The space in-between Book

Benedetti, through his career, wrote a series of essays and articles that, one way or another, relate to the role that writers, critics, and intellectuals have in the struggle for social, economic, and cultural development in Latin America.

Spanning from 1963 until 1983, this book collects some of these works. Written before, during, and after his exile as a consequence of the Uruguayan military dictatorship (1973-1985), the perspective varies according to the corresponding context.

These essays make evident the concern that Benedetti had for the continent during the most vertiginous years of the XX century, when not only Uruguay, but also Argentina, Chile, Brasil, Paraguay, and other countries democracies were slashed by military dictatorships supported and even financed by the US. Not only critic with the role of politics and oligarchs, Benedetti also insists on the responsibility that Latin American writers have with their people and the culture in these though moments, when critic and free thinking are suppressed from the masses.

This book is a great overview if you are looking to understand the context in which literature creativity had place in Latin America in the second half of the XX century. However, I was expecting more on the political and economical fronts (maybe mislead by the book's title, which is no more than the title of one of the essays) and there's not much about it. Keep in mind: these essays were mostly meant to motivate critics, writers, and intellectuals not to stop their fight against the domination of the culture.