The Latino Christ in Art, Literature, and Liberation Theology
The Latino Christ in Art, Literature, and Liberation Theology
This exploration of Iberian, Latin American, and US-Hispanic representations of Christ focuses on outliers in art, literature, and theology: Spanish painter Salvador Dalí, Mexican muralist José Clemente Orozco, Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges, Spanish existentialist Miguel de Unamuno, Brazilian theologian Leonardo Boff, and Mexican philosopher José Vasconcelos, some of the most brilliant stars in the Spanish and Latin American firmament. Their work, and that of others, stands out from the conventional and the traditional, stretching our imagination by opening our eyes to what we do not want to see.
The author also reflects on such significant lesser-known writers as New Mexican author, painter, and priest Fray Angélico Chávez; Argentine writer and political leader Ricardo Rojas, author of The Invisible Christ; Mexican American theologian Virgilio Elizondo; and Chicana feminist Gloria Anzaldúa, author of Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza. He shows how artists project their concerns onto representations of Christ and how the perceptions of the reader and viewer reflect their culture and their psychology. Along the way, Candelaria explores the philosophical issues of representation in aesthetics and the problems of hermeneutics and identity.
The book provides an important introduction to Hispanic/Latina/o perspectives on Christ.
Candelaria’s reminder to particularize US mestizo attempts to form a liberationist current, avoiding the mistakes of the past, remains as relevant today as ever.
Insightful.
As a whole the book remains a welcome contribution to the cultural studies of transatlantic visual arts and literary texts with an emphasis on aesthetic and theological discourse.
In this excellent book the author skillfully locates liberation theology within the larger context of Latin culture, and he does so masterfully.
Michael R. Candelaria is a principal lecturer in the Religious Studies Program and the Department of Philosophy at the University of New Mexico. He is the author of The Revolt of Unreason: Miguel de Unamuno and Antonio Caso on the Crisis of Modernity and Popular Religion and Liberation: The Dilemma of Liberation Theology.
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter One. Salvador Dalí: Nuclear Mystical Christ
Chapter Two. Fray Angelico Chávez: "The Virgin of Port Lligat"
Chapter Three. José Clemente Orozco: Christ Prometheus
Chapter Four. Miguel de Unamuno: The Quixotic Christ
Chapter Five. Jorge Luis Borges: The Fictional Christ
Chapter Six. Richard Rojas: The Invisible Christ
Chapter Seven. Liberation Theology: Christ the Liberator
Chapter Eight. The Mestizo Christ
Chapter Nine. Coda
Bibliography
Index
