The Buried Mirror

Published on September 1st, 1993 by Mariner Books (first published January 1st, 1992), The Buried Mirror by Carlos Fuentes is a comprehensive history of Spain and the Spanish-speaking people of the Americas. It looks at Hispanic culture on both sides of the Atlantic, spanning generations. It is set within the context of Spain’s multi-cultural roots. It’s an inspired history and a celebration of the five hundred-year anniversary of Columbus’s landmark journey to the New World.

Due to unemployment, inflation, and the excessive debt threatening the political and economic institutions of the Latin American republic, Fuentes asks what there is to celebrate. But, he finds consolation in the rich culture and heritage. It has been created with great pride and joy, and even risk. These are vital societies that revel in their art, music, and literature.

Fuentes writes about the mirror as a symbol of a great many things: people, the sun, the earth, and reality itself. The mirror is a reflection of reality and imagination, and it reaches to all four corners of the earth. The Buried Mirror tries to untangle the history of the Hispanic culture in the New World from its political, social, and economic components. Fuentes takes the reader on a journey through Latin America’s history beginning in Spain. The Buried Mirror is an attempt to unbury the mirror through an understanding of the cultural identity and the history of Latin America. The revolutions, crises, literature, arts, and outside influences all made contributions to the diversity and texture of the culture.



Understanding the cultural identity of Latin America requires a discussion of its many outside influences. The culture owes much to European influence through colonization by France, Portugal, and Spain. These influences are especially evident in art, language, literature, and music. Also, the introduction of slaves led to a prevalent African influence in areas such as dance, food, and religion. There is a strong influence from the Aztec, Incan, and Mayan civilizations. Once independent, Spanish America looked to France and the United States as their new role models while simultaneously turning their backs on Spain.

Though Spain was no longer an oppressor to Spanish America, their influence still inhibited Spanish America. Most Spanish Americans were enamored of the French and closely imitated them, becoming almost a mirror image of France. They adopted their ideas and their ways of thinking. They imported and consumed French goods. Fuentes stresses that Latin America, more so than being Spanish, is truly a melting pot of various cultures. This is what defines the Latin American people, the ability to open-mindedly take aspects of other cultures and integrate them into their own. All of their history, wars, revolutions, and other crises informed their identity.

From its civil war and uprisings to it war of independence from Spain, Latin America struggled with the challenge of forming a national identity of its own. The revolutions that occurred in Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Venezuela all helped shape Latin American identity. Today, modern culture is still plagued with debt, issues with development and democracy, and drugs. Forward progress is marred by a decline in education, health, and housing. There is a growing population of poor living in slums under an unstable political system.



The fastest growing populations of youth find that there are not enough opportunities as in other countries. Oftentimes refugees from these countries will cross the border into the United States, living as illegals below the poverty line.

According to Fuentes, the political and economic situation in Latin America is balanced by its cultural history. He talks at length about the arts and what they reveal about the culture as a whole. Some of the greatest artistic influences are from Spanish and French Baroque paintings. As European artistic influence began to wane in the early twentieth century, the Latin people began creating their own artistic identity. Artists like Frida Kahlo, Jose Guadalupe, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez were the great visionaries of their time. They used symbolism, realism, and surrealism as a vehicle for the poor, the illiterate, and the voiceless. Writers also made vast contributions to the culture. Jorge Luis Borges and Fuentes himself added to a strong body of literary work. Dance played a role, particularly the Tango. Tango originated in Buenos Aires and became the signature dance of Latin America, representing the misery of its cities as related through dreams, desires, and memories. It’s a mysterious and mystical dance, telling stories of endless frustrations.

At the end, Fuentes best describes modern Latin America as emerging but not yet finished. There are seemingly insurmountable problems but the region retains a vital energy. His answer to finding its own identity is the recognition and acceptance of all of its influences--both past and present. All of Latin America’s experiences meld together; this signifies the mirror’s reflection of an ever-changing culture. The mirror as metaphor challenges the reader to think outside the box for ways of forming a nation, how stereotypes evolve, and what is discovered when a community understands its roots. The books is illustrated with over 160 photographs, drawings, and paintings to illuminate and celebrate a robust cultural diversity.



Fuentes was one of the best-known Spanish essayists and novelists of the twentieth century. Born in Panama City, Panama, his father was a diplomat, giving Fuentes the opportunity of living in many places. By adolescence, he returned to Mexico, living there until 1965. That same year, he became a diplomat and served as an ambassador in London and Paris. He resigned as ambassador in 1978. He taught at Brown, Cambridge, Colombia, George Mason, Harvard, and Princeton, and greatly influenced Latin American literature. His works have been translated into English and other languages. He died in 2012 in Mexico City, Mexico.