Sources: 2666 (Barcelona: Editorial Anagrama, 2004), cover illustration by foto © Photonica; 2666 (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008), jacket design by Charlotte Strick; jacket art: Gustave Moreau, Jupiter and Semele, Réunion des Musées Nationaux (Paris).
Comments: The cover to the first Spanish edition of Bolaño's novel is on the left, whereas the cover to the first American English edition of Bolaño's novel is on the right. Book covers are intended as sales devices at the same that that they are intended to convey some visual sense of the work's contents, tone, style, and various levels of encoding and meaning. On the left we see the cover to the softbound volume; on the right we see the unfolded jacket cover for the first hardbound edition. It is immediately apparent that the volumes apparently convey radically different "visions" of this novel. As mentioned above, 2666's American cover is based on a 1895 painting by the French symbolist artist Gustave Moreau. For the full painting, of which the cover is only the lower third portion of the whole painting, see: => Jupiter and Semele.
Humanities Questions:
A. In your view, (a) what does the Spanish cover suggest about the novel, and (b) what does this cover convey about Latin American culture and humanities?
B. In your view, (a) what does the American cover attempt to suggest about the novel, and (b) what, if anything, does this cover suggest about how readers of the English translation are supposed to view this work of contemporary Latin American humanities? (Hint: I think there is something here, but it may take some effort to find it. What is your view?)