Common Traditions, Reciprocal Influences and Shared Rides. Enrique Vila-Matas and Mexican Literature

Abstract

Enrique Vila-Mata’s writing is closely linked to latin american author’s re-elaboration of the european essay, which still has its roots in the works of Bacon and Montaigne. Personal essay writing, in contemporary literature, is joint with novel-writing devices and thus gives rise in canon to unsteady, cross-bred, hybrid genres, which call the truth of reality and fiction into question. Vila-Matas follows the steps of writers such as Robert Walser, William Hazlitt and Sergio Pitol while being himself followed by current mexican writers such as Luigi Amara and Valeria Luiselli. This paper looks into the way Vila-Matas merges devices from novel and essay, as well as his uptake of imaginary life principles by analysing his literature in the context of a tradition that was born in France, took root in England and is at present being reshaped by hispanic writing.