Literary Cultures of Latin America: A Comparative History

From Booklist
This ambitious set features 205 signed articles from 242 scholars in 22 countries and claims to be "the largest comparative history project in the world." It covers five centuries of various multidisciplinary aspects (including historical, political, social, economical, and geographical) of Latin American culture on the grounds that literature responds to and enriches the culture from which it derives. The scope of Latin American literature here is extremely broad and expands on the traditional canon to include marginal authors and Brazilian literature, although English-, French-, and Dutch-speaking cultures of the Caribbean are mostly excluded. The three volumes have separate, broad motifs. Volume 1, Configurations of Literary Culture, gives a framework for cultural production, including exclusionary barriers, and an overview of popular culture. Volume 2, Institutional Modes and Cultural Modalities, maps out the cultural concentrations of the production of literature (including literary forms and geographic cultural centers). Volume 3 is titled Latin American Literary Culture: Subject to History. Within volumes, articles are grouped in thematic sections such as "Linguistic Diversity of Latin American Cultures," "The Novel," and "Amerindian Literary Cultures." Article length generally ranges from 5 to 30 pages, and each article has its own bibliography. More than 251 black-and-white illustrations (including maps and charts) accompany the text. The set concludes with a list of contributors and a broad subject index. Also, there is a list of included people with birth and death dates, but since this gives no page references and some people listed aren't in the subject index, it isn't very helpful. The essays are somewhat arcane and not traditionally organized, so it will be difficult for people without advanced background knowledge of Latin American studies to find what they need. There is some overlap, though not a lot, with The Cambridge History of Latin American Literature (Cambridge, 1996), but that work is more traditionally arranged. The editors of the present work strived to make it complementary to, rather than a rival of, the Cambridge resource. Because of the advanced language and subject matter, this title is only recommended for large research libraries and those with Latin American studies programs. Susan Gardner
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Buy from Amazon     Compare Prices

Resulting from a well-documented study by a host of international scholars, this multidisciplinary source gives researchers a detailed overview of Latin America's distinctive literary cultures and probes its unique cultural perspectives. Editors Vald s (Rethinking Literary History) and Kadir (comparative literature, Pennsylvania State Univ.) have opted to include entries that target not only the standard works of literature but many other avenues, e.g., pop culture, politics, and geography. Containing 1000 signed articles, each with complete bibliographies, as well as numerous black-and-white maps and illustrations, the work provides thorough coverage of such historic events as the Queens Royal Writ to the Viceroy of Mexico in 1536, which placed a ban on reading works of fiction, along with topics like censorship and religious propaganda. Population and language tables, translated passages, poems, journal accounts, and various writing samples further enhance this work's usefulness as a research tool. Bottom Line Although this somewhat specialized reference set has been carefully edited to be within the grasp of the educated lay reader, some articles require a knowledge of world history. Still, its attention to detail is impressive, making it an incomparable source on the subject. Strongly recommended for larger public and academic libraries.-Bobbie Wrinkle, McCracken Cty. P.L., Paducah, KY Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.


Buy from Barnes & Noble     Compare Prices