Introduction

The labyrinth is among the most enduring concepts in the collective psyche of Latin America, often invoked as an intersectional milieu of time, space, and identity. Literature of the region engages the parable of the labyrinth to describe political situations and economic challenges that seem difficult or impossible to resolve. In his epic essay El Laberinto de la Soledad (Labyrinth of Solitude, 1950), Nobel Prize laureate Octavio Paz reflects on the main features of Mexican culture, an identity that has been indelibly marked by contrasts and contradictions. ¹ Beyond Paz's groundbreaking work, books by Luis Sanchez-Masi, América Latina en su Laberinto (Latin America in its Labyrinth, 2020), ² Roberto Cortes Conde, El Laberinto Argentino (The Argentine Labyrinth, 2019), ³ and Felipe Gómez Isa, Colombia en su laberinto (Colombia in its Labyrinth, 2008), ⁴ employ the labyrinth as an allegorical reference to frame disorienting and adrift societies.