kärˈlōs fwānˈtās, 1928–, Mexican writer, editor, and diplomat. He was head of the department of cultural relations in Mexico's ministry of foreign affairs (1956–59) and Mexican ambassador to France (1975–77). Much of his fiction, which generally deals with themes of Mexican identity and history, is a synthesis of reality and fantasy, transcending the limits of time and space (see magic realism). His works include La región más transparente (1958; tr. Where the Air Is Clear, 1960), Las buenas conciencias (1959; tr. Good Conscience, 1968), Cambio de piel (1967; tr. A Change of Skin, 1968), Terra Nostra (1975, tr. 1976), Una familia lejana (1980; tr. Distant Relations, 1982), La Campaña (1990, tr. The Campaign, 1991), Años con Laura Díaz (1999; tr. The Years with Laura Díaz, 2000), and Instinto de Inez (2001, tr. Inez, 2002). His nonfiction book The Buried Mirror (1992) is a study of Spanish and Latin American cultural history, and he has also written numerous essays and short stories.

See biography by W. Faris (1983); study by R. Brody and C. Rossman, ed. (1982).

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright© 2004, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products N.V. All rights reserved.

-18084-