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In Search of the Present: 1990 Nobel Lecture

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This volume contains the full text of the 1990 Nobel Lecture of Octavio Paz, together with an English translation by Anthony Stanton. As a meditation from the mind of one of Mexico's greatest poets, this book is a valuable contribution to Latin American studies.

Paz begins by reflecting on the unique aspects of the literatures of the Americas. Then, after a brief autobiographical transition, he discusses his life-long pursuit of that elusive phenomenon known as "modernity."

Although Paz has great insights, his words do tend to oversimplify issues at times. In his reflection on the literature of the Americas, for example, he acknowledges only the great national literatures written in Spanish, English, Portuguese, and French. Reading it made me want to exclaim, "What about the rich tradition of oral literatures in Native American languages? Or the creole literatures of this hemisphere? What about those American writers who have composed their works in Yiddish and other "marginal" languages?" (This criticism is ironic in light of the fact that Paz mentions Nahuatl, a native Mexican language, in passing towards the end of the address). This complaint aside, Paz remains provocative and compelling.

And his address yields a wealth of memorable, epigram-like insights. Consider this one: "Poetry, in love with the instant, seeks to relive it in the poem, thus separating it from sequential time and turning it into a fixed present" (p. 16).

All things considered, this is a significant text from one of the indispensable figures in the literatures of the Americas.