The Era of Revolution severed political ties between Latin America and the Old World—but cultural independence was another matter. This program explains how the region’s literature began to come into its own, relying on models and themes imported from Spain while establishing a dialogue with other literary traditions and aesthetic movements. Through the work of José Joaquín Fernández de Lizardi, Esteban Echeverría, Bartolomé Hidalgo, Mariano Melga, José Martí, Cirilo Villaverde, and other writers, viewers will become familiar with the “literature of independence” particular to Latin America—one that threads together the old and the new, the alien and the indigenous, to form its own unique creations. An FFH&S/Tranquilo Production. (Spanish with optional English subtitles, 50 minutes)