Latin American Vanguards : The Art of Contentious Encounters

In this study of Latin America's literary vanguards of the 1920s and 1930s, the author explores the movement's provocative and polemic nature.

Latin American vanguardism - a precursor to the widely acclaimed work of contemporary Latin American writers - was stimulated by the European avantegarde movements of the World War I era.

But as this wide-ranging study attests, the vanguards of Latin America emerging from the continent's own historical circumstances developed a very distinct character and voice. Through manifestos, experimental texts, and ribald public performance, the vanguardists' work intertwined art, culture, and the politics of the day to produce a powerful brand of aesthetic activism, one that sparked an entire rethinking of the meaning of art and culture throughout Latin America.