Literature and Subjection

In Literature and Subjection, Horacio Legras employs theoretical, philosophical, cultural, political, and historical analysis to assess the factors that have both facilitated and stifled the integration of peripheral experiences into Latin American literature. Legras examines a handful of contemporary authors who have attempted in earnest to present marginalized voices to the Western world, and evaluates the success or failure of these endeavors. His deep and insightful evaluation of key works by novelists Juan Jose Saer (The Witness), Nellie Campobello (Cartucho), Roa Bastos (Son of Man), and Jose Maria Arguedas (The Fox from Up Above and the Fox from Down Below), among others, provides a theoretical basis for understanding the plight of the author, the peripheral voice, and the confines of the literary medium. What emerges is an intricate discussion of the clash and subjugation of cultures and the tragedy of a lost worldview.