Introduction

The Companion reflects on twentieth- and twenty-first-century Latin American literature and culture by exploring the fragile contours that lend shape to the field as a discipline. The emergence of new technologies and powerful market forces, the increasing porosity of national borders, and the generalized sense of crisis—environmental, political, humanitarian—that defines our present have only made these boundaries more fragile. Any approach to Latin American cultural production requires awareness of new challenges that, though often global in scope, affect the region and its cultural production in intense ways: these include social, economic, political, ethical, environmental, and technological challenges, as well as those related to gender, sexuality, and race. The chapter also presents an overview on the key concepts discussed in this book.