Synopses & Reviews
In
Carlos Fuentes, Mexico, and Modernity, Van Delden argues that there is a fundamental paradox at the heart of Fuentes's vision of Mexico and in his role as novelist and critic in putting forth that vision. This paradox hinges on the tension between national identity and modernity. A significant internal conflict emerges in Fuentes's work from his attempt to stake out two different positions for himself, as experimental novelist and as politically engaged and responsible intellectual. Drawing from his fiction, literary essays, and political journalism, Van Delden places these tensions in Fuentes's work in relation to the larger debates about modernity and postmodernity in Latin America. He concludes that Fuentes is fundamentally a modernist writer, in spite of the fact that he occasionally gravitates toward the postmodernist position in literature and politics.
Van Delden's thorough command of the subject matter, his innovative and sometimes iconoclastic conclusions, and his clear and engaging writing style make this study more than just an interpretation of Fuentes's work. Carlos Fuentes, Mexico, and Modernity offers nothing less than a comprehensive analysis of Fuentes's intellectual development in the context of modern Mexican political and cultural life.
Review
"Fuentes, the distinguished Mexican novelist and essayist (and perennial candidate for the Nobel Prize), stands uncomfortably between nationalism and cosmopolitanism. His discomfort, however, is one of his strengths, for he writes with a deep concern for the political realities of his native countiy and a vast knowledge of international cultural trends and politics. He is critical of both, and refuses to offer simplistic visions or facile solutions to either. In works such as The Buried Mirror, Change of Skin, Terra Nostra, Old Gringo, The Death of Artemio Cruz, and others, he questions both national identity and 'modernity' (globalization). Van Delden analyzes the tension in Fuentes' writing and provides a portrait of one of Latin America's leading intellectuals. With notes, bibliography, and index." Reviewed by Andrew Witmer, Virginia Quarterly Review (Copyright 2006 Virginia Quarterly Review)
Synopsis
"Van Delden effectively explores the paradox at the heart of Fuentes's vision of Mexico: the tension between national identity, on the one hand, and cosmopolitanism and modernity, on the other." --George Yudice, New York University
Drawing from Fuentes's literary essays and political journalism, van Delden places these tensions in Fuentes's work in relation to the larger debates about modernity and postmodernity in Latin America. He concludes that Fuentes is fundamentally a modernist writer, in spite of the fact that he occasionally gravitates toward the postmodernist position in literature and politics.
About the Author
Maarten van Delden is now associate professor of Latin American literature at USC.