Preface -- MARIO VARGAS LLOSA

The present study has three principal objectives: to af-
ford the reader a general introduction to and complete
overview of Vargas Llosa's writing, to clarify the
technical difficulties that his fiction presents to the
nonspecialist, and to provide close analysis of his fic-
tion. Although I have devoted some attention to Vargas
Llosa's nonfiction, these writings, along with both his
essays and his theater, are discussed primarily in rela-
tion to his wok as a novelist.

Since this study is directed primarily to an En-
glish-Speaking readership, quotations from Vargas Llo-
sa's texts usually appear from the published English
translation (my own translations appear for the few
texts not yet published in English). In several instances,
however, a closer reading is provided by also including
the quotation in the original Spanish. Some passages
from The Cubs, Conversation in The Cathedral, and
The War Of the End of the World appear in both En-
glish and Spanish.

In principle, I have avoided specialized terminology
Nevertheless, readers will note Some references to
recent developments in narratology - namely the work
of Gerard Genette, Mikhail Bakhtin, and Mieke Bal -
whenever the concepts of these critics might enrich the
analysis of a given text. I do occasionally use the term
"heteroglossia", which is perhaps best understood by
thinking of the Greek roots: "heter", meaning "other",
and "glossa", meaning "language". Bakhtin has used
this term, referring to the "other languages" or variety
of languages that literary texts often assimilate. I also
rely occasionally on some useful concepts developed re-
cently by Walter Ong in order to elucidate various as-
pects of Vargas Llosa's technique. These ideas are ex-
plained in the course of this study.