ABSTRACT
The Americas were imagined into being long before they became a geo-political entity (→ America, I/2). Since the arrival of the conquistadors (→ Conquest and Colonization, I/7), which marked the beginning of many traumatic encounters, writers have sought to explain the Americas to the wider world in order to find a means of articulating the conditions and consciousness of those inhabiting these lands. Such tendencies have been mapped out by Ángel Rama in his The Lettered City (1985), an exploration of the ways writers have contributed to the formulation of a harmonious, heterogeneous culture. Accused of being a “fantasy” (→ Utopias, III/23), nonetheless this engaged lettered city populated by questioning, articulate authors has been highly influential and “cannot simply be dismissed but must be … worked through before it is suspended” (Franco 2002, 10). Laying the responsibility for social and political engagement on the shoulders of writers continues to resonate in Latin America, and is the subject of much reflection and discussion. This entry provides a brief introduction to key figures in the history and politics of the Americas, from the era of Independence (→ Independence Movements, I/10) to the 21st century, and to the determination of writers to communicate publicly and engage politically (→ Political Communication, II/42). The term public intellectual is defined broadly to include activists, academics, artists, and writers. Of course, this survey will not be an exhaustive list of all public intellectuals concerned with the Americas. Instead, the entry seeks to provide an overview of some notable figures whose work is associated with key forms that have attempted to define the myriad identities of the Americas and the relationship between the region and the wider world, thus examining the works of these public intellectuals through a transnational, translocal lens.
