Why have so many Latin American authors recently taken up themes of Nazism, the Second World War and the Holocaust? This introduction re-caps the development of Latin American literary production from the nineteenth century to the present in order to explain why it is a notable trend that can tell us about phenomena as diverse as literary generations, globalization, racism, precarious labour, dictatorship, democracy, ethics and ontology. It investigates whether narratives from Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Colombia and Brazil have anything in common in their approaches to the subject; and whether they are similar or distinct from works by their canonized precursors such as Jorge Luis Borges, Carlos Fuentes, Carlos Onetti and Ricardo Piglia. Ultimately, this introduction sets out a framework for understanding a gradual shift in Latin American literature, from novels underpinning the ‘imagined communities’ of nations (Benedict Anderson), to authors deconstructing these and instead gesturing towards ‘inoperative communities’ (Jean-Luc Nancy).