Purpose of "How I Started to Write"

The purpose of “How I Started To Write” is to show how history and culture influence language and literature. They are intertwined, as language and literature are part of history just as historical events such as the Holocaust are. To write good literature, one must have knowledge of historical events, the culture, and customs of the people one is writing about, so one can understand a country’s identity and traditions. “There is no creation without tradition” (445). Carlos Fuentes refers to many historical figures like famous writers and political figures from different locations in the world and different eras make the point that literature and language are universal. A country’s identity is shaped by contact with many other cultures. Fuentes said “Mexican literature was important because it was literature, not because it was Mexican” (445). Language is the key to giving an identity to oneself and to one’s country. Writing is taking all of one’s experiences, readings, and culture and creating a work of literature, which becomes a piece of history for future generations to read.