"Irritating, insufferable, admirable, stimulating, disappointing Rodo: . . . you are part of our family quarrels, and must bear with your disrespectful, equally disappointed, intuitive, incomplete nephews, living in a world that you helped define for us, and offered unto our revolt." -from the Prologue by Carlos Fuentes

First published in 1900 Uruguay, Ariel is Latin America's most famous essay on esthetic and philosophical sensibility, as well as its most discussed treatise on hemispheric relations. Though Rodo protested the interpretation, his allegorical conflict between Ariel, the lover of beauty and truth, and Caliban, the evil spirit of materialism and positivism, has come to be regarded as a metaphor for the conflicts and cultural differences between Latin America and the United States. Generations of statesmen, intellectuals, and literary figures have been formed by this book, either in championing its teachings or in reacting against them. This edition of Ariel, prepared especially with teachers and students in mind, contains a reader's guide to names, places, and important movements, as well as notes and a comprehensive annotated English/Spanish bibliography.

About the Author

Jose Enrique Rodo (1872-1917) was a Uruguayan essayist and philosopher.

Margaret Sayers Peden is a distinguished critic and translator of Latin American literature.

Reviews
'Ariel,' like Arnold's 'Culture and Anarchy' and Emerson's 'American Scholar,' is a key text in the longstanding debate concerning culture and democratization. * New York Times Book Review *



Book Information
ISBN 9780292703964
Author Jose Enrique Rodo
Format Paperback
Page Count 156
Imprint University of Texas Press
Publisher University of Texas Press
Weight(grams) 454g