Katie Brown
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781786942197
- eISBN:
- 9781789623932
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781786942197.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, American, 19th Century Literature
In contrast to recent theories of the ‘global’ or ‘post-national’ Latin American novel, this book reveals the enduring importance of the national in contemporary Venezuelan fiction, arguing that the ...
More
In contrast to recent theories of the ‘global’ or ‘post-national’ Latin American novel, this book reveals the enduring importance of the national in contemporary Venezuelan fiction, arguing that the novels studied respond to both the nationalist and populist cultural policies of the Bolivarian Revolution and Venezuela’s literary isolation. The latter results from factors including the legacy of the Boom and historically low levels of emigration from Venezuela. Grounded in theories of metafiction and intertextuality, the book provides a close reading of eight novels published between 2004 (the year in which the first Minister for Culture was appointed) and 2012 (the last full year of President Chávez’s life), relating these novels to the context of their production. Each chapter explores a way in which these novels reflect on writing, from the protagonists as readers and writers in different contexts, through appearances from real life writers, to experiments with style and popular culture, and finally questioning the boundaries between fiction and reality. This literary analysis complements overarching studies of the Bolivarian Revolution by offering an insight into how Bolivarian policies and practices affect people on an individual, emotional and creative level. In this context, self-reflexive narratives afford their writers a form of political agency.Less
In contrast to recent theories of the ‘global’ or ‘post-national’ Latin American novel, this book reveals the enduring importance of the national in contemporary Venezuelan fiction, arguing that the novels studied respond to both the nationalist and populist cultural policies of the Bolivarian Revolution and Venezuela’s literary isolation. The latter results from factors including the legacy of the Boom and historically low levels of emigration from Venezuela. Grounded in theories of metafiction and intertextuality, the book provides a close reading of eight novels published between 2004 (the year in which the first Minister for Culture was appointed) and 2012 (the last full year of President Chávez’s life), relating these novels to the context of their production. Each chapter explores a way in which these novels reflect on writing, from the protagonists as readers and writers in different contexts, through appearances from real life writers, to experiments with style and popular culture, and finally questioning the boundaries between fiction and reality. This literary analysis complements overarching studies of the Bolivarian Revolution by offering an insight into how Bolivarian policies and practices affect people on an individual, emotional and creative level. In this context, self-reflexive narratives afford their writers a form of political agency.
Katie Brown
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781786942197
- eISBN:
- 9781789623932
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781786942197.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, American, 19th Century Literature
Chapter 4 suggests that, by linking their own writing to that of an author they admire through quotation, allusion or reference, Méndez Guédez, Chirinos and Zupcic both counter Venezuela’s literary ...
More
Chapter 4 suggests that, by linking their own writing to that of an author they admire through quotation, allusion or reference, Méndez Guédez, Chirinos and Zupcic both counter Venezuela’s literary isolation and explore issues of particular importance to them. Through playful references to other writers, Chulapos Mambo (Méndez Guédez, 2011) draws attention to the limited access to international literary developments in Venezuela. In addition, real Latin American writers appear throughout the story, most notably Mario Vargas Llosa and Alfredo Bryce Echinique, two writers who, like Méndez Guédez, have been judged negatively for their political beliefs. In El niño malo… (Chirinos, 2004), as well as integrating fragments of Eugenio Montejo’s poems into the narrative, Chirinos makes the poet one of the main characters of his story. This allows Chirinos to both pay homage to Montejo and to contemplate his own experience of being Venezuelan abroad. In Círculo croata (2006), Zupcic honours Salvador Prasel, a Croatian emigrant who became a writer in Venezuela, while also linking Prasel to William Faulkner, allowing Zupcic to allude to Faulkner’s appreciation for Venezuelan literature.Less
Chapter 4 suggests that, by linking their own writing to that of an author they admire through quotation, allusion or reference, Méndez Guédez, Chirinos and Zupcic both counter Venezuela’s literary isolation and explore issues of particular importance to them. Through playful references to other writers, Chulapos Mambo (Méndez Guédez, 2011) draws attention to the limited access to international literary developments in Venezuela. In addition, real Latin American writers appear throughout the story, most notably Mario Vargas Llosa and Alfredo Bryce Echinique, two writers who, like Méndez Guédez, have been judged negatively for their political beliefs. In El niño malo… (Chirinos, 2004), as well as integrating fragments of Eugenio Montejo’s poems into the narrative, Chirinos makes the poet one of the main characters of his story. This allows Chirinos to both pay homage to Montejo and to contemplate his own experience of being Venezuelan abroad. In Círculo croata (2006), Zupcic honours Salvador Prasel, a Croatian emigrant who became a writer in Venezuela, while also linking Prasel to William Faulkner, allowing Zupcic to allude to Faulkner’s appreciation for Venezuelan literature.
