Validity and historical redefinition in the essays of Mario Benedetti

Abstract

This article examines four central themes that stand out within Mario Benedetti’s essays: 1) the role of the intellectual and his critical vision of him/her; 2) his Latin American and anti-imperialistic position; 3) his critique of neoliberalism; and 4) the political and social importance of mass media, and his critiques of corporate media. This essay shows the differentiation that Benedetti makes between committed art and militant art, and how he relates the man of action to the intellectual. I also study the relationship between Latin America and the US and Europe, and the need for Latin Americans to break dependency and find their own path. Finally, I study why it is important, from Benedetti's conception, not to accept the end of history nor the end of utopias.