SOURCE: "Literature and Exile: Carpentier's 'Right of Sanctuary'," in The Voice of the Masters: Writing and Authority in Modern Latin American Literature, University of Texas Press, 1985, pp. 125-36.
In the following essay, Echevarría examines the many facets of exile present in Carpentier's story, asserting "The critical element of the story sets forth a founding literary myth in Latin America—that of exile—and shows how this myth engenders literature through a process of contradiction and self-denial. "
and without making a sad tango out of being awash in the tide of remembrance, in the suitcase full of thousands upon thousands of chicks belonging to the sage of Alexandria, in the magician's briefcase that opens for the public, ladies and gentlemen, because the show begins every time you reach one of the stories, and will continue, I say, beyond the very limits of memory.
This is a free excerpt of 144 words. There are 6,935 words (approx.
23 pages at 300 words per page) in the full critical essay.
Read the rest of this Criticism with our Alejo Carpentier: Critical Essay by Roberto González Echevarría Access Pass.
