Preface -- GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ

The Spanish-American novel burst into prominence in the l960s
for readers outside the Spanish-speaking world. Gabriel Garcia Mar-
quez has been among the most celebrated of these Latin American
writers, especially since receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature in
l982. This book intends to provide a general introduction and
overview of his entire writing career and analyses of his complete
fiction. It is directed to both the student or layman Perhaps recently
initiated into the wonders of Macondo-Garcia Marquez's fictional
world--and the teacher or scholar well acquainted with his work
and the critical literature devoted to it.

In accordance with the format of many studies in this series, I
begin with a brief biographical introduction (chapter 1), and then
discuss the individual works in a basically chronological fashion. I
might add that such a format is particularly useful in the case of
Garcia Marquez because a chronological understanding of his com-
plete work can radically change one's conception of any single text
read in isolation. One Hundred years of Solitude, for example, is a
much different novel once read with a knowledge of previous works,
such as mpt0rm or In Evil Hour.

Several of the finest scholars of Latin American Literature have
already studied Garcia Marquez extensively. A complete list of even
the books, not to mention the enormous body of articles, would be
too. lengthy to enumerate and discuss here. John S. Brushwood's
The Spanish American Novel: A Twentieth Century Survey places Garcia
Marquez within the context of Spanish-American fiction in general
and offers perceptive analyses of individual novels in succinct and
jargon-free language. Book-length studies by George McMurray and
Regina Janes provide sound readings and often penetrating com-
mentary on specific texts. Readers of Spanish will find Mario Vargas
Llosa's Gabril Garcia Marquez: historia de un deicidio most illumi-
nating. Two of this Peruvian novelist's strongest points are his
personaI acquaintance with Garcia Marquez and his understanding
of Latin American society. The present study differs from the above
In many ways, but most importantly in the emphasis and infor-
mation it offers concerning the early period of Garcia Marquez's
career, the readings and approaches to individual texts, and the fact
that it inc1udes more of Garcia Marquez's total fiction than the
above-mentioned books, inc1uding much of the journalism.
Several technical matters invite comment. First, the passages
translated in this book are mostly from the pub1ished English edi-
tions. The non-Spanish reader will be P1eased to know that Gregory
Rabassa, Garcia Marquez's translator, provides the reader with an
English text impressively similar to the original. In short, he is a
superb translator. If no reference to a translation appears in the text,
it is mine. Second, when referring to a novel or story several times,
I have used a note citation only in the first instance. After that,
Page references appear Parenthetically within the text. Third, I
would offer a few clarifications concerning the use of Spanish and
English texts. Since all of Garcia Marquez's novels are known to
readers in the United States by their English tit1es, I refer to them
with these titles. The dates of publication in both the Chronology
and the body of this study, however, refer to the Original publication
date in the Spanish.

For the general readership to whom this book is directed, a
conscientious effort has been made to avoid technical language.
When a specifically limited set of terms with special meanings is
used, these terms are explained in each chapter and footnoted. Four
terms appear with regularity. The first, la violencia, refers to that
historical Period in Colombia of civil war between Liberals and
Conservatives usually dated from approximately l948 to l958. The
second is Walter Ong's term, "fictionalized reader." Ong Points
out that just as an author invents characters, he invents readers.
One important factor in any author's success, then, is his ability to
fictionalize a reader whose role the real reader desires or is willing
to play. The third term, "heteroglossia," is perhaps best understood
by thinking first Of the Greek roots, "hetero," meaning "other,"
and "glossia," meaning "languages." M. Bakhtin has popularized
this term. referring to the "other languages" or a variety of different
languages which literary texts often incorporate. For example, a
writer may incorporate the language of another writer, or the lan-
guage of such spheres as politics or religion. The last term which
I use is "ideologeme," a word which refers to a socially
symbolic act, according to Fredric Jameson. The discourses of dif-
ferent social classes, of course, vary; an ideologeme is the smallest
Intelligible unit of the essentially antagonistic collective discourses
of social classes.

A matter of some importance is my own foreignness. It is some-
Times difficult working in a foreign 1iterature to see the material
with the sense of cultural identification that is natural in dealing
with one's native literature. I hope that my extended residence in
Colombia, regular visits there, and research on Colombian writers
will serve as a reasonable compensation. My efforts have been sup-
ported by the Fulbright Commission of Colombia and by both the
Graduate School and the Department of Romance Languages at
Washington University.

I would like to acknowledge with gratitude those Persons who
helped in different ways, such as suggesting readings or making
valuable suggestions concerning the manuscript: John S. Brush-
wood, Michael Doudoroff David W. Foster, James F. Jones, Wil-
liam Kirby, Harvey Oberhelman, Frances Stadler, and German
Vargas. A special thanks to my research assistant, Stephanie Hed-
strom, and my typist, Debra Jones. The project would have been
enormously more difficult without the assistance and support of my
wife. Pamela. The final product, however, is mine, as are its in-
evitable errors or inaccuracies.

Raymond L. Williams
Washinton University, St. Louis