Latin America and Existentialism: A Pan-American Literary History (1864-1938)

(Hardback)

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An illuminating reevaluation of Latin Americas importance to existentialist thought.

This book is a comparative study of existentialism in Latin America, addressing and rectifying Latin Americas subordinated position in the existentialist canon. It is an intellectual history that prioritizes literature and contextualizes Latin Americas philosophical contributions from the 1880s to the late 1930s, decades that coincide with the canon's foundational years. Using a Pan-American approach, the book discusses key figures such as Juan Carlos Onetti, Carlos Astrada, and Ernesto Sbato within the broader context of Latin American existentialism and examines writers from less studied regions, such as Brazil's Machado de Assis and Graciliano Ramos, Colombias Jos Asuncin Silva, Cubas Enrique Labrador Ruiz, and Chile's Mara Luisa Bombal.

Reviews

"In Latin America and Existentialism, Murillo presents readers with a hemispheric archive spanning the late-nineteenth century through the 1930s ... This study produces a carefully woven and nuanced argument that takes readers on a literary-philosophical journey that adeptly moves from Brazil and Colombia to Cuba and Chile, an indispensable reference for those interested in the convergence of Latin American literature and philosophy."-- "Juan G. Ramos, professor of Spanish at the College of the Holy Cross (USA)"

Author Bio

Edwin Murillo is associate professor of Spanish at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga.