LatinAmericanPoetry:OriginsandPresence

ThisstudyconsidersthewaysSpanishAmericanandBrazilianpoetsdifferfromtheirEuropeancounterpartsbyconsidering'LatinAmerican'asmorethanaperfunctoryepithet.ItsetstheorthodoxLatintraditionofthesubcontinentagainstothersthathavesurvivedorgrownupaftertheconquestthenpaysattentiontothosepoetswho,fromIndependence,havestriventoexpressaspecificallyAmericanmoralandgeographicalidentity.DrBrothersonfocusesonModernismo,orthe'comingofage'ofpoetryinSpanishAmericaandBrazil,andtheimportanceofthemovementsassociatedwithit.HeconsidersCésarVallejoandPabloNeruda,probablythegreatestoftheselection,OctavioPaz,andmodernpoetswhohavereacteddifferentlytotheideathatLatinAmericamightnowbethoughttohavenotjustageographicalbutanascentpoliticalidentityofitsown.Poemsareliberallyquoted,andtreatedasentitiesintheirownright.