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Explosion in a Cathedral is a historical novel by Cuban writer and musicologist Alejo Carpentier. The book tells the story of Sofia and Esteban, two privileged Creole orphans from Havana, as they get involved in the revolutionary turmoil that shook the Atlantic World at the turn of the eighteenth century. Originally published in 1962, this is one of the most influential works written during the so-called "Latin American literary boom". |
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'''''Explosion in a Cathedral''''' (published in [[Spanish language|Spanish]] as ''El siglo de las luces'', meaning ''The Age of Enlightenment'') is a novel by [[Alejo Carpentier]], published in 1962. |
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Regarded as one of Latin America's greatest historical novels, it covers the time period of the [[French Revolution]] and the impact of that event on the Caribbean.<ref name=swanson>Swanson, Philip. ''Latin American Fiction: A Short Introduction'', Blackwell Publishing, 2004, p. 78. ISBN 1405108665</ref> The main characters are all members of one family: two siblings, Carlos and Sofia, and their cousin Esteban.<ref name=pope>Pope, Randolph D. "The Spanish American Novel from 1950 to 1975", in ''The Cambridge History of Latin American Literature'', Vol. 2, ed. Roberto Gonzalez Echevarria and Enrique Pupo-Walker, Cambridge University Press, 1996, p. 249. ISBN 0521410355</ref> The narrative deals with the cyclical nature of control, destruction, and development during revlolution, as the relatives fall under the influence of revolutionary-turned-exploiter Victor Hugues.<ref name=franco>Franco, Jean. ''The Decline and Fall of the Lettered City: Latin America in the Cold War'', Harvard University Press, 2002, pp. 168-9. ISBN 0674008421</ref> Stylistically, it contains elements of [[Existentialism]]<ref>Pope, pp. 249-50</ref> and [[magical realism]]<ref name=wood>Wood, Michael. "Spanish America", in ''The Oxford Guide to Contemporary World Literature'', Ed. John Sturrock, Oxford University Press, 1997, p. 394. ISBN 0192833189</ref>, and it mirrors the tension between Europe and Latin America found in many of Carpentier's other works.<ref>Pope, p. 250</ref> |
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==References== |
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<references /> |
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[[Category: 1962 novels]] |
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[[Category: Books about revolutions]] |
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[[Category: Cuban novels]] |
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[[Category: Magic realism novels]] |
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{{hist-novel-stub}} |
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Revision as of 15:33, 1 October 2007
Explosion in a Cathedral is a historical novel by Cuban writer and musicologist Alejo Carpentier. The book tells the story of Sofia and Esteban, two privileged Creole orphans from Havana, as they get involved in the revolutionary turmoil that shook the Atlantic World at the turn of the eighteenth century. Originally published in 1962, this is one of the most influential works written during the so-called "Latin American literary boom".