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Mario Vargas Llosa versus Barbarism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2022

Juan E. De Castro
Juan E. De Castro*
Affiliation:
Eugene Lang College
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Abstract

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This article studies how the Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa and, more generally, neoliberalism rearticulate the opposition between civilization and barbarism, and the vision of the world that underlies it. During a time in which many intellectuals have embraced a relativistic notion of culture that makes judgment problematic, neoliberals embrace this clear-cut value hierarchy with complete abandonment. In fact, one cannot but be surprised by the ease with which Vargas Llosa makes pronouncements based on the identification of individuals, groups, and political movements with either civilization or barbarism. However, the fact is that his reference to this dichotomy differs substantially from its nineteenth-century version and its colonial precedents. The implicitly racial hierarchization proposed by Domingo Faustino Sarmiento and other nineteenth-century thinkers has been replaced in Vargas Llosa's writings by one based on cultural and social values.

Resumo

Resumo

“Mario Vargas Llosa versus Barbarism” estudia la manera en que el novelista peruano y, más generalmente, el neoliberalismo rearticula la oposición entre civilización y barbarie y la visión del mundo que ésta implica. A pesar que muchos intelectuales contemporáneos han asumido un relativismo que rechaza la posibilidad de hacer juicios de valor, los neoliberales plantean esta visión jerarquizadora de la cultura sin ningún tapujo. De hecho no deja de sorprender la facilidad con la que Vargas Llosa identifica a individuos, grupos y movimientos políticos sea con la civilización o con la barbarie. Sin embargo, el uso de esta dicotomía por parte de Vargas Llosa difiere sustancialmente tanto de su versión decimonónica como de sus antecedentes coloniales. La implícita jerarquía racial propuesta por Domingo Faustino Sarmiento y otros pensadores decimonónicos ha sido reemplazada por una basada en valores culturales y sociales en los escritos de Vargas Llosa.

Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Research Review , Volume 45 , Issue 2 , 2010 , pp. 5 - 26
Copyright
Copyright © 2010 by the Latin American Studies Association

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