Through a comparative analysis of the novels of Roberto Bolaño and the
fictional work of César Aira, Mario Bellatin, Diamela Eltit, Chico
Buarque, Alberto Fuguet, and Fernando Vallejo, among other leading
authors, Héctor Hoyos defines and explores new trends in how we read and
write in a globalized era. Calling attention to fresh innovations in
form, voice, perspective, and representation, he also affirms the lead
role of Latin American authors in reshaping world literature.
Focusing on post-1989 Latin American novels and their representation of
globalization, Hoyos considers the narrative techniques and aesthetic
choices Latin American authors make to assimilate the conflicting forces
at work in our increasingly interconnected world. Challenging the
assumption that globalization leads to cultural homogenization, he
identifies the rich textual strategies that estrange and re-mediate
power relations both within literary canons and across global cultural
hegemonies. Hoyos shines a light on the unique, avant-garde phenomena
that animate these works, such as modeling literary circuits after the
dynamics of the art world, imagining counterfactual "Nazi" histories,
exposing the limits of escapist narratives, and formulating textual
forms that resist worldwide literary consumerism. These experiments help
reconfigure received ideas about global culture and advance new,
creative articulations of world consciousness.
