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Encyclopedia of Latin American Religions pp 1–9Cite as

Oriental Religions in Latin American Literature

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Definition

Theosophy and eastern religions and creeds such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Shinto, Confucianism, and Taoism have influenced Latin American literature since the Modernistas. Canonical authors such as Neruda, Borges, Cortázar, Paz, and Sarduy have addressed these eastern beliefs in different ways. While for the Modernista they were an escapist tool and Neruda openly rejects them, other authors such as Tablada and Paz resort to them to try to understand their own countries or to find the keys of eroticism (the case of Paz and Sarduy). In turn, for Borges, eastern religions are a metaphor for infinite time, fantasy, and utopia and for Sarduy a path to personal enlightenment.

Introduction

Given the wealth of authors and works, the topic of the presence of Eastern religions in Latin American literature would be more appropriate for a book than for a short essay. In any case, in the next pages I will summarize what has already been studied and will suggest the analysis of other Latin...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts, University of California, Merced, 5200 North Lake Road, 95343, Merced, CA, USA

    Ignacio López-Calvo

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  1. Ignacio López-Calvo
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Correspondence to Ignacio López-Calvo .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Sociology/Anthropology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Henri P. P. Gooren

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© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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López-Calvo, I. (2015). Oriental Religions in Latin American Literature. In: Gooren, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Latin American Religions. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08956-0_159-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08956-0_159-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-08956-0

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