Literary Memoirs

Novelist, scholar, journalist, statesman, and leading member of Chile's "Generation of 1842"--an intellectual movement so named for the founding of the National University--José Victorino Lastarria (1811-1888) lived his life at the forefront of nineteenth-century Chilean and Spanish American culture, literature, and politics. Recuerdos Literarios (or Literary Memoirs) is his masterpiece, encompassing the candid memories of a tireless activist, both the creative and critical...
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Novelist, scholar, journalist, statesman, and leading member of Chile's "Generation of 1842"--an intellectual movement so named for the founding of the National University--José Victorino Lastarria (1811-1888) lived his life at the forefront of nineteenth-century Chilean and Spanish American culture, literature, and politics. Recuerdos Literarios (or Literary Memoirs) is his masterpiece, encompassing the candid memories of a tireless activist, both the creative and critical sensibilities of an influential Latin American early modernist, and an eyewitness account of the development of Chilean literature and historiography. An ardent, eloquent participant in every defining artistic and ideological debate in Chile during the formative mid-1800s, Lastarria recorded his epoch as closely as he did his own origins, education, ambitions, and career. Sometimes reminiscent of Montaigne's essays, Eça de Quieroz's journalism, or Barbusse's didactic convictions, Literary Memoirs is an engrossing account of Chile's newly ordained nationhood.During this momentous era, the essence of Chile's evolving literature was at stake. Lastarria witnessed, and here chronicles, several fundamental disagreements occurring in salons, in lecture halls, and in print. We encounter breaks between the Valparaíso and Santiago presses, between classicists (led by Andrés Bello) and romantics (best represented by Domingo Faustino Sarmiento), and between ideas of conservatism and liberalism. We also learn how such rifts fostered the establishment of the "Generation of 1842" group. Favoring invention over tradition, the new over the old, Lastarria goes on to offer an original notion of history itself, the meaning of which was debated throughout Latin America at this time. History should serve a purpose, he thought, as should fiction; it should not simply narrate but also teach and inspire. Such rousing assertions fully agreed with Lastarria's conviction that Chile should reject the Peninsular past and accept French aesthetic influences while finding its own literary way. His early speeches on these matters are thus included in these rich Literary Memoirs.This addition to Oxford's prestigious Library of Latin America series is more than a retelling of things past; it is an informed yet informal testament to the idea of chilenidad (or "Chileanness") and a detailed portrait of one of Chile's cultural architects. For this new edition of Literary Memoirs, Frederick M. Nunn's introduction presents an informative historical background and R. Kelly Washbourne's translation carefully preserves Lastarria's form and content.