Ariel Dorfman

Sophia A. McClennen is Associate Professor of Comparative Literature, Spanish, and Women’s Studies at Pennsylvania State University. She is the author of The Dialectics of Exile: Nation, Time, Language, and Space in Hispanic Literatures.

“Controversial, relentless, provocative, and astoundingly creative, Dorfman has been the most single-minded culture critic of the latter part of the 20th century. McClennen’s critique is, in turn, an exemplary analysis of Dorfman’s remarkable practice of thinking through crisis. An invaluable addition to the literature on literary and cultural studies. Essential.” - K. M. Sibbald, Choice “[T]his remarkable study makes a valuable contribution for those interested in Dorfman's life and works and for anyone considering the difficult questions of how literature can effectively engage with the world in which we live, of what role more experimental art can play in the age of mass media, and of how language can engage with trauma and memory.” - Victoria Garrett, Hispania “Ariel Dorfman: An Aesthetics of Hope is a complete life-and-works study of Dorfman, one of the premier Latin American writers. Surprisingly, it is the first full-length English-language study of the author. I learned a great deal from this rich and compassionate text. Sophia A. McClennen approaches Dorfman with measured affection and a sharp critical eye. She has written a model study: the biographical information provides context for the creative work, and her analysis of the creative work avoids excessive plot summary, while still giving the reader unfamiliar with a given text enough information to understand the argument.”-Debra A. Castillo, author of Redreaming America: Toward a Bilingual American Culture “Sophia A. McClennen is a writer of extraordinary gifts and one of our most promising intellectuals. In Ariel Dorfman: An Aesthetics of Hope, she not only gives human form to a poetics and politics of hope, but also offers us a brilliant and compelling narrative of Ariel Dorfman’s work and life, revealing the courage and costs involved in taking risks, embracing civic courage, addressing the suffering of others, and living in a world in which democracy must never be taken for granted. Beautifully written and brilliantly argued, this is a book for everyone who believes that hope is the poetry of politics.”-Henry A. Giroux, author of Hearts of Darkness: Torturing Children in the War on Terror “This remarkable study makes a valuable contribution for those interested in Dorfman's life and works and for anyone considering the difficult questions of how literature can effectively engage with the world in which we live, of what role more experimental art can play in the age of mass media, and of how language can engage with trauma and memory.” - Victoria Garrett (Hispania) “Controversial, relentless, provocative, and astoundingly creative, Dorfman has been the most single-minded culture critic of the latter part of the 20th century. McClennen’s critique is, in turn, an exemplary analysis of Dorfman’s remarkable practice of thinking through crisis. An invaluable addition to the literature on literary and cultural studies. Essential.” - K. M. Sibbald (Choice)

• Preface ixAcknowledgments xviiNote on Citations and Translations xxi1. The Political is Personal 12. On Becoming a Storyteller: Dorfman's Literary and Cultural Influences 313. An Aesthetics of Hope 604. Anything Else Would Have Tasted Like Ashes: From Popular Unity to Exile (17970–90) 935. I am A Liar Who Always Tells the Truth: From Exile to Diaspora (1990–2005) 1526. Creative Criticism/Critical Creativity: Media Criticism and Cultural Journalism 244Conclusion. One among Many 280Appendix 1: An Ariel Dorfman Chronology 285Appendix 2: An Ariel Dorfman Bibliography 295Notes 333Works Cited 349Index 361