Latin American Vanguard

Under Spanish rule, the intellectual centers of Latin America were Lima and Mexico City. These two cities had to share intellectual capital with newly formed independent nations when the Spanish Empire ended. Those countries that encouraged literature as part of nation-building, like Chile, leapt to the fore while nations like Paraguay became backwaters. Due to this encouragement, it is not surprising that when a unique Latin American voice began to emerge around World War I, Chileans would play a major role. This developmental period is called the Vanguard.

Chile's Gabriela Mistral was a member of the Vanguard. She followed the example of Peru's Cesar Vallejo and concerned herself with the oppressed. She became the first Latin American to win the Nobel Prize when it was awarded to her in 1945. Fellow Chilean Pablo Neruda would follow her in 1971. Neruda was also socio-politically oriented but...