Latin American literature with theme of religion/spirituality?

Question

Does anyone know of any Latin American literature (novels, please, not plays or poetry) which deals with the themes of religion and spirituality? Any help would be very appreciated...

Answer 1

Isabelle Allende --
* La gorda de porcelana (1984)
* Of Love and Shadows (1985)
* Eva Luna (1987)
* The Stories of Eva Luna (1989)
* The Infinite Plan (1991)
* Paula (1995)
* Afrodite (1997)
* Daughter of Fortune (1999).
* Portrait in Sepia (2000)
* City of the Beasts (2002)
* My Invented Country (2003)
* Kingdom of the Golden Dragon (2004)
* Forest of the Pygmies (2005)
* Zorro (2005)

Answer 2

Actually, so far I've only read Latin-American books with theme of spirituality...

Coelho is probably the most famous Latin-American writer at the moment. His most famous and probably the best work is "The Alchemist". Read it now because soon it will be in cinemas!

As mentioned above, Gabriel Garcia Marquez is also a signficiant writer, he even won a Nobel prize. His major works are "100 Years of Solitude" and "Love at the Time of Cholera".

Finally, a less popular, but also Nobel-awarded write is Asturias. His most known work is the so called "Banana trilogy". Although it is centered around social issues, you can find plenty of spirituality there.

Answer 3

Firstly - a little lesson on religion in Latin America - scroll down if you don't want it.

Religion
It is not easy to comprehend the complex role religion plays within Latin American culture. It is not an issue of God or Christianity, but an intricate synchronization of the beliefs of different cultures and races that have been present at one point or another in the history of Latin America. Although there have been many different influences the most prevalent has been the European Tradition, consisting of the Catholic and Protestant Faith. The native Indian influences, of the Aztecs, Incas, and Mayans from Central and South America as well as the Arawak and Tainos of the Antilles with their polytheistic views and last but not least, the African influences of the Yoruba and Congo Tribes, brought to Latin America from Africa centuries ago.
In order to survive what became both a new and threatening world for the African slaves, and the eradication of their existing way of life for the Indians; both groups struggle to preserve their sense of spirituality and religious beliefs as pure as possible. Under the control of European Conquerors both Indian and African slaves were subjugated to a new religion, Christianity. Interestingly enough, the efforts of the Spaniards to Christianize the heathens were more effective on the Indians than on the African slaves.

Faced with the conquest of their culture, the Aztecs (Mexico) who at the heights of their civilization had conquered many tribes in Mexico and Central America (Lerner 1987) understood and to a certain degree accepted the impact that Hernand Cortes and his conquistadors would have on their way of life. Due to superstitions and religious beliefs, Montezuma, the last ruler of the Aztecs viewed Cortes as the Deity Quetzalcoatl (Lerner 1987), who in a Legend vowed to someday return, regain and rule his kingdom.

In the midst of omens in the form of natural catastrophes, and celestial phenomena, such as: eclipses, high rates of abnormal births in both, humans and animals. The very superstitious Montezum a fearfully relinquished his throne to Hernand Cortes upon his arrival to Tenochtitlan, the crowned of the Aztec empire (Bierhorst, 1992).

Thereafter, the Spaniards proceeded to annihilate the Aztecs way of life via the destruction of their palaces, temples, pyramids, and worst of all, their spirit. Both land and Indians were assigned to explorers, soldiers, and nobles by the King’s representative. Having conquered many tribes, the Aztecs understood that as they did to others, the new rulers would impose a new set of rules and guidelines for them to follow. Initially, most Aztecs felt that they were being punished by the gods. They tried to appease the gods via sacrificing humans among other things. Unable to understand the sacrifices, the Spaniards ordered the Aztecs to halt such religious practices. Soon after, the Spanish priests introduced writing and reading as well as the Roman Catholic faith to the indigenous population as part of their new way of life.

Since human sacrifices were no longer tolerated, some of the Indians continued to worship nature and follow their ancient religious practices in secrecy; while others embraced the new teachings of the friars. Consequently, a small segment of the population along with Catholicism, continued to worship nature, and to follow their ancient religious practices in secrecy (Gossen 1986).

Although the Indians and the Africans were forced into Christianity, they continued to practice their religion in a clandestine manner. As the Spaniards struggled to indoctrinate Christianity onto the heathens, the Africans, unlike the Indians, increased their efforts to preserve their religious culture by fusing it with Christianity.

Authors that deal with some of these issues are Isabel Allende (House of the Spirits is a lovely book)
Gabriel Garcia Marques (Love in the Time of Cholera or 100 Years of Solitude to start with)
Jon Louis Borges
Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz
Julia Alvarez
Jorge Amada

A lot of these authors use magic realism, which it could be argued is a way of dealing with 'the spirit' in a society that suppresses it in so many ways.

Also, if you haven't already seen it, you might want to watch the film The Mission - it's a beautiful film and gives a good history lesson on one aspect of religion in Latin America.

Answer 4

Anything by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Answer 5

"Uncle Tom's Cabin" by Harriet Beecher Stowe.