Literature and History in Carlos Fuentes: Imperfect Creations

Literature and History in Carlos Fuentes: Imperfect Creations analyzes the work of Carlos Fuentes (1928-2012), one of the most widely recognized Mexican novelists. A lucid awareness of national and Ibero-American cultural and historical problems, his reflections on history, culture, politics, the international order, education, have contributed to its enrichment. This book is divided into five chapters that cover the path of the discussions on: a) the identity of the Mexican within the post-revolutionary culture, based on ontological and existentialist approaches; b) the understanding of language and modernity, as well as the danger that societies face thanks to populism; c) the understanding of literature based on desire, imagination, eroticism and its relationship with the visual image; d) as well as the understanding of the other borders of literature such as the policies that divide countries, specifically Mexico-United States, in one of the most profound reflections on the subject; e) to finish with the way in which Fuentes perceived himself in the Cervantes heritage, a dialogue from which he sought to extract representational elements of that modernity from which he sought to understand some of Mexico’s dilemmas.

Roberto Sánchez Benítez is professor-researcher at the Autonomous University of Ciudad Juárez.