Myth and Archive: A Theory of Latin American Narrative (Cambridge Studies in Latin American and Iberian Literature, Series Number 3)

This book offers a theory about the origin and evolution of the Latin American narrative, and about the emergence of the modern novel. It argues that the novel developed from the discourse of the law in the Spanish Empire during the sixteenth century, while many of the early historical documents concerning the New World assumed the same forms, furnished by the notarial arts. Thus, both the novel and these first Latin American narratives imitated the language of authority. The book explores how the same process is repeated in two key moments in the history of the Latin American narrative. In the nineteenth century, the model was the discourse of scientific travellers such as von Humboldt and Darwin, while in the twentieth century, the discourse of anthropology - the study of language and myth - has come to shape the narrative. Professor González Echevarría's theoretical approach is drawn from a reading of Carpentier's Los pasos perdidos, and the book centres on major figures in the tradition such as Columbus, Garcilaso el Inca, Sarmiento, Gallegos, Borges and Garcia Marquez. Myth And Archive Offers A New Theory About The Origin And Evolution Of The Latin American Narrative, And About The Emergence Of The Modern Novel. Instead Of Following The Traditional Categories Set Up By Literary History, Professor González Echevarri;a Explores The Relationship Of The Narrative To The Language Of Authority: The Law In The Colonial Period, Science In The Nineteenth Century, And Anthropology In The Twentieth Century. The Book Contains Readings Of Major Works In The Tradition Such As Garcilaso El Inca's Comentarios Reales, Sarmiento's Facundo, Carpentier's Los Pasos Perdidos, And Garci;a Marquez's Cien Años De Soledad. Acknowledgements -- Preface -- A Clearing In The Jungle: From Santa Monica To Macondo -- The Law Of The Letter: Garcilaso's Comentarios -- A Lost World Re-discovered: Sarmiento's Facundo And E. Da Cunha's Os Sertoes -- The Novel As Myth And Archive: Ruins And Relics Of Tlon -- Bibliography -- Indices. Roberto González Echevarría. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 222-238) And Index.

Myth and Archive offers a new theory about the origin and evolution of the Latin American narrative, and about the emergence of the modern novel. Instead of following the traditional categories set up by literary history, Professor González Echevarría explores the relationship of the narrative to the language of authority: the law in the colonial period, science in the nineteenth century, and anthropology in the twentieth century. The book contains readings of major works in the tradition such as Garcilaso el Inca's Comentarios reales, Sarmiento's Facundo, Carpentier's Los pasos perdidos, and García Marquez's Cien años de soledad.

This book offers a new theory about the origin and evolution of the Latin American narrative, and about the emergence of the modern novel. It posits that the novel developed from the discourse of the law in the Spanish Empire during the sixteenth century, with the Picaresque mimicking the documents through which criminals confessed their crimes in search of atonement and legitimacy from the authorities. The book goes on to explore how the same process is repeated in two key moments in the history of the Latin American narrative. -- Book cover This book offers a theory about the origin and evolution of the Latin American narrative, and about the emergence of the modern novel. The book contains readings of major works in the tradition such as Garcilaso el Inca's Comentarios reales, Sarmiento's Facundo, Carpentier's Los pasos perdidos and Garcia Marquez's Cien anos de Soledad. After a painful journey away from the modern world, the protagonist of Alejo Carpentier's Los pasos perdidos (1953) reaches Santa Monica de los Venados, the town founded by the Adelantado, one of his traveling companions.