"As an illusory, novelistic city, Paris occupies an unrivaled position in Latin American thought and writing. Schwartz is concerned not with the Paris of geography, history, or demography, but with a Paris of the mind, inscribed in narrative and recreated in the imagination of readers. Her study draws on the work of cultural historians and critics to analyze this imaginary Paris, and her perspective offers a fascinating literary tour. Schwartz pays close attention to questions of language, the role of gender, the impact of exile, and the overall structure of 'desire' within the literary production of Latin American writers who construct Paris." — Rosemary G. Feal, University of Rochester

"A solid, thought-provoking contribution to the study of contemporary Latin American fiction, cultural studies, and the on-going debate on postcolonial critical theory." — César Ferreira, University of Oklahoma

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgments


Introduction:
The City As Text and Paris As Fiction


Chapter One
Desiring Paris
The Latin American Conception of the Lettered City, 1840 to 1960


Chapter Two
The Interstices of Desire Paris
As Passageway in Julio Cortázar's Short Fiction


Chapter Three
The Immovable Feast
Paris and Politics in Manuel Scorza's La danza inmóvil


Chapter Four
On The Border
Cultural and Linguistic Trespassing in Alfredo Bryce Echenique's La vida exagerada de Martín Romaña and El hombre que hablaba de Octavia de Cádiz


Chapter Five
Paris Under Her Skin
Luisa Futoransky's Urban Inscriptions of Exile


Epilogue


Notes


Bibliography


Index