Between "Los pasos perdidos" and "Hombres de maíz": Two Stylistic Lines in Latin American Novel

Abstract

The article starts with the Bakhtinian concepts of polyphony and
dialogism in order to explore their possibilities and relevance in
the analysis of Latin American novels that situate their object of
representation in social disharmony and variety as well as the
problem of the relationship between Latin American and Universal
literature. Two novels from the mid twentieth century are
analyzed: Los pasos perdidos by Alejo Carpentier and Hombres
de maíz by Miguel Ángel Asturias. Both present two different
kinds of polyphony which does not imply a subsequent
dialogism. On the contrary, both depict the impossibilities or the
difficulties of cultural and social dialogism.