Narrative Irony in the Contemporary Spanish-American Novel

"As a narrative device, irony in the Latin American novel has been treated before in a rather fragmented, non-systematic way. It needed a cohesive study based on close textual examination of several major novels. Professor Tittler has done just that and done it well. This book is the best and most comprehensive study of the ironic mode that we have."-Myron I. Lichtblau, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, Syracuse University

In this book Jonathan Tittler explores some of the many possibilities that the concept of irony holds for literary criticism. Identifying irony as a characteristic property of Spanish-American fiction, Tittler offers close readings of seven important novels: Carlos Fuentes' The Death of Artemio Cruz, Juan Rulfo's Pedro Paramo, Manuel Puig's Betrayed by Rita Hayworth, Guillermo Cabrera Infante's Three Trapped Tigers, Mario Vargas Llosa's Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter, Julio Cortazar's A Manual for Manuel, and Isaac Goldemberg's The Fragmented Life of Don Jacobo Lerner.

Tittler begins with a comprehensive review of existing theories of irony, in all of which the concept of narrative distance plays a major role. Next he proposes his own innovative model for critical reading made up of two basic forms of irony, which he terms "static" and "kinetic." He then applies the model systematically to his readings of the texts-four in the static mode, and three in the kinetic, linguistically self-conscious mode. Tittler concludes by reflecting on the relationship between irony and the novel, asserting that in the light of actual events in Spanish America, the novels themselves, and the critical discourse in which they are evoked, may be regarded as ironic phenomena.