universal scope in Brazilian prose, the modernist poets Mário de Andrade, Oswald de Andrade (whose "Manifesto Antropófago" praised Brazilian powers of transculturation), and Carlos Drummond de Andrade.

In the 1920s Mexico, the Stridentism and los Contemporáneos represented the influx of avant-garde movements, while the Mexican Revolution inspired novels such as Mariano Azuela's ''Los de abajo'', a committed work of social realism and the revolution and its aftermath would continue to be a point of reference for Mexican literature for many decades. In the 1940s, the Cuban novelist and musicologist Alejo Carpentier coined the term " lo real maravilloso" and, along with the Mexican Juan Rulfo and the Guatemalan Miguel Ángel Asturias, would prove a precursor of the Boom and its signature style of "magic realism".

Poetry after Modernismo

There is a vibrant tradition of prose poetry in 20th century Latin America; the prose poem becomes a prevalent format for lyrical philosophical inquiry and sensual sentiments of the region's poets. Masters of the prose poem include Jorge Luis Borges ("Everything and Nothing"), Pablo Neruda (''Passions and Impressions)'', Octavio Paz (''Aguila o Sol?/''Eagle or Sun?), Alejandra Pizarnik ("Sex/Night"), Giannina Braschi (Empire of Dreams) and Rafael Cadenas (Memorial).

Leaders of the vanguard whose poetry express love, romance, and a commitment to left leaning regional politics are Cesar Vallejo (Peru) and Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda (Chile). Following their lead are Ernesto Cardenal (Nicaragua), Roque Dalton (El Salvador), Nicolás Guillén (Cuba), Gonzalo Rojas (Chile) and Mario Benedetti (Uruguay), and Peruvians Blanca Varela, Jorge Eduardo Eielson or Javier Sologuren.

After Modernismo several lesser known, short-lived poetry movements emerged in Latin America. In Chile, Braulio Arenas and others founded in 1938 the Mandrágora group, strongly influenced by Surrealism as well as by Vicente Huidobro's '' Creacionismo''. In Peru, Cesar Moro and Emilio Adolfo Westphalen developed Surrealism in the Andes region.

The Boom

After World War II, Latin America enjoyed increasing economic prosperity, and a new-found confidence also gave rise to a literary boom. From 1960 to 1967, some of the major seminal works of the boom were published and before long became widely noticed, admired, and commented on beyond Latin America itself. Many of these novels and collections of short stories were somewhat rebellious from the general point of view of Latin America culture. Authors crossed traditional boundaries, experimented with language, and often mixed different styles of writing in their works.

Structures of literary works were also changing. Boom writers ventured outside traditional narrative structures, embracing non-linearity and experimental narration. The figure of Jorge Luis Borges, though not a Boom author per se, was extremely influential for the Boom generation. Latin American authors were inspired by North American and European authors such as William Faulkner, James Joyce, and Virginia Woolf, by the legendary Spanish poet and dramatist Federico García Lorca as well as by each other's works; many of the authors knew one another, which led to a mutual crossbreeding of styles.

The Boom launched Latin American literature onto the world stage. It was distinguished by daring and experimental novels such as Julio Cortázar's '' Rayuela'' (1963), that were frequently published in Spanish and quickly translated into English. From 1966 to 1968, Emir Rodríguez Monegal published his influential Latin American literature monthly '' Mundo Nuevo'', with excerpts of unreleased novels from then-new writers such as Guillermo Cabrera Infante or Severo Sarduy, including two chapters of Gabriel García Márquez's '' Cien años de soledad'' in 1966. In 1967, the published book was one of the Boom's defining novels, which led to the association of Latin American literature with magic realism, though other important writers of the period such as Mario Vargas Llosa and Carlos Fuentes do not fit so easily within this framework. In the same year, 1967. Miguel Ángel Asturias was awarded the Nobel prize for literature, making his magical realist, metaphor-heavy, folkloristic and sometimes politically charged novels widely known in Europe and North America. Perhaps, the Boom's culmination arrived in Augusto Roa Bastos's monumental '' Yo, el supremo'' (1974). Other important novelists of the period include the Chilean José Donoso, the Guatemalan Augusto Monterroso and the Cuban Guillermo Cabrera Infante.

Though the literary boom occurred while Latin America was having commercial success, the works of this period tended to move away from the positives of the modernization that was underway. Boom works often tended not to focus on social and local issues, but rather on universal and at times metaphysical themes.

Political turmoil in Latin American countries such as Cuba at this time influenced the literary boom as well. Some works anticipated an end to the prosperity that was occurring, and even predicted old problems would resurface in the near future. Their works foreshadowed the events to come in the future of Latin America, with the 1970s and 1980s dictatorships, economic turmoil, and Dirty Wars.

Post-Boom and McOndo

Post-Boom literature is sometimes characterized by a tendency towards irony and humor, as the narrative of Alfredo Bryce Echenique, and towards the use of popular genres, as in the work of Manuel Puig. Some writers felt the success of the Boom to be a burden, and spiritedly denounced the caricature that reduces Latin American literature to magical realism. Hence the Chilean Alberto Fuguet coined McOndo as an antidote to the Macondo-ism that demanded of aspiring writers that they set their tales in steamy tropical jungles in which the fantastic and the real happily coexisted. In a mock diary by post-modernist Giannina Braschi the Narrator of the Latin American Boom is shot by a Macy's make-up artist who accuses the Boom of capitalizing on her solitude. Other writers, however, have traded on the Boom's success: see for instance Laura Esquivel's pastiche of magical realism in ''Como agua para chocolate''.

The Spanish language author who has had most impact in United States has been Roberto Bolaño. Overall, contemporary literature in the region is vibrant and varied, ranging from the best-selling Paulo Coelho and Isabel Allende to the more avant-garde and critically acclaimed work of writers such as Diamela Eltit, Giannina Braschi, Luisa Valenzuela, Marcos Aguinis, Ricardo Piglia, Roberto Ampuero, Jorge Marchant Lazcano, Alicia Yánez, Jaime Bayly, Alonso Cueto, Edmundo Paz Soldán, Gioconda Belli, Jorge Franco, Daniel Alarcon, Víctor Montoya or Mario Mendoza Zambrano. Other important figures include the Argentine César Aira, the Peruvian-Mexican Mario Bellatin or the Colombian Fernando Vallejo, whose ''La virgen de los sicarios'' depicted the violence in Medellín under the influence of the drug trade. Emerging voices include Fernando Ampuero, Miguel Gutierrez, Edgardo Rivera Martinez, Jaime Marchán and Manfredo Kempff.

There has also been considerable attention paid to the genre of testimonio, texts produced in collaboration with subaltern subjects such as Rigoberta Menchú.

Finally, a new breed of chroniclers is represented by the more journalistic Carlos Monsiváis and Pedro Lemebel, who draw also on the long-standing tradition of essayistic production as well as the precedents of engaged and creative non-fiction represented by the Uruguayan Eduardo Galeano and the Mexican Elena Poniatowska, among others.

Prominent 20th century writers

According to literary critic Harold Bloom, the most eminent Latin American author of any century is the Argentine Jorge Luis Borges. In his controversial 1994 book ''The Western Canon'', Bloom says: "Of all Latin American authors in this century, he is the most universal... If you read Borges frequently and closely, you become something of a Borgesian, because to read him is to activate an awareness of literature in which he has gone farther than anybody else."

Among the novelists, perhaps the most prominent author to emerge from Latin America in the 20th century is Gabriel García Márquez. His book '' Cien Años de Soledad'' (1967), is one of the most important works in world literature of the 20th century. Borges opined that it was "the Don Quixote of Latin America."

Among the greatest poets of the 20th century is Pablo Neruda; according to Gabriel García Márquez, Neruda "is the greatest poet of the 20th century, in any language."

Mexican writer and poet Octavio Paz is unique among Latin American writers in having won the Nobel Prize, the Neustadt Prize, and the Cervantes Prize. Paz has also been a recipient of the Jerusalem Prize, as well as an honorary doctorate from Harvard.

The most important literary prize of the Spanish language is widely considered to be the Cervantes Prize of Spain. Latin American authors who have won this prestigious award include: José Emilio Pacheco (Mexico), Juan Gelman (Argentina), Nicanor Parra (Chile), Sergio Pitol (Mexico), Gonzalo Rojas (Chile), Álvaro Mutis (Colombia), Jorge Edwards (Chile), Guillermo Cabrera Infante (Cuba), Mario Vargas Llosa (Perú), Dulce María Loynaz (Cuba), Adolfo Bioy Casares (Argentina), Augusto Roa Bastos (Paraguay), Carlos Fuentes (Mexico), Ernesto Sabato (Argentina), Octavio Paz (Mexico), Juan Carlos Onetti (Uruguay), Jorge Luis Borges (Argentina), Alejo Carpentier (Cuba) and Rafael Cadenas (Venezuela).

The Latin American authors who have won the most prestigious literary award in the world, the Nobel Prize for Literature, are: Gabriela Mistral (Chile, 1945), Miguel Ángel Asturias (Guatemala, 1967), Pablo Neruda (Chile, 1971), Gabriel García Márquez (Colombia, 1982), Octavio Paz (Mexico, 1990), and Mario Vargas Llosa (Peru, 2010).

The Neustadt International Prize for Literature, perhaps the most important international literary award after the Nobel Prize, counts several Latin American authors among its recipients; they include: Claribel Alegría (Nicaragua), Álvaro Mutis (Colombia), João Cabral de Melo Neto (Brazil), Octavio Paz (Mexico), and Gabriel García Márquez (Colombia). Candidates for the prize include: Ricardo Piglia (Argentina), Mario Vargas Llosa (Peru), Marjorie Agosin (Chile), Eduardo Galeano (Uruguay), Homero Aridjis (Mexico), Luis Fernando Verissimo (Brazil), Augusto Monterroso (Guatemala), Ernesto Cardenal (Nicaragua), Carlos Fuentes (Mexico), Jorge Luis Borges (Argentina), Jorge Amado (Brazil), Ernesto Sábato (Argentina), Carlos Drummond de Andrade (Brazil), and Pablo Neruda (Chile).

Another important international literary award is the Jerusalem Prize; its recipients include: Marcos Aguinis (Argentina), Mario Vargas Llosa (Peru), Ernesto Sabato (Argentina), Octavio Paz (Mexico), and Jorge Luis Borges (Argentina).

Latin American authors who figured in prominent literary critic Harold Bloom's ''The Western Canon'' list of the most enduring works of world literature include: Rubén Dário, Jorge Luis Borges, Alejo Carpentier, Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Severo Sarduy, Reinaldo Arenas, Pablo Neruda, Octavio Paz, César Vallejo, Miguel Ángel Asturias, José Lezama Lima, José Donoso, Julio Cortázar, Gabriel García Márquez, Mario Vargas Llosa, Carlos Fuentes, and Carlos Drummond de Andrade.

Brazilian authors who have won the Camões Prize, the most prestigious literary award in the Portuguese language, include: João Cabral de Melo Neto, Rachel de Queiroz, Jorge Amado, Antonio Candido, Autran Dourado, Rubem Fonseca, Lygia Fagundes Telles, João Ubaldo Ribeiro, and Ferreira Gullar. Some notable authors who have won Brazil's Prêmio Machado de Assis include: Rachel de Queiroz, Cecília Meireles, João Guimarães Rosa, Érico Veríssimo, Lúcio Cardoso, and Ferreira Gullar.

Prominent 21st century writers

Latin American literature produced since 2000 spans a wide realm of schools and styles. In the 20th Century, Latin American literary studies was primarily centered around what came before, during, and after The Boom. The scholarly optic has since widened to regularly examine Latin American literature within fields such as the Global South, postcolonial literature, postmodern literature, electronic literature, hysterical realism, speculative fiction, Latin American pop culture, crime fiction, horror fiction, among other fields. Prominent 21st authors whose works are widely available, taught, and translated into many languages include Mario Vargas Llosa, Isabel Allende, Jorge Volpi, Junot Diaz, Giannina Braschi, Elena Poniatowska, Julia Alvarez, Diamela Eltit, and Ricardo Piglia.

Latin American Nobel Prize Laureates in Literature

* Gabriela Mistral, Chile (1945)
* Miguel Angel Asturias, Guatemala (1967)
* Pablo Neruda, Chile (1971)
* Gabriel García Márquez, Colombia (1982)
* Octavio Paz, Mexico (1990)
* Mario Vargas Llosa, Peru (2010)

Chronology: Late 19th century-present day

*1888 ''Azul'' Rubén Darío (Nicaragua)
*1889 ''Aves sin nido'' Clorinda Matto de Turner (Peru)
*1899 '' Dom Casmurro'' Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis (Brazil)
*1900 ''Ariel'' José Enrique Rodó (Uruguay)
*1900 ''El Moto'' Joaquin Garcia Monge (Costa Rica)
*1902 ''Los maitines de la noche'' Julio Herrera y Reissig (Uruguay)
*1902 '' Os Sertões'' Euclides da Cunha (Brazil)
*1903 ''Horas lejanas'' Darío Herrera (Panama)
*1915 ''El hombre de oro'' Rufino Blanco-Fombona (Venezuela)
*1915 ''Los de abajo'' Mariano Azuela (Mexico)
*1917 ''Los sueños son vida'' Ricardo Jaimes Freyre (Bolivia)
*1919 ''Irremediablemente'' Alfonsina Storni (Argentina)
*1919 ''Los frutos ácidos'' Alfonso Hernández Catá (Cuba)
*1919 ''Raza de bronce'' Alcides Arguedas (Bolivia)
*1922 ''La amada inmóvil'' Amado Nervo (Mexico)
*1922 '' Trilce'' César Vallejo (Peru)
*1922 '' Paulicéia desvairada'' Mário de Andrade (Brazil)
*1922 ''Desolación'' Gabriela Mistral (Chile)
*1922 ''La señorita Etcétera'' Arqueles Vela (Mexico)
*1924 ''La vorágine'' José Eustasio Rivera (Colombia)
*1926 ''Don Segundo Sombra'' Ricardo Güiraldes (Argentina)
*1926 ''La canción de una vida'' Fabio Fiallo (Dominican Republic)
*1928 '' Macunaíma'' Mário de Andrade (Brazil)
*1928 ''Poemas en menguante'' Mariano Brull (Cuba)
*1929 '' Doña Bárbara'' Rómulo Gallegos (Venezuela)
*1929 ''Los siete locos'' Roberto Arlt (Argentina)
*1929 ''Onda'' Rogelio Sinán (Panama)
*1930 ''O Quinze'' Rachel de Queiroz (Brazil)
*1931 '' Altazor'' Vicente Huidobro (Chile)
*1931 '' Las lanzas coloradas'' Arturo Uslar Pietri (Venezuela)
*1931 ''Sóngoro Cosongo'' Nicolás Guillén (Cuba)
*1934 ''Huasipungo'' Jorge Icaza (Ecuador)
*1936 ''Angústia'' Graciliano Ramos (Brazil)
*1937 ''Doble acento'' Eugenio Florit (Cuba)
*1938 ''Olhai os Lírios do Campo'' Érico Veríssimo (Brazil)
*1939 '' El pozo'' Juan Carlos Onetti (Uruguay)
*1940 ''La invención de Morel'' Adolfo Bioy Casares (Argentina)
*1940 ''Mamita Yunai'' Carlos Luis Fallas (Costa Rica)
*1941 ''El mundo es ancho y ajeno'' Ciro Alegria (Peru)
*1943 ''Todo verdor perecerá'' Eduardo Mallea (Argentina)
*1943 ''Vestido de Noiva'' Nelson Rodrigues (Brazil)
*1944 ''Ficciones'' Jorge Luis Borges (Argentina)
*1945 ''A rosa do povo'' Carlos Drummond de Andrade (Brazil)
*1946 ''El señor presidente'' Miguel Ángel Asturias (Guatemala)
*1947 ''Al filo del agua'' Agustín Yáñez (Mexico)
*1948 '' El túnel'' Ernesto Sabato (Argentina)
*1948 '' Adán Buenosayres'' Leopoldo Marechal (Argentina)
*1949 '' Hombres de maíz'' Miguel Ángel Asturias (Guatemala)
*1949 '' O tempo e o vento'' Érico Veríssimo (Brazil)
*1949 '' El Aleph'' Jorge Luis Borges (Argentina)
*1949 '' El reino de este mundo'' Alejo Carpentier (Cuba)
*1950 '' Canto general'' Pablo Neruda (Chile)
*1950 '' El laberinto de la soledad'' Octavio Paz (Mexico)
*1950 '' La vida breve'' Juan Carlos Onetti (Uruguay)
*1950 ''Prisión verde'' Ramón Amaya Amador (Honduras)
*1951 ''La mano junto al muro'' Guillermo Meneses (Venezuela)
*1952 ''Confabulario'' Juan José Arreola (Mexico)
*1952 ''La carne de René'' Virgilio Piñera (Cuba)
*1953 ''Los pasos perdidos'' Alejo Carpentier (Cuba)
*1955 ''El negrero'' Lino Novás Calvo (Cuba)
*1955 '' Morte e Vida Severina'' João Cabral de Melo Neto (Brazil)
*1955 ''Pedro Páramo'' Juan Rulfo (Mexico)
*1956 '' Grande Sertão: Veredas'' João Guimarães Rosa (Brazil)
*1956 ''La hora 0'' Ernesto Cardenal (Nicaragua)
*1958 ''Gabriela, cravo e canela'' Jorge Amado (Brazil)
*1958 ''Los ríos profundos'' José María Arguedas (Peru)
*1959 ''A Morte e a Morte de Quincas Berro d'Água'' Jorge Amado (Brazil)
*1960 ''Hijo de hombre'' Augusto Roa Bastos (Paraguay)
*1960 ''La tregua'' Mario Benedetti (Uruguay)
*1962 ''Sobre héroes y tumbas'' Ernesto Sabato (Argentina)
*1962 ''El siglo de las luces'' Alejo Carpentier (Cuba)
*1962 ''La amortajada'' María Luisa Bombal (Chile)
*1962 ''La muerte de Artemio Cruz'' Carlos Fuentes (Mexico)
*1963 ''Rayuela'' Julio Cortázar (Argentina)
*1963 ''La ciudad y los perros'' Mario Vargas Llosa (Peru)
*1964 ''A Paixão segundo G.H.'' Clarice Lispector (Brazil)
*1965 ''O Vampiro de Curitiba'' Dalton Trevisan (Brazil)
*1965 ''Marzo anterior'' José Balza (Venezuela)
*1966 ''Cenizas de Izalco'' Claribel Alegría (El Salvador)
*1966 ''La casa verde'' Mario Vargas Llosa (Peru)
*1966 ''Paradiso'' José Lezama Lima (Cuba)
*1967 ''Tres tristes tigres'' Guillermo Cabrera Infante (Cuba)
*1967 ''Cien años de soledad'' Gabriel García Márquez (Colombia)
*1967 ''Quarup'' Antônio Callado (Brazil)
*1968 ''Fuera del juego'' Heberto Padilla (Cuba)
*1969 ''El mundo alucinante'' Reinaldo Arenas (Cuba)
*1970 ''El obsceno pájaro de la noche'' José Donoso (Chile)
*1970 ''La cruz invertida'' Marcos Aguinis (Argentina)
*1971 ''Sargento Getúlio'' João Ubaldo Ribeiro (Brazil)
*1973 ''As Meninas'' Lygia Fagundes Telles (Brazil)
*1974 ''Yo, el supremo'' Augusto Roa Bastos (Paraguay)
*1974 ''El limonero real'' Juan José Saer (Argentina)
*1975 ''El otoño del patriarca'' Gabriel García Márquez (Colombia)
*1975 ''Lavoura Arcaica'' Raduan Nassar (Brazil)
*1975 ''Pobrecito poeta que era yo'' Roque Dalton (El Salvador)
*1975 ''Poema Sujo'' Ferreira Gullar (Brazil)
*1975 ''Terra nostra'' Carlos Fuentes (Mexico)
*1976 ''El beso de la mujer araña'' Manuel Puig (Argentina)
*1976 ''La guaracha del Macho Camacho'' Luis Rafael Sánchez (Puerto Rico)
*1978 ''Maitreya'' Severo Sarduy (Cuba)
*1978 ''Casa de campo'' José Donoso (Chile)
*1979 ''O Que É Isso, Companheiro?'' Fernando Gabeira (Brazil)
*1980 ''Respiración artificial'' Ricardo Piglia (Argentina)
*1981 ''La guerra del fin del mundo'' Mario Vargas Llosa (Peru)
*1982 ''La casa de los espíritus'' Isabel Allende (Chile)
*1985 ''El amor en los tiempos del cólera'' Gabriel García Márquez (Colombia)
*1985 ''El desfile del amor'' Sergio Pitol (Mexico)
*1988 ''El imperio de los sueños'' Giannina Braschi (Puerto Rico)
*1988 ''O Alquimista'' Paulo Coelho (Brazil)
*1989 ''Como agua para chocolate'' Laura Esquivel (Mexico)
*1990 ''Agosto'' Rubem Fonseca (Brazil)
*1991 ''La Gesta del Marrano'' Marcos Aguinis (Argentina)
*1992 ''Antes que anochezca'' Reinaldo Arenas (Cuba)
*1995 ''Maqroll el gaviero'' Álvaro Mutis (Colombia)
*1998 ''Yo-Yo Boing!'' Giannina Braschi (Puerto Rico)
*1998 ''Los detectives salvajes'' Roberto Bolaño (Chile)
*1999 ''La pasion segun Carmela'' Marcos Aguinis (Argentina)
*2000 ''La fiesta del chivo'' Mario Vargas Llosa (Peru)
*2000 ''Dois irmãos'' Milton Hatoum (Brazil)
*2001 ''La reina de América'' Jorge Majfud (Uruguay)
*2002 ''Ojos, de otro mirar: poemas'' Homero Aridjis (Mexico)
*2002 ''Poesía'' Dulce María Loynaz (Cuba)
*2004 ''2666'' Roberto Bolaño (Chile)
*2007 ''The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao'' Junot Díaz (Dominican Republic)
*2011 ''United States of Banana'' Giannina Braschi (Puerto Rico)
*2019 ''Torto Arado'' Itamar Vieira Junior (Brazil)

Literature by nationality

Latin American literature written in Spanish and Portuguese by nationality:

* Argentine literature
* Bolivian literature
* Brazilian literature
* Chilean literature
* Colombian literature
* Costa Rican literature
* Cuban literature
* Dominican literature
* Ecuadorian literature
* Guatemalan literature
* Honduran literature
* Mexican literature
* Nicaraguan literature
* Panamanian literature
* Paraguayan literature
* Peruvian literature
* Puerto Rican literature
* Salvadoran literature
* Uruguayan literature
* Venezuelan literature

See also

* List of Latin American writers
* Latin American poetry
* Latino poetry
* Criollismo
* Chicano literature
* Chicano poetry
* Latin American Boom
* McOndo
* Latin American culture
* The Dictator Novel
* Nuyorican
* Hispanic and Latino literature
* Spanish-language literature

References

Further reading

*''The FSG Book of Twentieth-Century Latin American Poetry: An Anthology'' / ed. Ilan Stavans, 2011.
*'' The Norton Anthology of Latino Literature'' / eds. Ilan Stavans, Edna Acosta-Belén, Harold Augenbraum, Gustavo Pérez Firmat, 2010.
*''Latin American women writers: an encyclopedia'' / ed. María André; Eva Bueno., 2008
*''A companion to Latin American literature and culture'' / ed. Sara Castro-Klarén, 2008
*''The Cambridge companion to the Latin American novel'' / ed. Efraín Kristal, 2005
*''Encyclopedia of Latin American and Caribbean literature, 1900-2003'' / ed. Daniel Balderston, 2004
*''Literary cultures of Latin America : a comparative history'' / ed. Mario J. Valdés, 2004
*''Latin American writers at work (Interviews)'' / ed. George Plimpton, 2003
*'' Literatures of Latin America: from Antiquity to the Present'' / Willis Barnstone, 2003
*''Cuerpos errantes: literatura latina y latinoamericana en Estados Unidos''/ Laura Rosa Loustau, 2002.
*''Latin American writers. Supplement I'' / ed. Carlos A Solé; Klaus Müller-Bergh., 2002
*''Concise encyclopedia of Latin American literature'' / ed. Verity Smith, 2000
*''Latin American literature and its times (12 volumes)'' / Joyce Moss, 1999
*''Mutual impressions : writers from the Americas reading one another'' / ed. Ilan Stavans, 1999
*''Encyclopedia of Latin American literature'' / ed. Verity Smith, 1997
*''From romanticism to modernismo in Latin America'' / ed. David William Foster, 1997
*''The Cambridge History of Latin American literature'' / ed. Roberto González Echevarría, 1996
*''Modern Latin-American fiction writers'' / ed. William Luis, 1994
*''Handbook of Latin American literature'' / ed. David William Foster, 1992
*''Feminist readings on Spanish and Latin-American literature'' / ed. Lisa P Condé, 1991
*''Past, present, and future : selected studies on Latin American Indian literatures'' / ed. Mary M. Preuss, 1991
*''The Polemics of Possession in Spanish American Narrative'' / Rolena Adorno
*''Magical realism and beyond : the contemporary Spanish and Latin American novel'' / ed. Roy C Boland, 1991
*''Modern Latin American fiction (The Critical Cosmos Series)'' / ed. Harold Bloom, 1990
*''Latin American writers (3 Volumes)'' / ed. Carlos A Solé, 1989
*''Philosophy and literature in Latin America : a critical assessment of the current situation'' / ed. Jorge Gracia, 1989
*''Latin American literature in the 20th century : a guide'' / ed. Leonard S Klein, 1988
*''Modern Latin American fiction : a survey'' / ed. John King, 1987
*''In retrospect : essays on Latin American literature'' / ed. Elizabeth S Rogers, 1987
*''Latin America in its literature'' / ed. César Fernández Moreno, 1980
*''Latin American fiction today : a symposium'' / ed. Rose S Minc, 1979
*''Tradition and renewal : essays on twentieth-century Latin American literature and culture'' / ed. Merlin H Forster, 1975
*''Modern Latin American literature (A Library of Literary Criticism)'' / David William Foster, 1975
*''Modern Latin American literature'' / David Patrick Gallagher, 1973
*''Contemporary Latin American literature; a conference'' / ed. Harvey Leroy Johnson, 1973

External links

Literature from Latin America
from LANIC

Palabra virtual
Latin American Poetry.

miniTEXTOS.org
Contemporary short-stories, poetry, essays and theatre.

Latineos
Latin America, Caribbean, arts and culture

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Literature
Caribbean literature
Central American literature
North American literature
South American literature