Carpentier, Collecting, and Lo Barroco Americano

Throughout his life, Alejo Carpentier was a tireless collector of paintings, sculpture, musical recordings, and folklore objects. In light of Carpentier's Swiss birth and many years of residence outside of Cuba, the act of collecting plays a crucial role in defining the relationship between the author and Latin American culture in his life and work. This article first examines the significance of Carpentier's drive to collect objects from Latin America. It then argues that while Carpentier's fascination with collecting originates in surrealist techniques of juxtaposing incongruent items for artistic impact, his accumulation of objects ultimately fuels his conception of lo barroco americano. Finally, it demonstrates the centrality of collecting in Carpentier's novelistic work, most importantly in Los pasos perdidos (1953).