Mario Vargas Llosa
A Collection of Critical Essays
The Peruvian Mario Vargas Llosa has been acclaimed throughout the literary world as one of Latin America's finest writers, yet until recently little has been written about his work in English. While his work has the subject of an increasing flow of critical commentary in Spanish and his major novels have been translated into English, this is the first full-scale critical treatment of Vargas Llosa published in the English language.
These articles by a number of established writers and critics appraise Vargas Llosa's individual novels as well as the body of his work. The Time of the Hero, The Green House, Conversation in The Cathedral, and Pantaleón y las visitadoras are examined in order of publication, A second group of more general essays ranges across Vargas Llosa's work and explores pervasive themes and concerns.
Two pieces by José Miguel Oviedo serve as a coda. In a bilingual interview, Oviedo and Vargas Llosa discuss Vargas Llosa's novel La tía Julia y el escribidor. Oviedo concludes with a critical discussion of that novel. A Vargas Llosa chronology compiled by the editors is also included.
Most of these essays originally appeared in 1977 as a special issue of Texas Studies in Literature and Language. The concluding essay by Oviedo was prepared especially for this edition.
Charles Rossman is Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Texas at Austin. Alan Warren Friedman is Professor of English at the University of Texas at Austin. Both have a special interest in the literature of Spanish America.
- Editors’ Preface
- “Of how to be and what to see while you are being”: The Reader’s Performance in The Time of the Hero (Rilda L. Baker)
- A Small Whirlpool: Narrative Structure in The Green House (Michael Moody)
- The Sources of The Green House: The Mythical Background of a Fabulous Novel (Luys A. Díez)
- Mario Vargas Llosa and Conversation in The Cathedral: The Question of Naturalism (Alan Cheuse)
- Conversations and Confessions: Self and Character in The Fall and Conversation in The Cathedral (Jean Franco)
- The Narrative Art of Mario Vargas Llosa: Two Organizing Principles in Pantaleón y las visitadoras (Raymond L. Williams)
- Apollo’s Metamorphosis in Pantaleón y las visitadoras (William L. Siemens)
- A City Boy (Luis Harss)
- Vargas Llosa, the Novelist as a Critic (Malva E. Filer)
- Mario Vargas Llosa and the Totalization Impulse (Robert Brody)
- Mario Vargas Llosa: A Labyrinth of Solitude (Joseph A. Feustle, Jr.)
- Mario Vargas Llosa: The Necessary Scapegoat (Mary Davis)
- A Conversation with Mario Vargas Llosa about La tía Julia y el escribidor (José Miguel Oviedo)
- La tía Julia y el escribidor, or the Coded Self-Portrait (José Miguel Oviedo)
- A Mario Vargas Llosa Chronology
- Notes on Contributors
