Guided Reading: The Reception of Miguel Ángel Asturias’s Novel in Romania during the 1960s–1970s

This article examines the controlled reception of The President by Miguel Ángel Asturias in Romania during the 1960s–1970s. It argues that the novel was not only accepted but ideologically mediated through translation, paratexts, and literary criticism. While early reception privileged its political dimension, later interpretations incorporated aesthetic and symbolic complexity. The study highlights how institutional frameworks shaped interpretive boundaries, allowing multiple readings while privileging those aligned with official discourse. Asturias’s case illustrates how Latin American literature functioned simultaneously as aesthetic expression and ideological resource within a controlled cultural system.

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