| Latin American Boom |
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The Latin American Boom (''Boom Latinoamericano'') was a period during the middle of the 20th Century when the work of Latin American Authors became widely circulated in Europe and throughout the world. Narrative innovations associated with the Boom include Magical Realism and Marvelous Realism . Its major representatives were Julio Cortázar , Carlos Fuentes , Gabriel García Márquez , and Mario Vargas Llosa , as well as Miguel Ángel Asturias , Alejo Carpentier , José Lezama Lima , and Juan Rulfo . HALLMARKS Magical realism See Also: Magical realism The awestruck writings of the Chroniclers Of The Indies and their sense of being in another world, conquering strange new lands unparalleled outside of chivalric romances, became a cultural touchstone for the people of Latin America. From these fantastical tales developed a new aesthetic, which matured into magical realism and (as conceived by Alejo Carpentier ) marvelous realism or Lo Real Maravilloso . According to this aesthetic, unreal things are treated as if realistic and mundane, and mundane things as if unreal. Plots, while often based on real experiences, incorporate strange, fantastic, and legendary elements, mythical peoples, speculative settings, and characters who, while plausible, could also be unreal, and combine the true, the imaginary, and the nonexistent in such a way that they are difficult to separate. Comparing a novel written before the Boom to one written under its influence, the former is likely to strive for authenticity and reality, depicting a plain and somber reality, while the latter strives to show multiple facets of each character and each place. Boom literature breaks down the barriers between the fantastical and the mundane, transforming this mixture into a new reality. Manipulation of time A common literary technique of the Boom period is Nonlinear chronology. For example, a traditional Latin American novel might begin with the protagonists meeting one another, overcoming many problems, and finally getting married. In a novel written during the Boom, the opening scenes might depict a marriage. "Later", the discovery of the fiancé's infidelity would prompt the fiancée to attempt suicide, only to be rescued by her unfaithful intended. Their love rekindled, the couple would end the novel preparing for the marriage related at the beginning. Such skewed chronologies are no longer remarkable, but they were uncommon in Latin American literature before the Boom. POST-BOOM Since the 1980s it has become common to speak of '' Post-Boom '' writers, most of whom were born during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. The Post-Boom is distinct from the Boom in various respects, most notably in the presence of female authors. CHRONOLOGY Some of the major publications and landmarks of the Boom and its precursors:
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