Historias hibridas: El posmodernismo y la novela historica latinoamericana, 1985--1995

European and North American theories of postmodernity (Jameson, Eagleton, Baudrillard) have declared the crisis or cancellation of History, represented by nostalgia, retro fashion or historiographic fantasies. In Latin America, where in the last decade postmodernity coincides with redemocratization, the historical novel challenges this dominant vision: instead of canceling History, it redefines historical space. This dissertation explores the way in which four writers--Elena Poniatowska, Sergio Ramirez, Tomas Eloy Martinez, and Naploeon Baccino Ponce de Leon--redefine historical spaces in their fictions.;The first chapter deals with theory of postmodernity with emphasis on its concept of History and a discussion of its validity in the Latin American context. Chapter two determines how Tinisima by Elena Poniatowska (Mexico, 1992) challenges the traditional notion of History as a space of "great men" in order to inscribe in it a women. Special attention is given to questioning of the dichotomy public/private and rewriting of biographical discourse. The third chapter explores Castigo divino by Sergio Ramirez (Nicaragua, 1988) as a space where History merges with crime and popular culture (detective novel). This fusion uncovers the complicity between History and Law, and dissolves the boundary between high and low culture. Chapter four examines how Santa Evita by Tomas Eloy Martinez resignifies History of Argentina taking as starting point the nation's obsession with the body of Eva Peron. The analysis focuses on the construction of protagonist as a cultural intertext which points to heterogeneity of Argentine society and complexity of its collective imaginary. The fifth chapter presents Maluco, la novela de los descubridores by Napoleon Baccino Ponce de Leon (Uruguay, 1989) as an alternative history of a voyage of Discovery. The chapter is concerned with the inscription of a marginal figure who redefines History through laughter and irony, devaluating what History values and enhancing its untold and unofficial stories.;The dissertation suggests that the postmodern resignification of History in Latin American historical novel produces hybrid histories: they diversify historical space incorporating alternative realities and reformulate historical discourse merging it with others discursive forms.