This book examines postmodern parody in Latin American literature as the intersection between
ideology construction and deconstruction. Parody's chief task is to deconstruct and criticize
the ideologies behind previous texts. During this process new ideologies are inevitably
constructed. However postmodernism simultaneously recognizes the partiality of all ideologies
and rejects their enthronement as absolute truth. This raises the question of how postmodern
parody deals with the paradox inherent in its own existence on the threshold between ideology
construction deconstruction and the rejection of ideology. This book explores the relationship
between parody and ideology as well as this paradox of postmodern parody in works written by
writers ranging from early twentieth-century poets to the most recent novel by the Nobel
Prize-winning Mario Vargas Llosa. The analyses include such authors as Cristina Peri Rossi
Manuel Puig Luisa Valenzuela Enrique Sánchez Roberto Bolaño Claudia Piñeiro Margarita
Mateo Palmer Boris Salazar and Rosario Ferré.
