English Translation of the Bolivian Novel, Hijo de Opa!


Book Description

This Bolivian novel chronicles the degeneration of a middle-class land-owning family related to the national Revolution of 1952, agrarian reform and three decades of political repression. Gaby Vallejo intertwines public political abuse with private abuse of females.




Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986) as Writer and Social Critic


Book Description

The essays in this book, ably edited by Dr. Racz, attempt to read Borges in this counter-monumental mode using the centennial of his birth as a point of departure. It is a fitting way to do Borges in our tangled era, keenly aware of the perils of public memorializing-in Buenos Aires's Memory Park to the disappeared, in New York's Ground Zero memorial to the blown apart-yet striving for the kind of open and fluid remembrance of the past that encourages new telling(s) of what inevitably will become old tales.




The Self in the Narratives of José Donoso


Book Description

Jose Donoso (1924-1996), the most celebrated fiction writer Chile has produced, created over a span of some 50 years, a large and remarkably various body of work. His 10 novels, 9 novellas and 4 volumes of tales take up many of the social and political questions of his day. Although each work probes a different social issue, each contains as well Donoso's lifelong meditation on the nature of the self. Jose Donoso's Conjuring of the Self explores this central theme in Donoso's writings. This study explores in rigorous detail Jose Donoso's most important theme - the perils of establishing a self. Concentrating on the Chilean's late writings - The Garden Next Door, Curfew, Taratuta, Conjeturas sobre la memoria de mi tribu and Donde van a morir los elefantes, the author infers from these little studied narratives Donoso's idiosyncratic views about selfhood. Donoso, who conceived of individual identity as compact of social role and intrapsychic form, fuses his social vision with psychoanalysis.




The Fat Man from La Paz


Book Description

A collection of twenty stories by Bolivian authors.




The Imaginary in the Writing of Latin American Author Amanda Labarca Hubertson (1886-1975)


Book Description

This thematic study is the only in-depth investigation into the fictional and testimonial literature of Amanda Labarca Hubertson, Chilean educator, reformer, and promoter of women's rights. These imaginary writings include such little-known works as her semi-autobiographical novel, En tierras extranas (1915), the short novel, La lampara maravillosa (1921), the collection of short stories entitled Cuentos a mi senor, the testimonial Meditaciones and Meditaciones breves (1928-1931), and the marginal journal fragments, Desvelos en el alba (1945). A preliminary chapter also addresses the controversy surrounding her published literary thesis, La novela castellana de hoi [sic, 1906]. The study corrects some interpretive errors regarding earlier scholarship on Labarca's perceived feminist writings by examining the sexual (gendered) complexities that imprint themselves in Labarca's fictional work and literary criticism. While she may be criticized for omitting any materialist analysis of power, in her literature Labarca attempted to effect change in the social order by pointing out its contradictions. Paradoxically, a close reading of Labarca's dangerously contradictory and yet amorous




Cervantine Satire and Folk Syncretism in Paulo de Carvalho-Neto's Latin-American Novel Mi Tío Atahualpa


Book Description

Incorporating a wide range of Latin American literary genres, Paulo de Carvalho-Neto's 1972 novel, Mi tio Atahualpa unites Cervantine and indigenous traditions in both form and spirit. This study places the novel within its sociohistorical and literary contexts and considers the elements of Cervantine satire and folk syncretism it displays. Nance teaches Latin American literature and culture at Illinois State University. The text is based upon her doctoral thesis. Annotation : 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).




A Translation of Alfonsina Storni's Cimbelina en 1900 Y Pico (Cymbeline in 1900-and-something)


Book Description

This English translation of Alfonsina Storni gives scholars and students in the fields of Latin American literature, womenÆs studies and world theater the opportunity to study rare examples of theater written by a woman on very controversial and progressive issues at the beginning of the twentieth century. The translation is furnished with an introduction that reviews the whole theatrical production of Storni in relation to the historical and social developments of her time and places her work within the context of the literature and theater of Argentina and the Southern Cone.




Imageries of deception in Chilean novels of the 1990s


Book Description

This book focuses on the New Chilean Narrative published in the historically significant decade of the 90s by a group of writers belonging to the Generation of the 80s. The analysis of selected texts by Ana Maria del Rio, Diamela Eltit, Guadalupe Santa Cruz, Jaime Collyer, Ramon Diaz Eterovic, Gonzalo Contreras, and Alberto Fuguet explores the literary strategies by which these writers present literary imageries of deception that question the post-dictatorial order in Chile. The concept of imageries of deception alludes to literary motifs that represent a critical view of a Chilean contemporary reality whose source can be traced to the Pinochet dictatorship and its ideological aftermath. The imageries of deception question the dominant myths that sustain Chilean post-dictatorial society, and remember the nation's ideological conflicts of the past three decades. As cultural spaces where memory resists the dominant will to deceptively erase the past, the narrative of the 90s reveals the enduring and debilitating impact of a dictatorship successfully disguised as the current neo-liberal democracy.




A Critical, Dual-language Edition of Quadras Ao Gosta Popular/Quatrains in the Popular Style


Book Description

Published near the end of his life, Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa's (1888-1935) Quatrains in the Popular Style was written in a simple style that stands in contrast to his earlier work. This volume presents the Portuguese text of the poems, with English translations on the facing pages. Krummrich (comparative literature at Morehead State U., Kentucky) provides background information on Pessoa's life and career in the introduction. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).




Culture and Customs of Bolivia


Book Description

In this book, contemporary representations of Bolivian art, music, religion, literature, festivals, theater, and cinema document how history and geography have shaped Bolivia's modern culture. Bolivia has long been neglected by North American historians and anthropologists. Now, author Javier A. Galván fills this gap with a book that analyzes the complex cultures of this South American nation within the context of its rich history and contemporary traditions. The first half of this text is dedicated to how and where people live—detailed geography, social traditions, religious practices, political institutions, and Bolivian cuisine and culture. The varied religious and linguistic traditions of the indigenous groups that comprise the majority of the national population are also described, giving readers a deeper appreciation for the diversity of Bolivia's character. The second half of the book explores the creative talent of Bolivians who are advancing the literary movements, painting styles, architectural design, theater productions, fashion design, and emerging film industry of the country. Culture and Customs of Bolivia also includes a detailed analysis of contemporary print and broadcasting media.




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