The novels of Fernando del Paso

Abstract

Fernando del Paso (b.1935) is one of Mexico's most prestigious living authors. In this first book-length comparative study, Robin W. Fiddian evaluates Del Paso's relationships to Mexican, Spanish American, European and North American narrative traditions, palcing him in the context of other Latin American writers like Fuentes, Cortazar and Garcia Marquez. Looking in particular at the pattern of evolution of four novels - Jose Trigo, Palinuro de Mexico, Noticias del Imperio and Linda 67, Fiddian argues that the works demonstrate the triumph of a modernist style of writing in Spanish American fiction of the midcentury and its subsequent eclipse by postmodern paradigms. Fiddian also addresses issues of cultural identity and independence that are revelant both within and beyond the national boundaries of Mexico. As well as providing the most comprehensive coverage yet of Del Paso's impressive writing, the book can be read as a case study of the application of postmodern and postcolonial theories to the literary cultures of all developing nations.