Los pasos perdidos — Voyage initiatique au Venezuela (1953)

Authors : Alejo Carpentier

Genres : roman

Original language : espagnol

Editions

  • Editorial Cultural (Mexique), 1953 es
  • Gallimard, coll. Du monde entier, 1956 fr
  • Gallimard, coll. Folio n°795, 1976 fr
    ISBN 9782070365215

Los pasos perdidos (1953)

Los pasos perdidos — Les Pas Perdus or, in its French translation, Le Partage des eaux — is the third novel by Alejo Carpentier. Published in 1953, it relates the initiatory journey of a New York musician who ventures into the Amazonian forest of Venezuela to discover the lost origins of music.

The novel alternates between two temporalities: the present of the journey (from the Venezuelan jungles to post-colonial cities) and the past of pre-Columbian civilization. Carpentier explores the themes of time (real vs. perceived), civilization vs. nature, and the relationship between music and mythology. Carpentier’s musical masterpiece — La Danse sacrale (inspired by the Ballets Russes) — is one of the few novels where music occupies a central place.

This novel, often compared to Apocalypse sur le Nil by José Saramago for its exploration of lost civilizations, remains a reference in Latin American fiction.

Sources