Foundational Fictions: The National Romances of Latin America (Latin American Literature and Culture)

by Doris Sommer

National consolidation and romantic novels go hand in hand in Latin America. Foundational Fictions shows how 19th century patriotism and heterosexual passion historically depend on one another to engender productive citizens.

Genres: Nonfiction, Literary Criticism

452 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Doris Sommer is the Ira and Jewell Williams Jr. Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures and of African and African American Studies at Harvard University, where she is Founder and Director of Cultural Agents: Arts and Humanities in Civic Engagement. She is the author of The Work of Art in the World: Civic Agency and Public Humanities, Bilingual Aesthetics: A New Sentimental Education and editor of Cultural Agency in the Americas.

Reviews

[sdw · Rating 4 out of 5]

The lit crit side of this book was fascinating. I really enjoyed the arguments and the interpretations it offered. But the thing is - its really hard to read lit crit about novels you have never read. I have failed to be transnational. I have not globalized. This is to say I did not know most of the Latin American fiction she was writing about. But I loved the introduction. The explanation of the relationship between love and patriotism (desire for belonging along with possession). The book examines romances that are really writing a national history. Thus, "To show the inextricably of politics from fiction in the history of nation-building is, then, the first concern of this study." She doesn't mean what you might think when she discusses the "erotics of politics." The textual based readings seem very solid although, as mentioned before, I haven't read the novel she discusses.

[Jorge Valencia · Rating 3 out of 5]

En Ficciones funcionales, Sommer intenta explicar como algunas obras han marcado la construcción de los estados nación. Solo leí su primer capítulo, pero en él, se trata el romance como referente de integración de lo público y privado. Además se modifica el prototipo de héroe nacional, ya que no se requiere al prócer valeroso sino que se empieza a privilegiar al hombre con más sentimientos, casi afeminado. Este fenómeno se presenta en las obras fundacionales del siglo XIX. Colombia tiene como gran referente de este proceso a Maria de Jorge Isaacs.

[Angela Rodriguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really good read. It focused on Latin American literature and how the romantic novels of the 19th century started to form basic notions and conceptions of the nation through the notion of matrimony (heterosexuality).