Book Description

Gender and women’s studies have formed part of the academic landscape for many years, but while the field is now established enough to have developed in depth and perspectives, there remain many areas of significance yet to be explored–most significantly, much of the work carried out has remained rooted in the Anglo-American context. Those working outside this context are increasingly aware of the need to understand women in different cultural contexts in order to determine whether, to what extent and how representations of women and cultural contexts are interactive and dynamic concepts. The current volume contributes to the growing interest in the field of women and culture in the Hispanic and Lusophone worlds and shows how women writers, researchers, teachers and students have always made waves to counteract the complacency, prejudice and tradition that threatens to ignore or subsume them. The volume draws on literary study–the starting point for much of the early work on gender in Spain, the Lusophone world and Latin America–but also goes beyond it, to discuss women’s interaction not only with literature but also with art, and language itself, in the Hispanic and Lusophone contexts. It acts as a showcase for contemporary scholarship undertaken in Hispanic and Lusophone gender studies, developing earlier insights and forging new ones, to refine the debate continuing in the subject. The contributors include both established scholars with a proven track record and promising newcomers to the field. The volume arises from the individual research projects and sustained discussions of Women in Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies (WiSPs), an organisation that exists to promote scholarship by and about women in the field of Iberian, Lusophone and Latin American Studies. This volume celebrates the first seven years of WiSPs's life and presents some of the research presented under its auspices at annual conferences and study days.