Annotated Bibliography
Smith, Verity. Critical Guides to the Spanish Texts-Carpentier: Los Pasos Perdidos. London: Tamesis Books Ltd. 1983. Print.
In this book the author discusses the contributions Carpentier has made over a period during of his first couple of decades into his career of writing literature. It mentions Carpentier’s writing style as developing throughout this time as leading more towards deeper meaning and thoughts, along with some added wittiness being an influence to his content. What is discussed primarily is how Carpentier felt that the Latin American literature had to make its own impasses and discover its own identity to be able to preserve and unite its unique and diverse culture. They owed it to themselves to distinguish and create their own individuality and independence by discovering it and by not having others, such as the Europeans produce it for them. The importance of preserving and taking back their own heritage and to make the journey of self re-discovery was up to them and not to be determined from outsiders who have become somewhat un-welcomed. Carpentier wanted to present the Latin American surroundings and history through the stories of voyages or travels to revolutions of man to give the historical accuracy of what the people of Latin America have gone through. To explore the ‘real’ or ‘real events’ and show the process of human suffering, acceptance, growth and realization during times of destruction and celebration (Smith). And to show this he used the different direction of writing style with the use of ‘magical realism’ or as the author essentially describes it as “…marvelous resides in the real” (Smith). But as Carpentier attempts to sever the ties and influence from abroad he finds it to be more complicated than anticipated. Almost an internal and moral conflict to face the fact that he himself had relied on the European influence and he had lived within Europe for a good number of years that he would later declare "civilization and barbarism imported from Europe” (Smith). As much as he wanted to distance himself and the connection and dependence from the Europe where he had lived for many years and for him to suddenly proclaim a disconnection would allow ‘hypocracies’ to be revealed. Carpentier had spent many years living in Europe and eventually dies there as well (Smith). The book then describes that possibly forming a relationship of not detachment but that of creating a relationship with the past ties from Europe and acknowledging the indiscretion would actually assist in allowing the strength and identity of the ‘Afro and Indo-American’ works of literature and art to become more prevalent (Smith). Describing that attempting to hide the past and previous wrongs would do nothing and that using the current relationship to change the attitudes was the better strategy by harmonizing the fundamentals from Europe and uniting Latin American contributions. And to make this happen Carpentier introduces a baroque style to allow the ‘old’ and ‘new worlds’ to transition the approaches to discovering that self-identity (Smith). One of the most interesting quotes I found to be the most relevant in the text was the one the author writes that sort of summarizes Carpentiers views on the importance of identity. A “Latin American artist who only looks to Europe for inspiration, scorning the values of his own culture, is doomed to suffer disillusionment and failure” (Smith).