The importance of this book will be appreciated by anyone who is interested in the cultural side of recent Latin American history. It supplies evidence for the common generalization about domination of Latin America by the Old World, for Miguel de Unamuno was both an active propagator of the idea of hispanidad and a vigilant opponent of French influences. Indeed one of the paradoxes marking Unamuno’s life and thought is the fact that the Latin American literature which he championed blossomed first in the Paris-inspired movement of modernismo which he fought. For over fifty years Unamuno wrote articles for La Nación of Buenos Aires and other journals in Spain and America, and the correspondence which derived from his writings was varied and widespread.
In preparing this book, Chaves, an authority on the Generation of ’98, spent five years exploring archives on both sides of the Atlantic and gathering a vast amount of material. The importance of his subject has long been recognized, for he cites articles dating from 1907 dealing with the problem. The magnitude of the task would seem to explain the delay in the appearance of this kind of comprehensive survey. The present book seems to foreshadow new American interest in Unamuno, and it will surely rescue him from the neglect which now prevails in more general studies dealing with movements of Western thought. In the short run it will provide a fine balance for the excellent America-centered study of Latin American thought by W. Rex Crawford. As Chaves has mastered both the relevant literature and the central problems of his subject, it is surprising to find him counting Wordsworth as one of the North American poets who influenced Unamuno (p. 511).
The very breadth and depth with which the book treats its topic raise some difficulties of presentation. Chaves’ general organization is clear enough. He begins with the origins of Unamuno’s interest in America and its development in the idea of hispanidad. Next come Unamuno’s comments on American subjects and his dealings with American authors in reviews, interviews, and correspondence. Finally, the biographical theme again emerges dominant with the effect on Unamuno’s American position of his own political activities and exile. Roughly, this is an intellectual biography concentrating on a particular area of Unamuno’s concern. The central part of the book, amounting to four-fifths of the total, tends to lose its pattern through its meticulous approach, letter by letter and book-review by book-review. Sometimes the material is repetitious or trivial, and the impact of Unamuno and America on each other would be clearer with more generalization and fewer details. Still, the essential points certainly do come through, and perhaps ultimately the most important contribution of the book will be in making available all the information that it presents.
