The Eve of a New Age

Discussions of the Neobaroque began to find an important position in Latin American circles during the twentieth century. The goal of these discussions was a reassessment of an American identity by using the Baroque as a historical catalyst for cultural transformation. One of the prominent figures during this period who connected the Baroque with questions revolving around Latin American identity was the Cuban writer Alejo Carpentier. The following article examines Carpentier's theories on the New World Baroque taken from various essays published in La novela lationamericana en visperas de un nuevo siglo (1981). Through these essays, Carpentier's perspective of the Baroque is relayed into cultural themes of Latin America such as the importance of American solidarity, historical constancy, cultural innovation/progression, the natural environment, and urbanism. Analyzing the connection of such themes with the arrival of the New World Baroque sheds light on the crucial theoretical developments of Latin American identity during the twentieth century.