SOURCE: "Concientización: Keystone to the Novels of Alejo Carpentier," in The International Fiction Review, Vol. 8, No. 2, Summer, 1981, pp. 106-13.

In the following essay, Kirk analyzes the theme of concientización or consciousness-raising as found in Carpentier's work, focusing on El reino de este mundo, Los pasos perididos, and El siglo de las luces.

Although Alejo Carpentier has referred on several occasions to the "major themes" encountered in his work, he has never explained precisely what he means by this term. For instance in an interview with Luis Harss, Carpentier expressed his disdain for what he termed "'the little psychological novel,' a pejorative term he seems to apply to any book involving situations—especially when subjective or emotional—that are not of direct public relevance." In their place he offered the more relevant "epic substance" which he contends derives from the same "major themes": "I like big...