Alejo Carpentier: Music and literature

The aim of the dissertation is to explore the multiple presences of music in Alejo Carpentier's non-fictional writings and his application of this art form in selected fictional works. The first two chapters of the study respectively provide an analysis of Carpentier's non-fictional works: Cronicas which contain a broad variety of essays pertaining to music and La musica en Cuba which traces the history of music in Cuba. Both chapters serve to familiarize the reader with Carpentier's ecclectic knowledge of music. Chapter three presents a theoretical framework of the various existing approaches that relate to literature and to the perception of music's role within literature. The fourth chapter consists of a detailed analysis of Los pasos perdidos and Concierto barroco. I outline and view Carpentier's use of musical components, musical metaphors and representations he employs to extend the parameters of expression within the narrative structure of each novel. Consequently, I demonstrate that in both these works, music serves as a vehicle affecting the structure as well as the style and content of the narrative.