A Companion to Spanish-American Literature

Abstract

A Companion to Spanish-American Literature. By Stephen M. Hart. London: Tamesis, 1999. 202 pages. Stephen Hart is clear about the purpose and the intended audience of his book: What the present study attempts to do is to provide a continuous, brief narrative about the main writers and works of the Spanish-American canon, and frames that historical narrative in the context of literary print culture... It is hoped that this overview of Spanish-American literature will be useful as a refresher course for the student preparing for Masters and Doctoral exams, as well as the general reader (2). One must admire his courage in undertaking an enterprise of this type in 167 pages of text. Writing manuals (like writing reviews) is a thankless job. Manuals are valued for their coverage of canonical works, clarity of expression, and accuracy. Hart's research and his good intentions to serve his readers are evident throughout this bold attempt at synthesis, but mixed in with his contributions and his fresh approach there are enough flaws to compromise the usefulness of the project. In terms of coverage, Hart needs to be selective and wisely adopts the device of mentioning the canonical authors and works he cannot discuss in footnotes. Therefore one wonders all the more at the authors who are wholly banished from this companion to Spanish American literature. Cabrera Infante's Tres tristes tigres appears in a footnote of works contemporaneous with the Boom together with Elena Garro, Juan Carlos Onetti, Jose Donoso, Arturo Uslar Pietri and Augusto Roa Bastos, but nowhere in the book are Jose Lezama Lima or Severo Sarduy mentioned although there is ample coverage of Reinaldo Arenas. Mempo Giardinelli and Luisa Valenzuela are studied by Hart but their compatriots Osvaldo Soriano, Ricardo Piglia, Angelica Gorodischer, Marcos Aguinis, Ana Maria Shua, Tom is Eloy Martinez, and Reina Roffe are not mentioned. The issue here is not just one of inclusion, but of providing a context for the works of the authors who are featured. It is equally hard to justify the total omission of Elena Poniatowska, particularly since there is a section devoted to the testimonio. Hart deserves recognition for being progressive and including a section on Gay and Afro-Hispanic writers and he appropriately includes many women. However, it is odd for him to discuss Laura Esquivel without making even bibliographical reference to any of her cohorts: Angeles Mastretta, Maria Luisa Puga, and Silvia Molina. …