This study examines the political theory of modernity as it appears in the work of contemporary Latin American writers and thinkers (pensadores). It is designed to help bridge the gap that separates the North American and European dialogue on modernity from the parallel dialogue on modernity currently flourishing in Latin America. The dialogues are brought together in two ways. First, the theory of modernity, which is still often thought to apply only or primarily to the developed world, is subjected to the challenge of the Latin American political and cultural context. Many features of the theory are found to apply equally well to both cultures, and these features provide the basis for the second "bridging" of the two dialogues, in which some of the most interesting Latin American responses to the problems of modernity are brought to the attention of North American and European political scholars. After reviewing the problem of modernity in some depth, the work of Jose Ortega y Gasset is presented both as a link to German philosophical thought and as a pattern for subsequent discussion of modernity in the Spanish-speaking world. Ortega's uniquely Latin way of understanding modernity is then compared to other philosophical approaches, and placed within the context of political literature in Latin America. Literature is shown to be a uniquely suitable forum for conveying Ortega's approach to modernity because it expresses in itself the central role of arts and culture in his political thought. The balance of the study focuses on the works of three contemporary Latin American authors: Octavio Paz of Mexico, Gabriel Garcia Marquez of Colombia, and Mario Vargas Llosa of Peru. Each author's major works are placed within the context of the model Latin American response to modernity inspired by Ortega and analyzed for significant contributions to the discussion of modernity. Their most important insights center around the need to assimilate the value of tradition in a new approach to modernity by means of some form of democratic dialogue combined with critical appreciation for the cultural uniqueness of nations.

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Marta Traba (1923-1983), écrivaine et critique d’art argentino-colombienne, est principalement connue en Amérique latine pour ses écrits critiques, son engagement pour le développement de l’art moderne en Colombie, et plus largement pour sa « théorie de la résistance » qui prône dans les arts plastiques une défense des identités culturelles latino-américaines. Son œuvre littéraire, en revanche, est beaucoup moins connue. Or, elle est non seulement très riche, mais elle forme le pendant narratif à son œuvre critique, un ensemble de récits innervés, de manière plus ou moins profonde, des conceptions et de la culture trabiennes sur l’art. Il s’agit dès lors de reconsidérer ces deux pans de sa production écrite comme un tout cohérent, et de montrer les influences et les interactions entre sa critique d’art et sa littérature, mais également entre les arts plastiques qui forment sa culture artistique et ses écrits fictionnels. Il apparaît alors que Marta Traba conçoit et pratique son écriture critique comme une écriture « littérarisée » et, réciproquement et surtout, sa littérature comme une littérature « artialisée » : la valorisation constante du regard esthétique sur le monde et d’une sensorialité exacerbée dessine un idéal de contemplation tout au long de son œuvre littéraire ; les insertions continues d’une terminologie critique et de références aux œuvres d’art, sur un mode tantôt clairement didactique, tantôt subtilement ludique, invitent le lecteur à lire ses fictions et poèmes au prisme du sous-texte artistique qui enrichit leur sens ; enfin, le récit devient le lieu d’expérimentation des théories trabiennes de la « résistance », entre réaffirmation de la place de l’Amérique latine sur la carte de l’art mondial, mise à distance défensive des influences nord-américaines et réappropriation locale, par « transculturation », des modèles artistiques étrangers. L’étude de l’artialisation de la littérature trabienne est donc loin d’être l’analyse d’un simple procédé formel : elle dégage, nous semble-t-il, un véritable style trabien, miroir de l’écrivaine et de ses convictions. / Marta Traba (1923-1983), an Argentinian-Colombian writer and art critic, is most famous in Latin America for her critiques, her commitment to develop modern art in Colombia, and, more generally, for her “theory of resistance” which advocates the defence of the many cultural Latin-American identities in fine arts. Her literary work, however, is far less well-known. And yet, not only is it very rich, but it also constitutes the narrative counterpart to her critiques – a collection of tales innervated, to different degrees, with Traba’s notions on and knowledge of art. It is consequently about reconsidering these two sides of her written production as a consistent whole, and identifying the influences and interactions between her art critiques and her literary work, as well as between the fine arts which make up her artistic culture and her fictional writings.It then appears that Marta Traba devises and practices her critical writing “literarily” as she does, above all, her literary work “artistically”: the constant enhancement of the aesthetic eye on the world and of an intensified sensory experience shape an ideal of contemplation throughout her literary work; the continuous inserts of a critical terminology and of references to art works, sometimes in a clearly didactic mode, sometimes in a subtly playful manner, invite the reader to read her fiction stories and poems in the light of the artistic subtext which enriches their meaning; finally, the tale becomes the place where Traba’s theories of “resistance” are tested, at the crossroads of the re-affirmation of the place of Latin America on the map of international art, of the defensive distancing from North American influences, and of the local re-appropriation, by “transculturation”, of the foreign artistic models. The study of the artistic mutation of Traba’s literary work is therefore far from boiling down to the analysis of a mere formal process: from our point of view, it reveals an authentic style, Traba’s style, which is the mirror of the writer and her convictions.