literature

“Jesús Díaz, 1941–2002: The Unintentional Deviationist.”

March 28, 2017

My article on Cuban writer and filmmaker Jesús Díaz (1941-2002) is part of a broader research project on cultural policy, participation and censorship in Cuba.1 I raise two questions. First, what is the role of cultural agents in the production of both stability and change in Cuba, and concomitantly, what does the regime do to coopt actors and control the production of politico-cultural forms? Second, when and how do writers and artists actually push for more ‘space’ and deploy their expressive powers in a way that challenges the statu quo?

Intoxicated Writing: Mexican Onda writers and the Drug Experience in 1960s Mexico

February 1, 2017

In the late 1960s, as the Latin American Boom masters exported magic realist narratives to the international literary market, young Mexican Onda writers imported the international counterculture into their writing in an attempt to question paradigms of self, representation, and language. Among the signifiers that codified the 1960s counterculture, the drug experience, along with rock music, opened possibilities for social and literary experimentation.

Telling the Story of the Favelas Through Art and Literature

January 9, 2017

Favelas have long been known as the impoverished neighborhoods surrounding the cities of Brazil. Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city, is home to one of the oldest favelas, Providência, founded in 18971. The original favelas normally consisted of informal housing like shacks, usually made from scrap metal, woods, or other materials. They originated due to a lack of affordable housing, thus pushing poorer citizens to the outskirts of the cities.

Pitt Hosts International Symposium on Andean Writer Gamaliel Churata

November 17, 2016

Last week I had the exciting opportunity to sit in on portions of an international symposium hosted by the University of Pittsburgh on Peruvian author Gamaliel Churata. The two-day long event titled Gamaliel Churata: Envisioning the Circulation of Andean Epistemologies in the Age of Globalization brought together writers and scholars from all over the world. Among them were the university’s own Ariel C. Armony, Senior Director of International Programs and Director of the University Center for International Studies; Scott J.

El velorio en que andamos: notas sobre Juan Gelman

October 20, 2016

El 14 de enero murió en México Juan Gelman, país en el que vivía hacía más de dos décadas. Para algunos, quizás, el nombre no indique mucho. Para otros quizás represente diferentes aspectos del mundo. Lo cierto es que el 14 de enero la poesía en lengua hispana perdió a uno de sus más grandes referentes.

Aproximaciones a los circuitos comunicantes en la cultura caribe colombiana

October 20, 2016

La antroposociología nos señala que ciertas condiciones materiales y espirituales inducen la aparición de determinado tipo de producción estética. La correspondencia entre lo material y lo espiritual, expresado en el mundo del arte, no es ya, pues, una sorpresa para nadie. Si echamos una mirada, aunque leve, a Antonio Cándido, a Ángel Rama o a René Wellek y a Austin Warren en su Teoría Literaria, para señalar sólo a tres, podemos corroborarlo.

Eduardo Galeano's Criticism of his "Open Veins" Taken Lightly

October 19, 2016

Recently, world-renowned writer Eduardo Galeano, author of Open Veins of Latin America, denounced his most popular book due to inadequate knowledge when he published the book back in his early 1930s. Open Veins is one of the most popular pieces of leftist literature taught in university coursework and has sold over one million copies translated in more than 20 languages.  Galeano, now 73, published the book in 1971.

Gabo, periodista: Celebrating Gabriel García Márquez’s Journalistic Side

October 13, 2016

With the death of Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez on April 17, 2014 the world has lost one of its most beloved authors. Fortunately, his works live on in countless libraries, bookstores, cinemas, internet pages, and the minds and hearts of millions.

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