The Poetics of Plants in Spanish American Literature [Paperback]

The Poetics of Plants in Spanish American Literatureexamines the defining role of plants in cultural expression across Latin America, particularly in literature. From the colonial georgic to Pablo Neruda’sCanto general, Lesley Wylie’s close study of botanical imagery demonstrates the fundamental role of the natural world and the relationship between people and plants in the region. Plants are also central to literary forms originating in the Americas, such as the New World Baroque, described by Alejo Carpentier as “nacido de árboles.” The book establishes how vegetal imaginaries are key to Spanish American attempts to renovate European forms and traditions as well as to the reconfiguration of the relationship between humans and nonhumans. Such a reconfiguration, which persistently draws on indigenous animist ontologies to blur the boundaries between people and plants, anticipates much contemporary ecological thinking about our responsibility towards nonhuman nature and shows how environmental thinking by way of plants has a long history in Latin American literature.“In this beautifully written, engaging study, Wylie delves into the presence of plants in Latin American works from the colonial period to the present.” —CHOICE
 “Lesley Wylie’s analytical project inThe Poetics of Plants in Spanish American Literatureis as ambitious as inspiring. Wylie examines the presence of plants in Spanish American literature from the late eighteenth century to the twenty-first century through ‘plant-centered readings’ of various texts from a wide range of geographies, cultural traditions, and movements.The Poetics of Plantscan be positioned at the intersection of critical plant studies, Latin American ecocriticism, and posthuman approaches to literary studies.” —H-Net Reviews“Inviting and erudite, Lesley Wylie's new book demlӥ