Determinations Essays on Theory, Narrative, and Nation in the Americas

Determinations employs a Marxist approach to examine postcolonial theory and provides critical readings of a range of postcolonial narratives, mainly Latin American. It argues that the national question remains an unresolved problem in this field, particularly in light of the confusions engendered by concepts of globalization, and that the cultural link between the ideas of nation and narrative remains a fruitful avenue of study. Taking issue with the approaches of theorists such as Homi Bhabha and Gayatri Spivak, Larsen takes the reader through the work of writers such as Cortazar, Carpentier, Garcia Marquez, Rulfo and Vargas Llosa. He concludes with a pungent reassessment of Benedict Anderson's classic work, Imagined Communities.