Latin American Boom

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The Latin American Boom (Spanish: Boom Latinoamericano) was a period during the middle of the 20th century when the work of Latin American authors became widely circulated in Europe and throughout the world. Narrative innovations associated with the Boom include magical realism and marvelous realism. Its major representatives are Gabriel García Márquez, Mario Vargas Llosa, Miguel Ángel Asturias, Álvaro Mutis, Alejo Carpentier, Julio Cortázar, José Lezama Lima, and Juan Rulfo.

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[edit] Hallmarks

[edit] Magical realism

The awestruck writings of the Chroniclers of the Indies and their sense of being in another world, conquering strange new lands unparalleled outside of chivalric romances, became a cultural touchstone for the people of Latin America. From these fantastical tales developed a new aesthetic, which matured into magical realism and (as conceived by Alejo Carpentier) marvelous realism. According to this aesthetic, unreal things are treated as if realistic and mundane, and mundane things as if unreal. Plots, while often based on real experiences, incorporate strange, fantastic, and legendary elements, mythical peoples, speculative settings, and characters who, while plausible, could also be unreal, and combine the true, the imaginary, and the nonexistent in such a way that they are difficult to separate.

Comparing a novel written before the Boom to one written under its influence, the former is likely to strive for authenticity and reality, depicting a plain and somber reality, while the latter strives to show multiple facets of each character and each place. Boom literature breaks down the barriers between the fantastical and the mundane, transforming this mixture into a new reality.

[edit] Manipulation of time

A common literary technique of the Boom period is nonlinear chronology. For example, a traditional Latin American novel might begin with the protagonists meeting one another, overcoming many problems, and finally getting married. In a novel written during the Boom, the opening scenes might depict a marriage. "Later", the discovery of the fiancé's infidelity would prompt the fiancée to attempt suicide, only to be rescued by her unfaithful intended. Their love rekindled, the couple would end the novel preparing for the marriage related at the beginning. Such skewed chronologies are no longer remarkable, but they were uncommon in Latin American literature before the Boom.

[edit] Origins

The origins of the Latin American Boom and its many innovations cannot be stated with finality. While some believe its techniques arose as a means of caricaturing reality, others believe they came about a way for the writer to express his unique point of view of reality.

It has also been said that the the Boom originated from the simple desire of writers to appear innovative, to break with past techniques and forge a style of their own, allowing them to give free rein to the imagination, and inviting readers to rediscover the love of literature.

[edit] Consequences

One of the effects of the Boom has been to encourage originality and creativity among writers. In previous eras, rigid rules had limited variety and suppressed the imagination, leading writers to produce hollow, meaningless stories.

The Boom is already considered an obsolete movement. Since the 1980's it has become common to speak of Post-Boom writers, most of whom were born during the 1940's, 1950's, and 1960's. The Post-Boom is distinct from the Boom in various respects, most notably in the presence of female authors.

[edit] Chronology of the Boom

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