UCLA

My dissertation examines how Mexican and Brazilian authors depicted Los Angeles shortly before, during and after the Second World War. By delving into a variety of texts — ranging from poetry to letters and travel memoirs —, produced in the first half of the twentieth century about Los Angeles by Mexican and Brazilian writers, I contend that their perspectives, coming from the periphery, challenge the dominant discourse about the city. I argue that while American and European writers have been at the center of the collective imaginary of Los Angeles, writers from Latin America have for the most part been excluded from this discourse and discussion. By ignoring representations by Latin American and Brazilian authors, critics have left out important and distinct ways in which the city has been imagined and articulated.

Under their gaze, Los Angeles’s polychromatism is unveiled and the effervescence of the city becomes tangible. Xavier Villaurrutia, unabashedly, brings to the fore the beguiling homosexual night life of Los Angeles, while Octavio Paz, casting his gaze on the pachuco, highlights the city’s restlessness and singularity. Raul Bopp, moreover, gives prominence to Los Angeles’s racial and cultural richness, deeming it as the single most important feature of the city. Refusing to see Los Angeles in extremes, Erico Verissimo showcases the full spectrum of human experience found in the city. Vinicius de Moraes, likewise, makes a point of displaying the city’s humanity.

Furthermore, I maintain that paying heed to these representations reveals a stimulating and complex picture of Los Angeles that was at times antithetical to the dominant discourse, and which in turn allows for a reformulation of how the city has been mythicized. The body of my study consists of writings by Octavio Paz, Erico Verissimo, Vinicius de Moraes, Raul Bopp, and Xavier Villaurrutia, as well as American and European writers such as Theodor Adorno, Bertolt Brecht, Aldous Huxley, John Fante and Nathanael West.