3 - Literature in the Revolution
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 September 2013
Summary
The publication of Rayuela gave Cortázar extraordinary prominence on the Latin American and also international cultural scene. This largely coincided with Cortázar's ‘conversion’ to socialism, catalysed by his first encounter with Castro's Cuba. Based largely on his political adherence, critics and fellow writers constructed the image of the ‘politicised Cortázar’, marking a turning point in the understanding of him as a public figure but also of his fictional writings. The analysis thus far has tried to show that the so-called politicisation of Cortázar, and seemingly also of his literature, has been somewhat mythologised, and not just by critics, but also by Cortázar himself. Even the wave of articles that appeared in the Argentinian and Spanish press during 2009, commemorating the twenty-fifth anniversary of Cortázar's death, still refers to his first trip to Cuba as a precise point that defines Cortázar's ‘before and after’ politics, generally claiming that his ‘good’ literature ended when he became committed to socialism and to the Cuban Revolution: the Mexican critic Emmanuel Carballo stated, for instance, that ‘su paso por la política nos robó libros que pudieron ser importantes’.
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- Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2013