Cuerpo plural: Antología de la poesía hispanoamericana contemporánea by Gustavo Guerrero

Abstract

the excesses of freedom?imagined as more and more stuff without the hindrance of responsibility?to the constrictions of enclosure typifies Dionne Brand at her best: impas sioned politics and imaginative,pas sionate poetry. Jim Hannan LeMoyne College Cuerpo plural:Antologia de lapoesia hispanoamericana contempor?nea. Gustavo Guerrero, ed. Valencia / Madrid. Pre-Textos / Instituto Cer vantes. 2010. 616 pages + dvd. 25. isbn978-84-92913-17-6 Gustavo Guerrero's anthology of Latin American poetry includes fif ty-seven poets fromnineteen Latin American countries and, curiously, one from the United States. This selection aims to present theworks of a new generation of poets born between 1959 and 1979. While a number of these poets began pub lishing as early as the 1980s and today range between thirty and fifty years of age, all now have many col lections ofpoetry to theircredit and have achieved recognition, not only in theirrespective countries but also internationally. In his lengthy yet lucid intro duction, Guerrero indicates that the point ofdeparture forthisanthology is the generational kinship that this group ofpoets enjoys.He points out that these poets share the legacy of Latin American modernism, led by Rub?n Dario in thenineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the experi mental works of theLatin American avant-garde period of the 1920s and '30s,aswell as thediverse social and political impulses of thepoetry pub lished in the 1960s and '70s.While thisnewer generation ofpoets rarely pays direct tribute to any of these traditions, their ownlives have wit- fl^^^Hjf^^^HKi? J^^^?I?????^^K? nessed othermore recent historical turning points, such asthe fall oftheH^^^^^^^^^^^Hf^^^HHS^I^^^I Berlin Wall, the attacks of September B^^^^^^^^^^^H^^^HHHH|[^H l and the impactof theInternetand the digital age?which is saythat H^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^HHH^^^HH they arethe H^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H^^h^^^^I andpostmodern values. Theirfl^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^HHHH^^^H attitudes express "una vocaci?n des- 9H mitificadora radical, desacralizadora HHHHHHHHH y antianacr?nica," which gives little BflB credence to conception prof?tica HHH|||^^^H|HH|||| del poeta ni en su trascendencia en HHHH^HHHHH si"; instead, theirpoetry expresses HnHH a larger awareness of a linguistic BliiW consensus in Latin America, while SUHHhHHH acknowledging theregionalHHHH|^|^^HHHjH^^^^^HH^^^^| particularities of the Spanish lanHHHHH ^HH^HH guage throughout Latin America. ImBHBHBMW While marked by a keen sense of BHjgWMW individualism, thisnew poetry does iiilBl? not adheretoanygivenschoolof HMHHHHHHHH|^^HHHBb^^|^^| poetry, dogma, or ideology, and is iBB best characterized by itsheterogene- 9 HBHHH ity anddiversity. Withinthis realm, lll|^BH|HBBBB Guerreroacknowledgesthatnew fl|^^^^^HHHHH^^^^HHH cultural andsocial realities since the ^^^^^H^IHfl^^^^lil^^^flBHI^^I 1980s have also required the creation W^^^^??wt^^^^K^^^^^^^HIi^^^^ ofanew poetic discourse. ^^^HBRK^S^^B^^^B^^H^I^^ Thisanthology contains a large H|Hllbjl|^ number ofpoets, which isa plus; l|l|HMHj^^^^^^^^|^^^|HB|H^|| however, this multiplicity of fl^B^^^^I^BI^^^^^^BH^^^^H^ es also indicates that the of Wj^B^^^^K?^?^^^^^^m^^m?^^^?i a particular poet, whose writings il^^^^^^^^^^H^^^^^^^HHHn^^l canestablish amilestone for Latin 9||^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^HHHHHHH| American poetry, hasyet tosurface. W?^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^K???????^^^? Keyfigures very turn fl^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^HIHfl^^^l out tobe EduardoChirinos, LorenIIIIh ^^HHBH zoHelguero, andJulio Trujillo, not 1^hEBIhH^H!^^^^^^SH^^^^^^^^hB tomention the excellent works of lljj Juan Carlos Ramiro Quiroga, LiliHflH ana Wittner, Mayra Santos-Febres, gann|^^^Hg^ Fabian Casas, Otoniel Guevara, or ^KK??I^^^/????K?kII^^K??B??I?I^^^? Tedi Lopez Mills, among others.All IB in all, theirpoetry leaves us with a MM certain nostalgia for the verses of flHHHH C?sar Vallejo, Pablo Neruda, Nica- ^^^I^^^^^^^^H^^^^^^H^^^^^H nor Parra,ErnestoCardenal,and fl^BH|j^^^HHHH^^H|HH|j^^^H Jos?Emilio Pacheco, whose ground- IbB WORLD LITERATURE IN REVIEW ^^^ ^^^^^^^H breaking legacies in Latin American poetry still remain at the forefront. One could also bemoan the absence of other poets in a volume of this nature (after all, an anthology will never please everyone). However, a more important concern worth noting about this ambitious work is that while some countries are rep resented by several authors (Peru, Venezuela, Mexico, Argentina, Chile), others are barely represented at all (Paraguay, Ecuador, El Salva dor, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua, Uruguay). Such dispar ity is troubling, especially with the inclusion of New Mexican writer Levi Romero, who...