La modernidad periférica: ecos del Gattopardo de Tomasi di Lampedusa en La Guerra del fin del mundo de Mario Vargas Llosa

Abstract

The modernization process is analyzed here in two peripheral realities of the world system - nineteenth-century Brazil and Sicily - as depicted in La guerra del fin del mundo and in Il gattopardo. In particular, we show how in the world that Vargas Llosa creates there is no social class capable of becoming the leader of the transition towards a modern society that responds to the needs and nature of an independent Brazil. This absence leads to resistances and catastrophic conflicts. Resistance and conflicts help explaining the phenomenon of opposition to the advance of modernity that we are witnessing today.