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orientalismo en Latinoamérica
Edited by Silvia Nagy-Zekmi |
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"Orientalism" for the purposes of this book is defined as influences and perceptions of primarily the Middle East, but also the Far East, in the Latin American literary tradition. Many Latin American writers and poets, among them Severo Sarduy, Lezama Lima, Homero Aridjis, Rubén Darío, Octavio Paz, Pablo Neruda, Jorge Luis Borges, have demonstrated a great fascination with oriental themes in their works, often searching for non-European paradigms. In their representation the Orient appears as an exotic, mysterious place, seducing but somewhat obscure. Such ambivalent representation informs Edward Said’s seminal study, Orientalism whose main concern is the way Eurocentric discourse represents other cultures, particularly the Orient with which it came into contact through imperial expansion. Said argues that through discourse the West framed other cultures as the Other according to Western norms assigning an important role to exoticism. According to Said, Western discourse created this particular Orient in order to justify its economic, intellectual and moral superiority over its territory and its subjects. This volume contains articles that explore manifestations of orientalism in Latin American literature, culture, or arts.
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