The Style of Literary Criticism in La máscara, la transparencia

Abstract

In this article I study the style of literary criticism in La máscara, la transparencia (1975), the collection of essays by Guillermo Sucre (Venezuela, 1933). To undertake my analysis I have in mind Sucre’s conception of literary criticism and I focus on two main aspects: 1) The dialectics between movement and stillness (fijeza), and his attempt to turn the critical text into a verbal absolute, and 2) the conscience that he is dealing with words (and not with things), which leads to an attitude of passion and criticism towards his own writing. In my analysis I point out how the critical postulates of Sucre pervade his own literary expression.