No. 21 (2023): The Isthmus and the American Continent: Literatures, Cultures and Histories

The aim of the following study is to discuss the concept of bridge of contact as the one conceived among the Anglophone, Francophone, Latin American realities. In particular it will enquire the mode in which it is exercised in the entire histimic zone ‒ and by extension in all central American states, including the islands, located between North America and South America. In the aesthetic acquisition of nature in open dialogue with the individual and with society, literature becomes a focal point for the understanding of the outer world and the inner microcosm, while at the same time it indicates the voyage within the physical space as a mere necessity for all those who intend the act of writing as a mission towards knowledge. The contact between cultures affects all identity issues and establishes new points of reference, transforming culture into richness and even individual awareness. For this reason, stemming from the very context, it is interesting to verify whether in literary texts, be they in English, French or Spanish, the impetus towards a relentless globalization is affirmed or whether the choice to cultivate one’s own cultural roots, albeit modified or “contaminated”, prevails within a multicultural territory.