Guevara, Eduardo Gamaliel. 2005. Rewriting History: The Political Role of the Poetry of Roque Dalton, Ernesto Cardenal and Otto Rene Castillo in the Central American Revolutions / Reescribiendo la historia : el rol político de la poesía de Roque Dalton, Ernesto Cardenal y Otto René Castillo en las revoluciones centroamericanas. Doctoral thesis, Goldsmiths, University of London [Thesis]

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Abstract or Description

The present study looks at the work of Roque Dalton (1935-1975), Ernesto Cardenal (1925-) and Otto Rene Castillo (1936-1967), the best known and nationally the most influential Central American poets of the second half of the 20th century, as an important tool of politicisation and the voice of a growing national social conscience. It traces the use of the poetic voice as a representative of the most marginalized sectors of society - the poor and the indigenous population - seeking to raise social awareness among the intelligentsia and ultimately effect social change, as well as searching for a trans-national Latin American aesthetic of social justice.

Focusing on the formal and thematic departures in the poems `The Sure Hand of God' by Dalton, The Doubtful Strait and Oracle on Managua by Cardenal and `Apolitical Intellectuals' and `Report of an Injustice' by Castillo, it is argued here that an aesthetic of social justice informs these poets' attempts to marshal the defeats of history into an empowering vision of a revolutionary future by transforming the past into a contemporary political opportunity. This political opportunity is created by the cultural, political, religious, social and economic references used counter-hegemonically in the work of these poets, providing a political discourse that both mirrors and contributes to the elaboration and promotion of an ideological practice, key to the revolutionary struggle against the different dictatorial regimes in the region.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Identification Number (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.25602/GOLD.00028940
Keywords:	Roque Dalton (1935-1975), Ernesto Cardenal (1925-2020), Otto Rene Castillo (1936-1967), Central America, poetry, politics, revolution
Date:	2005
Item ID:	28940
Date Deposited:	02 Jul 2020 13:23
Last Modified:	08 Sep 2022 14:33
URI:	https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/28940

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