コロンブスの時代からラテンアメリカ独立までの、アメリカ大陸におけるスペイン語圏の文学の中から、その内容や時代性とともに、今日の読者に響くものであるかという視点で厳選した作家と作品を紹介します。スペイン語で書かれた植民地時代のラテンアメリカ文学の起源、主な文学者と知識人、そして新しい環境の中でどのようにスペイン語文学が発展し、花開いていったかを分析します。
  

• Provides a coherent and concise narrative of three centuries of colonial writing
• Examines literary relationships among colonial era writers, such as Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, Hernán Cortés, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Simón Bolívar, and Andrés Bello
• Includes indigenous writers as a crucial part of the development of literature in Latin America

    
A vivid account of the literary culture of the Spanish-speaking Americas from the time of Columbus to Latin American Independence, this Very Short Introduction explores the origins of Latin American literature in Spanish and tells the story of how Spanish literary language developed and flourished in the New World. A leading scholar of colonial Latin American literature, Rolena Adorno examines the writings that debated the justice of the Spanish conquests, described the novelties of New World nature, expressed the creativity of Hispanic baroque culture in epic, lyric, and satirical poetry, and anticipated Latin American Independence. The works of Spanish, creole, and Amerindian authors highlighted here, including Bartolomé de las Casas, Felipe Guaman Poma, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, and Andrés Bello, have been chosen for the merits of their writings, their participation in the larger literary and cultural debates of their times, and their resonance among readers today.