Latin America's New Historical Novel

Seymour Menton is a professor of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of California, Irvine.

• AcknowledgmentsPrependix: Chronology of the Latin American Historical Novel, 1949–19921. Latin America’s New Historical Novel Definitions and Origins2. Mario Vargas Llosa’s War on Fanaticism La guerra del fin del mundo, with a Coda on JosÉ J. Veiga’s A casca da serpente3. Abel Posse’s Denunciation of Power Los perros del paraÍso4. The Instant Canonization of a Bakhtinian Symphony Fernando del Paso’s Noticias del imperio5. The BolÍvar Quartette, or Varieties of Historical Fiction Gabriel GarcÍa MÁrquez’s El general en su laberintoFernando Cruz Kronfly’s La ceniza del LibertadorAlvaro Mutis’s “El Último rostro”GermÁn Espinosa’s SinfonÍa desde el Nuevo Mundo6. Bending the Rules, or The Art of Subversion Ricardo Piglia’s RespiraciÓn artificial7. Over Two Thousand Years of Exile and Marginality-The Jewish Latin American Historical Novel Pedro Orgambide’s Aventuras de Edmund Ziller en tierras del nuevo mundoMoacyr Scliar’s A estranha naÇÃo de Rafael MendesHomero Aridjis’s 1492: Vida y tiempos de Juan CabezÓn de Castilla Angelina MuÑiz’s Tierra adentro8. La campaÑa by Carlos Fuentes CrÓnica de una guerra denunciada, or Chronicle of a War RetoldNotesBibliographyIndex

Seymour Menton has produced not only a scholarly, engaging, and very readable study of the 'new historical novel' but also a fresh and comprehensive overview of the contemporary Latin American novel in general. . . . Original in scope and perspective, eloquent in presentation, this volume would be a valuable and significant addition to any Latin Americanist's library. (Hispanic American Historical Review) Scholars and students of contemporary Latin American narrative will be made aware of recent fiction not yet discussed in English-language criticism or, for that matter, at any length in Spanish-language criticism. Menton opens up a significant new area for further critical inquiry. (Review: Latin American Literature and Arts)