El Boom, And The Revolution In Latin American Literature

The landscape of Latin American literature wouldn’t be the same without the magical realism of Gabriel García Márquez, Julio Cortázar, Mario Vargas Llosa, and Carlos Fuentes. However, it wasn’t until the mid-20th century that Latin America found its voice in literature. The literary movement we are talking about is the Latin American Boom that started in the 1960s and 1970s and brought Latin American literature world recognition. 

Latin American literature of this period was strongly woven into the local political upheavals of this period. The first half of the 20th century was a time of coups d’état military dictatorships and repressions in Latin America. The Cuban Revolution of 1959 drew worldwide interest in this region and became the symbol of the anti-imperialist movement. At the same time, authoritarian political regimes dominated in many Latin American countries.

Literature became a means of expressing one’s attitude to what was happening, an expression of protest. 

For example, many spoke out against Fidel Castro’s regime after Cuban poet Heberto Padilla and his wife Belkis Cuza Male. They were imprisoned in 1967 on charges of subversion. Interestingly, many writers of the Boom (for example, Gabriel García Márquez and Mario Vargas Llosa) wrote their novels in exile because of the political situation in Latin America. The Boom itself had roots in the local avant-garde movement as well as the North American and European modernism of William Faulkner and James Joyce. Exiled Latin American writers tried to express their opinions on Latin American politics and find their own Latin American cultural identity. Crisis and immigration were turning points in this phenomenon that arose across the world. 

Latino American Boom Writers And Their Works

Each of the Latin American Boom writers had their background. However, it is possible to find in their works some common features and themes. All of these writers changed the established literary traditions of Latin American literature and renewed it. 

1. Gabriel García Márquez (1927-2014). 

Born in Colombia, Gabriel García Márquez was a journalist by profession and a genius soulful writer by passion. A Nobel Prize winner, he became a worldwide renowned novelist while living in exile in Europe and Mexico. In 1982 Marquez won the Nobel Prize for Literature. His notable works include No One Writes to the Colonel (El Coronel no tiene quien le escriba, 1962), One Hundred Years of Solitude (Cien Años de Soledad, 1967), and The Autumn of Patriarchy (El Otoño del Patriarca,1975). 

2. Mario Vargas Llosa (1936-present). 

Mario Vargas Llosa was one of the greatest Latin American novelists of the 20th century and winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize for Literature. He owes his worldwide recognition to Time of the Hero (La Ciudad y los perros,1962), The Green House (La Casa Verde,1965), Conversation in the Cathedral (Conversación en La Catedral, 1969), and The War of the End of the World (La guerra del fin del Mundo, 1981). 

3. Julio Cortázar (1914-1984). 

While in exile in France during the presidency of Juan Domingo Perón, he was an outspoken supporter of the Cuban and Sandinista revolutions, as well as the government of Salvador Allende in Chile. His novel Hopscotch (Rayuela, 1963) with an open-ended structure provided a new perspective on Latin American and world literature. So did his novels The Winners (Los premios, 1960), and A Manual for Manuel (Libro de Manuel, 1973). 

4. Carlos Fuentes (1928 – 2012). 

Born in Panama, he was an important critic and fighter against discrimination in Mexico, as well as a professor at American universities. He became famous for The Death of Artemio Cruz (La muerte de Artemio Cruz, 1962), and Where the Air Is Clear ( La región más transparente, 1958). 

Other notable writers and the works of the Boom were:

5. Jorge Luís Borges (1899-1986). 

The Aleph (El Aleph,1945), Fictions (Ficciones, 1944). 

6. José Donoso (1924-1996).

Hell Has No Limits (El lugar sin limits, 1966), The Obscene Bird of Night (El obsceno pájaro de la noche,1970).

7. Augusto Roa Bastos (1917-2005). 

Son of Man (Hijo de hombre, 1960), I, the Supreme (Yo el Supremo, 1974).

8. Juan Rulfo (1917-1986). 

Pedro Paramo (1955), The Burning Plain (El llano en llamas, 1953). 

9. Manuel Puig (1932-1990). 

Heartbreak Tango (Boquitas pinta das, 1969), Kiss of the Spider Woman (El peso de la mujer araña, 1976).

10. Miguel Ángel Asturias (1899-1974). 

Mister President (El Señor Presidente, 1946), Men of Maize (Hombres de maíz), 1949). 
These masterpieces are only some of the key works of the Latin American Boom writers, but all of them have reached audiences around the world. Today millions of people know their names, even those who aren’t passionate about literature but are science, tech, gaming, or gambling at Cookie Casino login enthusiasts. Which novels are your favorite?

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