Nature and Surrealism in the Latin American Novel of the Tropics

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In some of the most important Latin American novels of the twentieth century, natural landscapes are often a portal opening onto alternative realities. This chapter examines the assimilation of a surrealist sensibility from the perspective of nature as a character instead of a backdrop in texts like Los pasos perdidos by Alejo Carpentier, La mansión de Araucaima by Álvaro Mutis, and Soufrières by Daniel Maximin. By exploring natural figures like the river, the swamp, and the volcano, this chapter shows the affinities established by Latin American intellectuals with the ideas of surrealism as they align the power of nature with the power of revolution.