The Radical Self: Metamorphosis to Animal Form in Modern Latin American Narrative by Nancy Gray Díaz (review)

Book Reviews99 developed a clearer definition of romanticism. The formation of the Cénacle in 1827 united the romantics, but they still needed "a philosophy, a theory, a clear doctrine ofromanticism" (223). The romantics experienced some victory in prose, poetry, and drama. In 1829, their leader, Victor Hugo, realized they needed a "stage production of unassailable quality" in order to silence the diehards; furthermore, "he felt that such a drama should be his" (239). The French romantic struggle ended with the première of Hugo's play, Hernani, on 25 February 1830. With Hernani, theoretical discussions were over. Romanticism had found its definition. Romantic drama was a reality and, furthermore, this new aesthetic was accepted by Parisian society. Comeau has succeeded in giving the reader a relatively complete overview of the thirty-year French romantic struggle. I agree with him that Diehards and Innovators will serve well "as an interim handbook or guidebook for a readership composed ofhistorians ofthe Restoration, as well as specialists and students interested in comparative and French literature" (viii). However, most English-speaking readers will find the overwhelming number of quotations in French insurmountable. CHERYL M. HANSEN University of Utah NANCY GRAY DÍAZ. The RadicalSelf: Metamorphosis toAnimalForm in Modern Latin American Narrative. Columbia: University ofMissouri Press, 1988. 125 p. This slender volume ofcriticism by Nancy Gray Diaz provides great insight into the mystery of metamorphosis as it appears in narratives of five well known twentieth-century Latin American authors. In the briefbut extremely informative introduction, the author outlines the method of investigation used in the subsequent essay, explaining her preference for an existential phenomenological approach to the question of metamorphosis to animal form. The route for her excursion into this complex area of research is then set through thorough definitions of terms and explication of the concept of metamorphosis as it relates to the self, perception, will, and time. Finally, the author provides a fine introductory discussion ofmetamorphosis and mutability as used by contemporary writers in the purely Latin American context. The main body of the text is divided into five chapters, each treating a specific aspect of metamorphosis as it is seen in the writing of a major Latin American author. The first of these chapters is a study of metamorphosis as problematic destiny and takes as its example El reino de este mundo by Alejo Carpentier. Carpentier's basic purpose for juxtapositioning the human and the animal is the exploration ofresponses to stimuli and situations. Diaz states that "to become an animal in this novella is a positive process because it enables the being to participate in the dynamism that is the essence of life and art in this created world" (26). Metamorphosis is viewed here as crucial to the value and meaning ofthe text and important to the narrative structure itself. 100Rocky Mountain Review Hombres de maíz by Miguel Angel Asturias is the text that exemplifies metamorphosis as integration. Here the author rightly contends that the conceptual and religious perspective of a Meso-American non-European people is so basic to this novel as to render it essentially unintelligible to the reader without at least a healthy introduction into that mythology. Enough MesoAmerican myth and anthropology is discussed to give the novice good insight into Asturias' structure and meaning, the nagual and its meaning being explained along with a passing acquaintance with some ofthe more important elements of the Popol Vuh. Diaz concludes that, like Thomas Mann in Doctor Faustus, "Asturias searches the history, culture, myths, and collective mentality of his countrymen and women in order to discover the country's special needs and the origins of its fall" (50). Diaz uses the novel Macunaima by Mario de Andrade to discuss the Brazilian's treatment of metamorphosis as a basis for satire of aspects of his country's society. She explains that Andrade manages to fuse the disparate elements of Brazilian culture by implementing satire in the true sense of the Latin word satura (mixture). Salient aspects of the mythology of Brazil's northern Indians are discussed as they are the magical basis for much of the metamorphosis contained in the novel. Being concerned with satire, this chapter also devotes a...