On the manufacture of a Latin-American literary giant: Roberto Bolaño

I think that this article over on Guernica was written for me. Without ever reading a lick of Roberto Bolaño, I’ve already been drawn in by the myth of the dead writer; a myth that according to those who knew him, was manufactured by a North American literary machine plugged in to our intense cultural beliefs in self-creation and iconoclasm. Moya suggests that Bolaño was indeed non-conformist but in ways that are antithetical to the renegade image that has been marketed.

The market has its landlords, like everything on this infected planet, and it’s the landlords of the market who decide the mambo that you dance, whether it’s selling cheap condoms or Latin American novels in the U.S. I say this because the central idea of Pollack’s work is that behind the construction of the Bolaño myth was not only a publisher’s marketing operation but also a redefinition of the image of Latin American culture and literature that the North American cultural establishment is now selling to the public.

It’s refreshing to hear external voices reminding those of us in the US how easy it is to channel our interests. America is a myth-building myth-consuming culture eager to mindlessly support highly editorialized marketing directed at the core tenets of our cultural psyche – revolutionaries and ideologues excite our passions and support our myths of genius. After reading this article, I am actually comforted by the fact that it’s OK to create genius work from within the stability of a supportive family life. Let’s be honest, that’s really the dream isn’t it? To create beautiful work without necessarily subjecting ourselves to the pain we so often associate with it?

“2666″ is sitting on my shelf at home beckoning to me. I can hardly wait.

Tagged as: Books, marketing, Roberto Bolaño, writing