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Carlos Fuentes

 
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Carlos Fuentes
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Carlos Fuentes, 2003.
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Carlos Fuentes, 2003. (credit: Reuters/Corbis)
(born Nov. 11, 1928, Panama City, Pan.) Mexican writer and diplomat. The son of a Mexican career diplomat, he traveled widely before studying law and entering the diplomatic service. He is best known for his experimental novels. His first, Where the Air Is Clear (1958), a bitter indictment of Mexican society, won him national prestige. The Death of Artemio Cruz (1962), about the final hours of an unscrupulous former revolutionary, made his international reputation. Among his later novels are Terra Nostra (1975), The Hydra Head (1978), The Old Gringo (1985), and The Years with Laura Díaz (1999). "The Buried Mirror" (1992) is a long essay on Hispanic cultures.

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Biography: Carlos Fuentes
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Carlos Fuentes (born 1928) was a Mexican short-story writer, novelist, essayist, and political writer whose works are a mixture of social protest, realism, psychological insight, and fantasy.

Carlos Fuentes was born on Nov. 11, 1928, in Mexico City. As the son of a Mexican diplomat, he went to school in Washington, D.C., where he became proficient in the English language. He held a law degree from the National University of Mexico and also studied at the Institute of Advanced International Studies in Geneva. He served in the Mexican diplomatic service and traveled in Cuba, Europe, the Soviet Union, the United States, and Latin America.

His first book, Los días enmascarados (1954; The Masked Days), consisted of a series of six stories in which the real world is mingled with the disquieting world of fantasy. He formed and directed, with Emmanuel Carballo, the Revista méxicana de literatura (1955-1958; Mexican Review of Literature). During 1956-1957 he held a scholarship at the Mexican Center for Writers.

Fuentes's first great novel, La región más transparente (1958; Where the Air Is Clear), caused a real sensation in literary circles and definitely established him as one of the best young writers. It portrays many grave social problems in contemporary Mexico City in a tone of bitter and violent protest. The structure is developed by continuous juxtaposition of scenes from different social levels and from different epochs. Fuentes uses interior monologue and portrayal of the subconscious mixed with pages that resemble an essay more than a novel. His second novel, Las buenas conciencias (The Good Conscience), appeared in 1959. It undertakes a clarification of Mexican life in greater depth and broader perspective. It is a moral drama of Mexican society in which everyone appears both as victim and accomplice.

During 1959-1960 Fuentes edited El espectador (The Spectator). Aura (Dawn), a short novel, appeared in 1962, and that same year he saw the publication of La muerte de Artemio Cruz (The Death of Artemio Cruz). In this work Fuentes covers half a century of Mexican life, portraying the class which predominated in Mexico at the time, as represented by a man who took part in some of the skirmishes of the Revolution and, beginning in 1920, started to make a large fortune and acquire immense power. The death of this man and his 12 hours of agony constitute the theme of this novel. It was translated into numerous languages.

Fuentes's second volume of short stories, Cantar de ciegos (1964; Song of the Blind), is a synthesis of his literary worlds: magic, realistic, and humorous. In 1967 he won the Premio Biblioteca Breve, offered by the Seix Barral publishing company, for his novel Cambio de piel (Change of Skin).

Fuentes continued to write short stories, novels, plays, and essays which usually address political or social concerns of Mexico and central America. He was also an historian, of sorts, incorporating important figures of Mexican history into his fiction. Fuentes did this because it revealed Mexico - both past and present - to the world. He explained this view to George Kourous in Montage, "Mexico … made me understand that only in an act of the present can we make present the past as well as the future: to be a Mexican was to identify a hunger for being, a desire for dignity rooted in many forgotten centuries and in many centuries yet to come, but rooted, here, now, in the instant, in the vigilant time of Mexico."

Fuentes critical success reached new heights in 1975 with the release of Terra nostra. This novel about the evolution of Mexico earned Fuentes the Mexican Alfonso Reyes Prize. Fuentes's next fictions explored the spy novel and Mexico's place in the world. In 1985 Fuentes published El Gringo Viejo, a novel in which he combined an historical figure (American journalist Ambrose Bierce) with the supernatural, and Fuentes received some of the best reviews in his extensive literary career. Jane Fonda and Gregory Peck starred in a movie adaption of this novel.

Readers and critics both admired and despised Fuentes. Many critics cited his political views as a distraction to his literary talents; others wished he would focus only on writing fiction instead of exploring political commentary. Octavia Paz, one of Mexico's most recognized poets, was often an outspoken critic of Fuentes. However, his detractors did not prevent him from continually winning literary awards, including the Premio Cervantes in 1988.

In an interview in Booklist in 1996, Fuentes lamented the fact that in Mexico, "literature remains a minority affair." He was disappointed that culturally, the value of literature as its own entity does not exist. In 1997 in World Press Review, Fuentes claimed that Mexico had become the scapegoat for all of the problems in the United States. Throughout his career, Fuentes wrote his views and his opinions, not caring who he pleased or who he offended. Through all of this, the only consistent classification he has earned is the reputation as a master narrator. Fuentes himself challenged his critics, "Don't classify me, read me. I'm a writer, not a genre. Do not look for the purity of the novel according to some nostalgic canon." According to Fuentes, the canon, the collected body of prized literary works, needed to include more multicultural authors and texts. Because of his contributions to journalism, fiction, and non-fiction, Fuentes became an influential Hispanic writer who has expanded the literary canon.

Further Reading

Chalene Helmuth, The Postmodern Fuentes, Bucknell University Press, 1997, provides a contemporary analysis of Fuentes's work. Raymond L. Williams, The Writings of Carlos Fuentes: History, Culture, and Identity, Unviersity of Texas Press, 1996, provides a more complete overview of the writer. Fuentes was interviewed in Publisher's Weekly, October 25, 1991; Montage, September 1994; and Booklist, September 15, 1996.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Carlos Fuentes
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Fuentes, Carlos (kär'lōs fwān'tās), 1928-, Mexican writer, editor, and diplomat. He was head of the department of cultural relations in Mexico's ministry of foreign affairs (1956-59) and Mexican ambassador to France (1975-77). Much of his fiction, which generally deals with themes of Mexican identity and history and often focuses on both politics and sex, is a synthesis of reality and fantasy, transcending the limits of time and space (see magic realism). His works include La región más transparente (1958; tr. Where the Air Is Clear, 1960), Las buenas conciencias (1959; tr. Good Conscience, 1968), Cambio de piel (1967; tr. A Change of Skin, 1968), Terra Nostra (1975, tr. 1976), Una familia lejana (1980; tr. Distant Relations, 1982), La Campaña (1990, tr. The Campaign, 1991), Años con Laura Díaz (1999; tr. The Years with Laura Díaz, 2000), Instinto de Inez (2001, tr. Inez, 2002), and Silla del Águila (2003, tr. The Eagle's Throne, 2006). His nonfiction books include The Buried Mirror (1992), a study of Spanish and Latin American cultural history, and This I Believe (2005), an alphabetically arranged combination memoir, manifesto, and literary essay. Fuentes has also written numerous essays and short stories, e.g., Todas las Familias Felices (2006, tr. Happy Families, 2008).

Bibliography

See biographies by W. Faris (1983) and A. González (1987); studies by R. Brody and C. Rossman, ed. (1982), K. Ibsen (1993), R. L. Williams (1996), C. Helmuth (1997), and M. Van Delden (1998).

Quotes By: Carlos Fuentes
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Quotes:

"By its very nature, the novel indicates that we are becoming. There is no final solution. There is no last word."

"What the United States does best is to understand itself. What it does worst is understand others."

"I don't think any good book is based on factual experience. Bad books are about things the writer already knew before he wrote them."

Wikipedia: Carlos Fuentes
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Carlos Fuentes

Born 11 November 1928 (1928-11-11) (age 81)
Panama City, Panama
Occupation novelist, writer
Nationality Mexican
Writing period 1954 –
Literary movement Magic realism
Notable work(s) The Death of Artemio Cruz (1962)
The Old Gringo (1985)
Spouse(s) Rita Macedo (1959–1973)
Silvia Lemus (1976–)
Children Cecilia Fuentes Macedo (1962), Carlos Fuentes Lemus (1973-1999), Natasha Fuentes Lemus (1976-2005)
Official website

Carlos Fuentes Macías (born November 11, 1928) is a Mexican writer and one of the best-known living novelists and essayists in the Spanish-speaking world. Fuentes has influenced contemporary Latin American literature, and his works have been widely translated into English and other languages.

Contents

Biography

Fuentes was born in Panama City, Panama; his parents were Mexican. Due to his father being a diplomat, during his childhood he lived in Montevideo, Rio de Janeiro, Washington, Santiago and Buenos Aires. In his adolescence, he returned to Mexico, where he lived until 1965. He was married to film star Rita Macedo from 1959 till 1973, although he was an habitual philanderer and allegedly, his affairs—which he has claimed include film actresses such as Jeanne Moreau and Jean Seberg- brought her to despair. The couple ended their relationship amid scandal and Fuentes then married journalist and now famous interviewer Silvia Lemus. Following in the footsteps of his parents, he also became a diplomat in 1965 and served in London, Paris (as ambassador), and other capitals. In 1978 he resigned as ambassador to France in protest over the appointment of Gustavo Diaz Ordaz, former president of Mexico, as ambassador to Spain. He has also taught courses at Brown, Princeton, Harvard, Penn, Columbia, Cambridge, and George Mason. He is currently teaching at Brown University. He was also a friend of the US sociologist C. Wright Mills, to whom he dedicated his book The Death of Artemio Cruz.

He fathered three children. Only one of them survives: Cecilia Fuentes Macedo, born in 1962, now working with TV production. A son, Carlos Fuentes Lemus, died from complications associated with hemophilia in 1999 at the age of 25. A daughter, Natasha Fuentes Lemus (born 31 August 1974), died of an apparent drug overdose in Mexico City 22 August 2005, at the age of 30.[citation needed]

Works

Carlos Fuentes at the Miami Book Fair International of 1987

Fuentes published his first novel, La región más transparente, when he was 28 years old, which became a classic contemporary novel. It was innovative not only for its prose, but also by having a metropolis, Mexico City as its main character. This novel provides an insight into the Mexican culture, which is made up of a mixture with the Spanish, the indigenous and the mestizo: all cohabiting in the same geographical area but with different cultures.

The author describes himself as a pre-modern writer, using only pens, ink and paper. He asks "Do words need anything else?" Fuentes mentioned that he detests those authors who from the beginning claim to have a recipe for success. In a speech on his writing process he mentioned that when he starts the writing process he begins by asking "Who am I writing for? "[1]

He published Las Buenas Conciencias in 1959. This is probably his most accessible novel depicting the privileged middle classes of a medium-sized town, probably modelled on Guanajuato.[citation needed]

His 1960s novels, Aura (1962) and La muerte de Artemio Cruz (1962) are well acclaimed for using experimental modern narrative styles (including the second person form) to discuss history, society and identity.

In 1967, during a meeting with Alejo Carpentier, Julio Cortázar and Miguel Otero Silva, Carlos Fuentes launched the project of a series of biographies depicting Latin American caudillos, which would be called Los Padres de la Patria.[2] Although the project was never completed, it set the bases for Alejo Carpentier's Reasons of State (El recurso del método, 1974) and various other Dictator Novels (novelas del dictador).

His 1985 novel Gringo viejo, the first United States bestseller written by a Mexican author,[citation needed] was filmed as Old Gringo (1989) starring Gregory Peck and Jane Fonda.

In 1994, he published Diana, The Goddess Who Hunts Alone, a fictionalized account of his alleged affair with American actress Jean Seberg. However, the authenticity of this adulterous liaison has been questioned several times.

Fuentes regularly contributes essays on politics and culture to the Spanish newspaper El País and the Mexican Reforma. He is a stern critic of what he sees as American cultural and economic situations typically hidden from mainstream Mexican society.

List of works

Novels

  • La Región Más Transparente (Where the Air is Clear) (1959) ISBN 978-9705800146
  • Las Buenas Conciencias (The Good Conscience) (1959) ISBN 978-9707100046
  • The Death of Artemio Cruz (1962) ISBN 978-0374522834
  • Aura (1962) ISBN 978-9684111813
  • Zona sagrada, (1967)
  • Cambio de piel (A Change of Skin) (1967)
  • Cumpleaños (1969)
  • Terra Nostra (1975)
  • La cabeza de la hidra (Hydra Head) (1978)
  • Una familia lejana Also known as "La familia" (1980)
  • Agua quemada (Burnt Water) (1981)
  • Orquídeas a la luz de la luna (1982)
  • Gringo viejo (The Old Gringo) (1985)
  • Cristóbal Nonato (Christopher Unborn) (1987)
  • Ceremonias del alba (1991)
  • El naranjo (The Orange Tree) (1993)
  • Diana o la cazadora solitaria (Diana: the Goddess Who Hunts Alone) (1994)
  • La frontera de cristal (The Crystal Frontier) (1995)
  • "A New Time for Mexico" (1996) ISBN 0-374-22170-7 (translated from Spanish by Marina Gutman Castaneda)
  • Los años con Laura Díaz (The Years With Laura Diaz) (1999)
  • Instinto de Inez (Inez) (2001)
  • La Silla del Águila (The Eagle's Throne) (2003)
  • Todas las Familias Felices (Happy Families) (2006), ISBN 987-04-0557-6
  • La Voluntad y la Fortuna (2008), ISBN 970-58-0446-5

Short stories

  • Los días enmascarados (1954)
  • Cantar de ciegos (1964)
  • Chac Mool y otros cuentos (1973)
  • Agua quemada (1983) ISBN 968-16-1577-8
  • Dos educaciones. (1991) ISBN 84-397-1728-8
  • Los hijos del conquistador (1994)
  • La frontera de cristal. Una novela en nueve cuentos (The Crystal Frontier) (1995) ISBN 968-19-0268-8
  • Inquieta compañía (2004)
  • Las Dos Elenas

Essays

Theater

  • Todos los gatos son pardos (1970)
  • El tuerto es rey (1970).
  • Los reinos originarios (1971)
  • Orquídeas a la luz de la luna. Comedia mexicana. (1982)
  • Ceremonias del alba (1990)

Further reading

English

  • The Shattered Screen. Myth and Demythification in the Art of Carlos Fuentes and Billy Wilder. Lanin A Gyurko (New Orleans: University Press of the South, 2009)
  • Lifting the obsidian mask : the artistic vision of Carlos Fuentes. Lanin A Gyurko, 2007
  • Carlos Fuentes' The death of Artemio Cruz (Modern Critical Interpretations). Harold Bloom, 2006
  • Fuentes, Terra nostra, and the reconfiguration of Latin American culture. Michael Abeyta, 2006
  • Carlos Fuentes's Terra nostra and the Kabbalah: the recreation of the Hispanic world. Sheldon Penn, 2003
  • The narrative of Carlos Fuentes : family, text, nation. Steven Boldy, 2002
  • Carlos Fuentes, Mexico and modernity. Van Delden, Maarten, 1998
  • The postmodern Fuentes. Helmuth, Chalene, 1997
  • Specular narratives : critical perspectives on Carlos Fuentes, Juan Goytisolo, Mario Vargas Llosa. Roy Boland, 1997
  • The writings of Carlos Fuentes. Williams, Raymond L, 1996
  • A Marxist reading of Fuentes, Vargas Llosa, and Puig. Durán, Víctor M, 1994
  • Author, text, and reader in the novels of Carlos Fuentes. Ibsen, Kristine, 1993
  • Carlos Fuentes : life, work, and criticism. González, Alfonso, 1987
  • Carlos Fuentes. Faris, Wendy B, 1983
  • Carlos Fuentes, a critical view. Brody, Robert, 1982
  • The archetypes of Carlos Fuentes: from witch to androgyne. Durán, Gloria, 1980
  • Carlos Fuentes (Twayne World Authors Series). Guzmán, Daniel de, 1972

Spanish

  • El mito en la obra narrativa de Carlos Fuentes, Francisco Javier Ordiz, 2005
  • Los signos del laberinto : Terra nostra de Carlos Fuentes, Carmen V Vidaurre Arenas, 2004
  • Países de la memoria y el deseo : Jorge Luis Borges y Carlos Fuentes, Carmen Perilli, 2004
  • Carlos Fuentes : perspectivas críticas, Edith Negrín, 2002
  • Carlos Fuentes desde la crítica, Georgina García-Gutiérrez, 2001
  • El lenguaje que somos : Carlos Fuentes y el pensamiento de lo hispanoamericano, Estela Marta Saint-André, 2001
  • Los escritos de Carlos Fuentes, Raymond L Williams, 1998
  • Carlos Fuentes : 40 años de escritor, José Francisco Conde, 1993
  • Interpretaciones a la obra de Carlos Fuentes, Ana Maria Hernández de López, 1990
  • Fabulación de la fe : Carlos Fuentes, Fernando García Núñez, 1989
  • La obra de Carlos Fuentes : una visión múltiple, Ana María Hernández de López, 1988
  • Lo fantástico en los relatos de Carlos Fuentes : aproximación teórica, Gladys Feijoo, 1985
  • El cuento mexicano contemporáneo : Rulfo, Arreola y Fuentes, Bertie Acker, 1984
  • La narrativa de Carlos Fuentes, Aida Elsa Ramírez Mattei, 1983
  • Los disfraces : la obra mestiza de Carlos Fuentes, Georgina García-Gutiérrez, 1981
  • Nostalgia del futuro en la obra de Carlos Fuentes, Liliana Befumo Boschi, 1974
  • Aproximación a la literatura del mexicano Carlos Fuentes, Luján Carranza, 1974
  • Carlos Fuentes y la realidad de México, Fidel Ortega Martínez, 1969
  • Constancia: Y Otras Novelas Para Virgenes, 1990

References

  1. ^ Article in Jornada 13 November 2007 (Spanish)
  2. ^ De los orígenes a la nueva novela histórica paraguaya p.43 (Spanish)

External links

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José Angel Conchello Dávila		 Belisario Domínguez Medal of Honor
1999		 Succeeded by
Leopoldo Zea Aguilar



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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
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Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.  Read more
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