Prospero's Mirror is one further step in the Latin Americanist Passion that brings together authors such as Darío, Martí, Rodó, Mariátegui, Manoel Bonfim, Sérgio Buarque de Holanda and Gilberto Freyre - a whole lineage of writers who delineate the fantastic space of "another" America, thought of, and felt, in contrast to her northern big brother. Beginning in the 19th century, a North American mirror reshapes the Shakespearean geography which impressed Sérgio Buarque de Holanda, and which would haunt him while he composed Raízes do Brasil in exile. Even though Holanda's classic book is not explicitly used in Prospero's Mirror, one can think that Morse's own book is a sort of re-writing of Raízes do Brasil, going into more depth in the Ibero-American promise that also shines in Buarque de Holanda's horizon.
Richard Morse; Sérgio Buarque de Holanda; Latin Americanism; Iberian roots