Some weeks ago, one of the most important websites dealing with topics related to literature written in Spanish, Moleskine literario [Literary Moleskin], undertook a survey to elect the most influential literary critic of contemporary Peruvian literature. Gustavo Faverón was elected the winner. What was interesting about this was that, even if Faverón has published essays and articles in prestigious academic journals and has been the editor of an important cultural review in Peru, his influence is due, above all to Puente aéreo, the blog that he has been writing for a couple of years now. As Iván Thays, responsible for Moleskine, has commented: ‘I doubt there's anyone, of any point of view, who is interested in discussing literary or cultural topics in Peru who doesn't read Puente aéreo ’ (Thays 2006).

This is a sign that times are changing: only a short time ago, it would have been unthinkable that a Latin American literary critic could have gained legitimacy through the web. But now this is becoming increasingly possible. And not only that: having a presence on the web is becoming, bit by bit, a key way to disseminate critical discourse and to contribute to literary and cultural debates. For example, the Brazilian Idelber Avelar, one of the most respected critics, has a very popular blog indeed. And writers themselves are not lagging behind: Iván Thays is one of the most respected writers of new Peruvian narrative. The list of authors who have blogs includes Alberto Fuguet, Santiago Roncagliolo, Jorge Volpi (although only intermittently), and the author of these lines.

What has happened is something very natural: in Latin American literature there has always existed a tradition of strong relationships with new technologies and the mass media. Considering only the twentieth century, we can find in many novels, chronicles, essays, and poems an attempt to establish a dialogue – frequently stimulating, although at other times tense – between literature and new technologies. There is also a continuous desire to reflect on the changing role of literature in a mediatised environment in which cinema, photography, computers, and the Internet occupy ever more central places. And this is reflected in this volume: the essays collected in this book reveal the diversity and richness of what the editors term Latin American cyberculture and cyberliterature.