Quizas tu nombre salve/Et si ton nom sauvait

UNESCO Courier, Jan, 1994 by Calum Wise

This anthology of Salvadorian poetry is mainly devoted to the twentieth century and more than half of the contributors are still alive. Although the country's verse is relatively little-known, it "has contributed to Central American literature through outstanding personalities", as the essayist and poet Roberto Armijo, himself a contributor, points out in a foreword.

These personalities include Don Francisco Gavidia, a major figure of the Modernist era, Juan Cotto, a forerunner of the avant-garde, and two lyric poets of great intensity, Claudia Lars and Roque Dalton--all of whom are featured in the anthology. The major themes here are the exploration of the Salvadorian soul; the search for a personal voice; identification with the "absent homeland"; myth and reality; and reaction against major trends in Western poetry such as symbolism and surrealism. The anthology culminates in the work of the so-called Generacion Comprometida, the "Committed Generation". There is a dynamic ambivalence in these poets' use of words, which combines an awareness of their beauty with a mistrust of aestheticism, as there is in the contrast between the lyricism of their language and the primitive harshness of their imagery. The principal preoccupations are political commitment and the compromises life imposes. The title means "Perhaps your name may save", the name in question being that of El Salvador itself, which has the power of a magical incantation and evokes a universal land, at one and the same time global and local, that ultimately exists only in the human heart.