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Analysis Of Aura

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Aura by Carlos Fuentes explores the ideas of fantasy and imagination against the backdrop of Mexico City in the 1960s, coinciding with the Latin American Boom. This was a time of literary experimentation as the Latin American novel gained increasing popularity amongst wider audiences. As such, Fuentes uses Aura to redefine narrative norms by incorporating genuine historical events into fantastical situations and through the use of symbolism to heighten the feelings of the uncanny and the unknown which linger throughout the novel.
Fuentes spent much of his own childhood in other countries, imagining his native country rather than experiencing it for himself. On his return to Mexico, he faced a reality much different to what he had expected from his dreams and preconceptions. At the time, the country was in the midst of ‘El Milagro Mexicano’, in which Mexico was going through a significant period of economic growth and social reforms. As a result, much of the population chose to move to the now industrialised cities in place of rural towns. This historical evidence is evident from the outset of Aura, as even though the population was growing in modern Mexican cities, this also created a feeling of isolation and a loss of community amongst the large crowds.
By way of illustration, Fuentes’ descriptions of Mexico City are generally basic and lacking in any expressive or idiomatic language. The protagonist, Felipe Montero, does not pay any particular attention to the details of
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