Philosophy and Criticism in Latin America

Reviewed by: Philosophy and Criticism in Latin America: From Mariátegui to Sloterdijk by Mabel Moraña David Wiseman Moraña, Mabel. Philosophy and Criticism in Latin America: From Mariátegui to Sloterdijk. Translated by Andrew Ascherl. Cambria, 2020. Pp. 424. ISBN 978-1-621-96542-8. Philosophy and Criticism of Latin America: From Mariátegui to Sloterdijk is an ambitious collection of essays from renowned scholar and educator Mabel Moraña analyzing a wide range of philosophical thought. As the introduction notes: "To produce a critical reading of philosophy while also developing a philosophy of criticism is essential in cultures that continue to struggle for the decolonization of both thought and life" (26). Moraña's extensive commentaries on cultural emancipation in Latin America are a notable contribution to scholarship on that region's sociocultural development. Philosophy and Criticism of Latin America is part of the larger Cambria Latin American Literatures and Cultures Series (edited by Román de la Campa), and it was translated into engaging, academic English by Andrew Ascherl. The work is divided into two sections ("Biopower, Coloniality, and Emancipation" and "Critico-Philosophical Rereadings and Debates") with six chapters in the first part and seven in the second. It also includes a valuable index to facilitate access to specific topics within this remarkably expansive work. From José Carlos Mariátegui, Enrique Dussel, Bolívar Echeverría, and Roger Bartra to global thinkers such as Michel Foucault, Walter Benjamin, and Pierre Bourdieu, Moraña takes her readers on a tour-deforce voyage through significant landscapes of thought that have influenced the development of Latin America. As Moraña analyzes the work of well-known philosophers, critics, and writers alongside less-commonly studied theorists, she adeptly presents the reader with "quite different thinkers, but they have in common the objective of deconstructing the discourse of power from different angles" (21). Specifically, the work focuses intently on "the hegemony, privilege, and inequality" that the author views as "inherent to capitalism" (293). Moraña, thus, argues through the words of varied philosophers and her own criticism that "the notion of emancipation itself should not be restricted to the analysis of political programs or protest movements" (33), but rather involve the cultural liberation of thought as well. Though each chapter mainly focuses on a central topic and philosopher, the work is intentionally broad in its scope, still using "characteristics which all connect in one way or another to diverse aspects of Latin American thought" (220). Indeed, the range of topics related to Latin American civilization and culture is both diverse and impressive. Some few areas of analysis include cultural emancipation, (neo)colonialism, modernity, violence, melancholia, biopolitics, cultural capital, literature, scarcity, globalization, affect, humanism, and more. As a reader, I was captivated by Moraña's vast knowledge as a philosopher and a critic. That said, the depth of comparative analysis between world theorists and specific Latin American history and texts was less than one might expect, thus occasionally resulting in intriguing but generalized conclusions. The overt preference for Marxist thought in response to the author's noted disappointments with the "perversions of capitalism" (144) also resulted in opinions that at times seemed more political than objective. Moraña nonetheless offered "timely contributions to the process of conceptualizing a Latin American specificity and its forms of integration in larger contexts" (9), which were thought-provoking in their connections to world theory and praxis. The scholarly impact of this over-400-page volume is clear. I found its pages to be fresh, bold, and enlightening. Specifically, among other topics, I found myself pondering Moraña's views on loss, scarcity, and humanism long after completing the chapters on those subjects. Beyond scholarship, Hispania readers may also be interested in the work's prospective value in the classroom. Sections of the book could be used with careful planning as readings in an [End Page 733] advanced undergraduate course, but the essays, in my opinion, would be most ideally suited for graduate-level curriculum. As one example, I could see chapter 5 ("Journey to the Heart of Melancholia") pairing nicely with the study of Latin American modernist literature, or other areas of literary, political, economic

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