Textual Confrontations: Comparative Readings in Latin American Literature by Alfred J. MacAdam (review)

244Rocky Mountain Review enormous variety of their cultural and political ideals works to dispel simple notions of common consent to a unified national identity. The broad historical span (from 1720 to 1803) reminds us that no nation or community is "founded" at a particular moment. These are not like-minded men with common goals and purposes, but men with individual agendas and complex motivations. It is a place to start. One wishes that the variety had been even more carefully drawn: these key figures are, as Furtwangler mentions only in passing, all white, male, prosperous, land-owning, Protestant, educated . Some are slave-holders. As a result, the portrait is too partial to carry the title of Furtwangler's last chapter: "American Founding." But it frames some crucial issues for further study and debate: What should be the process for resolving conflicts between competing interests? Can we discuss the founding of a republic by considering only privileged individuals? Will the self-defined public identities of political figures provide an adequate backdrop for examining their historical significance? Furtwangler's "silhouettes" add a literary dimension to a discussion that has been largely political, but the study suggests the need for a more fully defined portrait. PATTIE COWELL Colorado State University ALFRED J. MacADAM. Textual Confrontations: Comparative Readings in Latin American Literature. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987. 203 p. In the concluding chapter of Textual Confrontations, Alfred MacAdam affirms that "this is an eccentric book about eccentric authors and texts but the only way to effect a comparative study of Latin American and Anglo American authors is to link the out ofthe ordinary authors from the center of the Western Tradition with those whose geographic and linguistic origin condemns them to being outsiders" (175). This concluding paragraph summarizes the motives and criteria established by MacAdam in the selection of these five comparative essays. It is a highly personal selection and MacAdam's arbitrariness and personal literary imagination predominate. Yet MacAdam insists throughout this text that Latin American writers are not rare eccentrics but belong to a common literary tradition ofthe Western world. This is indeed the main point that he makes. The introductory chapter is most helpful for those not familiar with the intricate complexities of comparative literature and its relationship to other arts. Familiar names as well as new theorists and theoreticians are mentioned in this brilliant essay that above all tries to emphasize the juxtaposition ofAmerican texts with works from the Anglo-American traditions. The body of essays in this collection succeeds in establishing the literary connections and sensibilities of various authors. Especially good is the comparison of the use of imaginary spaces in Joseph Conrad's Nostrodomo and José Donoso's House in the Country. The historical significance of literary texts is exemplified in the essay devoted to Auden's and Neruda's experiences during the Spanish Civil War. The "Novel of Persecution of William Godwin to Reinaldo Arenas" is definitely thought-provoking because it speaks of the recreation of political events through the literary and historical imaginations ofauthors, yet I feel Book Reviews245 that writers that have written of the theme from a Marxist ideology should have also been included. The remaining essays, "Lewis Carroll and Jorge Luis Borges: Mock Epic as Autobiography" and "Epic Adumbrations: Carlyle , Hardy, de Cunha and Vargas Llosa," constitute the topics discussed in this eclectic selection. The authors chosen for this text are the best known of their respective continents and MacAdam, a perceptive, original, and well read critic, allows the reader to journey through these often unexplored literary connections. The selections in Textual Confrontations, however, are a collection of exclusively patriarchal texts; not only are no female authors included but they are not even mentioned as part ofthe Western literary traditions. Perhaps the reviewer can only indulge in her own personal vision while confronting such a personal book. Nevertheless, Textual Confrontations is original, thought-provoking, and well written. I am sure it will inspire others to undergo this exciting confrontation of cultures, languages, and ways of being in the world. M. AGOSÍN Wellesley College WALLACE MARTIN. Recent Theories of Narrative. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1986. 242 p. It was natural that Anglo...