Nationality in Latin America has long been entwined with questions of racial identity. Just as American-born colonial elites grounded their struggle for independence from Spain and Portugal in the history of Amerindian resistance, constructions of nationality were based on the notion of the fusion of populations heterogeneous in culture, race, and language. But this rhetorical celebration of difference was framed by a real-life pressure to assimilate into cultures always defined by Iberian American elites. In Mestizo Nations, Juan De Castro explores the construction of nationality in Latin American and Chicano literature and thought during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Focusing on the discourse of mestizaje—which proposes the creation of a homogenous culture out of American Indian, black, and Iberian elements—he examines a selection of texts that represent the entire history and regional landscape of Latin American culture in its Western, indigenous, and neo-African traditions from Independence to the present. Through them, he delineates some of the ambiguities and contradictions that have beset this discourse. Among texts considered are the Indianist novel Iracema by the nineteenth-century Brazilian author José de Alencar; the Tradiciones peruanas, Peruvian Ricardo Palma's fictionalizations of national difference; and historical and sociological essays by the Peruvian Marxist José Carlos Mariátegui and the Brazilian intellectual Gilberto Freyre. And because questions raised by this discourse are equally relevant to postmodern concerns with national and transnational heterogeneity, De Castro also analyzes such recent examples as the Cuban dance band Los Van Van's use of Afrocentric lyrics; Richard Rodriguez's interpretations of North American reality; and points of contact and divergence between José María Arguedas's novel The Fox from Up Above and the Fox from Down Below and writings of Gloria Anzaldúa and Julia Kristeva. By updating the concept of mestizaje as a critical tool for analyzing literary text and cultural trends—incorporating not only race, culture, and nationality but also gender, language, and politics—De Castro shows the implications of this Latin American discursive tradition for current critical debates in cultural and area studies. Mestizo Nations contains important insights for all Latin Americanists as a tool for understanding racial relations and cultural hybridization, creating not only an important commentary on Latin America but also a critique of American life in the age of multiculturalism.

Mestizo Nations: Culture, Race, and Conformity in Latin American Literature

Literature & Fiction

De Castro, Juan E.

History & Criticism

University of Arizona Press

Borges and Kafka, Bolaño and Bloom: Latin American Authors and the Western Canon

At a time in which many in the United States see Spanish America as a distinct and, for some, threatening culture clearly differentiated from that of Europe and the US, it may be of use to look at the works of some of the most representative and celebrated writers from the region to see how they imagined their relationship to Western culture and literature. In fact, while authors across stylistic and political divides—like Gabriela Mistral, Jorge Luis Borges, or Gabriel García Márquez—see their work as being framed within the confines of a globalized Western literary tradition, their relationship, rather than epigonal, is often subversive.\nBorges and Kafka, Bolaño and Bloom is a parsing not simply of these authors' reactions to a canon, but of the notion of canon writ large and the inequities and erasures therein. It concludes with a look at the testimonial and autobiographical writings of Rigoberta Menchú and Lurgio Gavilán, who arguably represent the trajectory of Indigenous testimonial and autobiographical writing during the last forty years, noting how their texts represent alternative ways of relating to national and, on occasion, Western cultures. This study is a new attempt to map writers' diverse ways of thinking about locality and universality from within and without what is known as the canon.

De Castro, Juan

Vanderbilt University Press

At a time in which many in the United States see Spanish America as a distinct and, for some, threatening culture clearly differentiated from that of Europe and the US, it may be of use to look at the works of some of the most representative and celebrated writers from the region to see how they imagined their relationship to Western culture and literature. In fact, while authors across stylistic and political divides--like Gabriela Mistral, Jorge Luis Borges, or Gabriel García Márquez--see their work as being framed within the confines of a globalized Western literary tradition, their relationship, rather than epigonal, is often subversive. Borges and Kafka, Bolaño and Bloom is a parsing not simply of these authors' reactions to a canon, but of the notion of canon writ large and the inequities and erasures therein. It concludes with a look at the testimonial and autobiographical writings of Rigoberta Menchú and Lurgio Gavilán, who arguably represent the trajectory of Indigenous testimonial and autobiographical writing during the last forty years, noting how their texts represent alternative ways of relating to national and, on occasion, Western cultures. This study is a new attempt to map writers' diverse ways of thinking about locality and universality from within and without what is known as the canon.

Writing Revolution in Latin America: From Martí to García Márquez to Bolaño

Product Description In the politically volatile period from the 1960s through the end of the twentieth century, Latin American authors were in direct dialogue with the violent realities of their time and place. Writing Revolution in Latin America is a chronological study of the way revolution and revolutionary thinking is depicted in the fiction composed from the eye of the storm.From Mexico to Chile, the gradual ideological evolution from a revolutionary to a neoliberal mainstream was a consequence of, on the one hand, the political hardening of the Cuban Revolution beginning in the late 1960s, and, on the other, the repression, dictatorships, and economic crises of the 1970s and beyond. Not only was socialist revolution far from the utopia many believed, but the notion that guerrilla uprisings would lead to an easy socialism proved to be unfounded. Similarly, the repressive Pinochet dictatorship in Chile led to unfathomable tragedy and social mutation.This double-edged phenomenon of revolutionary disillusionment became highly personal for Latin American authors inside and outside Castro's and Pinochet's dominion. Revolution was more than a foreign affair, it was the stuff of everyday life and, therefore, of fiction.Juan De Castro's expansive study begins ahead of the century with José Martí in Cuba and continues through the likes of Mario Vargas Llosa in Peru, Gabriel García Márquez in Colombia, and Roberto Bolaño in Mexico (by way of Chile). The various, often contradictory ways the authors convey this precarious historical moment speaks in equal measure to the social circumstances into which these authors were thrust and to the fundamental differences in the ways they themselves witnessed history. Review "De Castro combines a superb command of the broad sweep of Latin American cultural and political history with a detailed knowledge of specific texts and the critical debates surrounding them. This book is an impressive achievement."—Maarten van Delden, UCLA"De Castro introduces original topics such as LGBTQ and Revolution, and women writers such as Guelfenbein. This is a scholarly accomplishment, a groundbreaking work that is well written and researched, a model for arduous and significant contributions to the Latin American studies field, an original way to study the twentieth and twenty-first centuries with an original approach to the concept of insurgency. Indeed, the book is a benign revolt that will contribute greatly to this arena of inquiry."—Martín Camps, University of the Pacific About the Author Juan E. De Castro is an associate professor of literary studies at Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts, The New School, where he teaches courses in Latin American literatures. He is the author of three books: Mestizo Nations: Culture, Race, and Conformity in Latin American Literature (2002), The Spaces of Latin American Literature: Tradition, Globalization, and Cultural Production (2008), and Mario Vargas Llosa: Public Intellectual in Neoliberal Latin America (2011).

PROSE Awards Literature Subject Category Winner, 2020 In the politically volatile period from the 1960s through the end of the twentieth century, Latin American authors were in direct dialogue with the violent realities of their time and place. Writing Revolution in Latin America is a chronological study of the way revolution and revolutionary thinking is depicted in the fiction composed from the eye of the storm. From Mexico to Chile, the gradual ideological evolution from a revolutionary to a neoliberal mainstream was a consequence of, on the one hand, the political hardening of the Cuban Revolution beginning in the late 1960s, and, on the other, the repression, dictatorships, and economic crises of the 1970s and beyond. Not only was socialist revolution far from the utopia many believed, but the notion that guerrilla uprisings would lead to an easy socialism proved to be unfounded. Similarly, the repressive Pinochet dictatorship in Chile led to unfathomable tragedy and social mutation. This double-edged phenomenon of revolutionary disillusionment became highly personal for Latin American authors inside and outside Castro's and Pinochet's dominion. Revolution was more than a foreign affair, it was the stuff of everyday life and, therefore, of fiction. Juan De Castro's expansive study begins ahead of the century with José Martí in Cuba and continues through the likes of Mario Vargas Llosa in Peru, Gabriel García Márquez in Colombia, and Roberto Bolaño in Mexico (by way of Chile). The various, often contradictory ways the authors convey this precarious historical moment speaks in equal measure to the social circumstances into which these authors were thrust and to the fundamental differences in the ways they themselves witnessed history.

Product Description Influenced by anarchism and especially by anarcho-syndicalist Georges Sorel, the political praxis of Peruvian activist and scholar José Carlos Mariátegui (1894-1930) deviated from the policies mandated by the Comintern. Mariátegui saw only new subjectivities as capable of making a revolution that would not recreate bourgeois or fascist structures. For Mariátegui, a new society required a new culture. He therefore not only founded the Peruvian Socialist Party, but also created Amauta, a magazine that brought together the writings of the political and cultural avant-gardes. This landmark book both examines Mariátegui’s views on the political valence of cultural habits and products and assesses the cultural underpinnings of the political proposals found in his writings and actions. Review "This is a fascinating new book on Latin America’s most significant intellectual of the left: Jose Carlos Mariátegui. Juan De Castro gives us an incisive analysis of Mariátegui's deeply original understanding of cosmopolitanism, his idea of socialism and his anti-racist interpretations of Peru, Latin America and the world's literature and politics. This book is a must read!"–Federico Finchelstein, author A Brief HIstory of Fascist Lies"Bread and Beauty: The Cultural Politics of José Carlos Mariátegui is an intellectual tour de force and an outstanding source for studying and understanding the Peruvian socialist’s thought, politics, and aesthetics. De Castro’s encyclopedic knowledge of Mariateguist scholarship and its context make for a kaleidoscopic rendering of the person and his work and a profound appreciation for the nature and depth of his thought."—Harry Vanden, Latin American Perspectives"It is thus indisputable that De Castro has provided us with an excellent introduction to the works of José Carlos Mariátegui, one long overdue and much needed. While he was never fully forgotten in Latin America, as the chapter on his afterlife shows in great detail, it is high time to introduce him into the discourses outside the Spanish speaking Americas. Bread and Beauty provides us with insight into the numerous debates that preceded World War Two, that shaped the project of Latin American socialism of the second half of the twentieth century and, most importantly, breaks with the myth of Mariátegui’s project as a theory-poor, dreamy or romantic endeavor. By doing so, De Castro breaks with the myth (at least subconsciously held by many scholars) of Latin America as a periphery without theory. Especially for a left trying to get a grip on the problems of globalization and how they articulate themselves through localities, the (re)discovery of the works of Mariátegui is inevitable and De Castro’s book is a great place to start."—Till Hahn, Marx and Philosophy: Review of Books"The book has much to tell us about the cultural politics of Mariátegui but also about the state of research on Mariátegui.As such it should be read with care by those who are new to Mariátegui and who will want to use this book to begin to explore his political and cultural thought and praxis, as well as those who are familiar with Mariátegui and who will want to engage with De Castro’s welcome and important contribution"—Paulo Drinot, Transmodernity: A Journal of Peripheral Cultural Production of the Luso-Hispanic World About the Author Juan E. De Castro is an Associate Professor at Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts, The New School. He is the author of four books on Latin American literature, including Writing Revolution in Latin America: From Martí, to García Márquez to Bolaño (Vanderbilt University Press, 2019).

Bread and Beauty: The Cultural Politics of José Carlos Mariátegui (Historical Materialism)

Arts & Photography

Haymarket Books

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by De Castro, Juan E.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by De Castro, Juan E.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by De Castro, Juan E.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Mestizo Nations: Culture, Race, and Conformity in Latin American Literature

Borges and Kafka, Bolaño and Bloom: Latin American Authors and the Western Canon

Borges and Kafka, Bolaño and Bloom: Latin American Authors and the Western Canon

Writing Revolution in Latin America: From Martí to García Márquez to Bolaño

Writing Revolution in Latin America: From Martí to García Márquez to Bolaño

Bread and Beauty: The Cultural Politics of José Carlos Mariátegui (Historical Materialism)