The Colombian Gabriel García Márquez is one of the leaders of the Latin American Boom.
A boom is called the rise or apogee of something , generally produced suddenly. The adjective Latin American , meanwhile, refers to that linked to Latin America : the region made up of the countries of America where languages derived from Latin are spoken (especially Portuguese or Spanish ).
The idea of the Latin American Boom , in this framework, alludes to a phenomenon that began to develop in the 1960s and extended until the mid- 1970s , when books by a group of authors from Latin America achieved a wide impact worldwide . It can be said that the Latin American Boom is associated with the popularity of several young or middle-aged authors from Argentina , Brazil , Chile , Colombia , Mexico , Peru and other Latin American nations in European countries and other continents.
Origins of the Latin American Boom
Specialists recognize multiple causes that influenced the outbreak of the Latin American Boom . On the one hand, several writers agreed on the creation of experimental works with a high political or social content that escaped local tradition.
The political context, in fact, was key. The Cuban Revolution and the establishment of military dictatorships in different countries caused a climate of unrest that attracted international attention and that various writers used, in one way or another, as inspiration in their writing.
Regarding market issues, the Latin American Boom was enabled and promoted by European publishers who, for the first time, decided to launch and distribute books by Argentine, Chilean, etc. writers in the Old Continent . Among these labels, those based in Barcelona stood out.
Magical realism is usually present in the works of the Latin American Boom.
Background, first works and boom
Before the beginning of the Latin American Boom , there were writers who contributed to laying the foundations for the subsequent phenomenon with stories that presented elements of social criticism, psychological factors and components of fantasy . Alejo Carpentier , Jorge Amado , Jorge Luis Borges , Ernesto Sabato , Juan Carlos Onetti and Miguel Ángel Asturias are often mentioned in this group.
As for the works that marked the beginning of the Latin American Boom , among the most mentioned are “The City and the Dogs” by Mario Vargas Llosa and “Rayuela” by Julio Cortázar , both published in 1963 . Other analysts go back further (pointing to “Son of Man” by the Paraguayan Augusto Roa Bastos , to mention one case) and there are those who even cite previous books by the aforementioned Asturias , Onetti and Sabato .
There is a certain consensus, on the other hand, that the Latin American Boom had Cortázar , Vargas Llosa , Gabriel García Márquez and Carlos Fuentes as its main references. The maximum splendor came in 1967 , with the awarding of the Nobel Prize in Literature to Asturias and the commercial success of “One Hundred Years of Solitude” by Gabo , also a later Nobel winner.
Main literary characteristics of the Latin American Boom
The Latin American Boom is often associated with magical realism . García Márquez , Fuentes and Amado cultivated this style, which had among its precursors Asturias , Arturo Uslar Pietri and Juan Rulfo . Magical realism includes fantastical content that is perceived as normal.
Latin American Boom books also often present stories that revolve around dictators, caudillos, and authoritarian leaders. In general, the characters maintain certain links with the historical reality of the region.