Mourning El Dorado : literature and extractivism in the contemporary American tropics /

"Considers how the novels of five contemporary writers from the American tropics--Alejo Carpentier, Wilson Harris, Mario Vargas Llosa, Alvaro Mutis, and Milton Hatoum--engage with the legend of El Dorado in light of modern practices for extracting mineral deposits and other natural resources in...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author:	Rogers, Charlotte, 1979- (Author)
Format:	Book
Language:	English
Published:	Charlottesville : University of Virginia Press, 2019.
Series:	New World studies.
Subjects:	1900-1999 El Dorado in literature. Latin American fiction > 20th century > History and criticism. Literature and society > Latin America > History. Mineral industries > Latin America. Natural resources > Latin America. Latin American fiction. Literature and society. Mineral industries. Natural resources. Latin America. Criticism, interpretation, etc. History.

Table of Contents:

Introduction: the promise of El Dorado
From native legend to fictional motif: a brief literary history of El Dorado
The lost steps to El Dorado: tracing the transformation of the Venezuelan landscape in Alejo Carpentier's Los pasos perdidos-- "City of God, city of gold": mystical ecology and environmental exploitation in Wilson Harris's The secret ladder
Trauma in the tropics: Reconsidering Mario Vargas Llosa's La casa verde
The "golden halo": adventure and extractivism in Alvaro Mutis's La nieve del Almirante
Between encante and manoa: creative mourning and critical nostalgia in Milton Hatoum's Órfãos do Eldorado
Conclusion: beyond the promise of El Dorado?