Universality and Utopia - (Anthem Studies in Latin American Literature and Culture) by Daniel Sacilotto (Paperback)

About the Book

This work examines the evolution of the Peruvian indigenista literary tradition in the twentieth century in its relation to the evolution of socialist thought and dialectical materialist philosophy.

Book Synopsis

This work examines the evolution of the Peruvian indigenista literary tradition in the twentieth century in its relation to the evolution of socialist thought and dialectical materialist philosophy.

Review Quotes

"Bold, lucid, and convincing, Sacilotto's Universality and Utopia shows how Peruvian indigenismo makes its own the lexicon of Left universalism . A historically grounded argument that can also be translated beyond its local context, Universality and Utopia is not only a major contribution to studies of Latin American literary-political culture, but an important contribution to the philosophy of political internationalism" - Jacques Lezra, Distinguished Professor, University of California-Riverside

"Explores imaginaries of emancipation against horizons of Indigenism, international socialism, and national integration in the works of three key twentieth-century Peruvian thinkers: essayist José Carlos Mariátegui, poet César Vallejo, and novelist José María Arguedas. Lucidly composed and subtly argued, Universality and Utopia renders the complexity and rigor of Peruvian literary-political imaginings with uncommon clarity and insight" - Michelle Clayton, Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies and Comparative Literature, Brown University.

In his daring and groundbreaking study, Daniel Sacilotto navigates the political theory of José Carlos Mariátegui, the poetic vision of César Vallejo, and the narrative anthropology of José María Arguedas to argue that their seminal engagements with the unemancipated indigenous peoples of the Andes is not a closed chapter for Peruvian history, but a promising corpus to address urgent historical predicaments, and to imagine the possible in our fragmented political present writ large.

About the Author

Daniel Sacilotto is a professor of critical studies at the California Institute of the Arts, and PhD in comparative literature from the University of California, Los Angeles.