Contemporary Ethnographies is a call to use ethnography in imaginative ways, adjusting to rapidly evolving social circumstances. It is based on a reflexive and theoretically grounded exploration of the author’s two main research projects – the study of the spiritist possession cult of María Lionza in Venezuela, and the analysis of the contemporary exhumation of Civil War (1936–1939) mass graves in contemporary Spain. Ferrándiz critically reviews the labyrinthine and continuous transforming nature of ethnographic engagement. He defends both the need for methodological rigour and the astounding flexibility of ethnography to adjust in creative ways to shifting realities in a dynamic world – a world in which research scenarios multiply, social actors are on the move (physically or digitally), acts of violence proliferate, new technologies are transforming the experience and perception of human life, and the demand, production, circulation and consumption of knowledge is greatly diversified, overshadowing former well established and more hierarchical patterns of diffusion. The book is conceived of as a historically grounded open debate, providing as many certainties as moments of unpredictability and unresolved dilemmas. It is valuable reading for students and scholars interested in ethnographic methods and anthropological theory.

Starting from the sociology of Pierre Bourdieu, Schäfer composes a methodical approach to habitus of social actors and the logic of their praxis: Building upon the generative terms of praxeology, he focuses on identity and strategy in processes of internalization, their transformation by means of dispositional schemes, and their externalization in action. The emphasis lies on a theory of dispositions that allows a flexible understanding of identity and strategy formation in the context of social experience and the interplay with social structures. This theory is developed over the course of a three-step analysis on habitus as a network of dispositions, on the dynamics that unfold between the logic of socio-structural processes and practical logic, and on the praxeological assessment of social structures via models of fields and the social space.This book is the second of three volumes of HabitusAnalysis. While the first volume deals with the epistemological underpinnings of praxeology, this book advances Bourdieu's theory with a special focus on creativity of action in the context of social structures, thereby preparing the methodological design of empirical models in the third volume.

Antonio Alatorre reunió, en 1993, trece artículos en los que expone su manera de ver la literatura y de entender y ejercer la crítica literaria. No formula ninguna "teoría literaria" ni ninguna "metodología" (nada más ajeno a sus afanes), simplemente propone su manera de entender dos fenómenos indisolublemente trabados: la literatura y la lectura. Alatorre muestra que el que lee y, muy importante, siente lo que lee, es ya un crítico literario en potencia: con las herramientas adecuadas será capaz de pensar críticamente y de explicar las razones de la emoción experimentada. El crítico no es sino un lector más "formado", más "instruido", dotado de mayor capacidad de recepción, de mayor sagacidad literaria y de la capacidad y honradez para transmitir elocuente y claramente su experiencia de lector. Este "librito" se publicó originalmente en la colección Lecturas Mexicanas de Conaculta. Actualmente esta edición se encuentra agotada. De 1993 a 2010, Alatorre añadió algunas noticias más, pulió una que otra idea (pocas) y corrigió poquísimas cosillas de estilo. Se ofrece esta nueva edición (algo corregida y añadida) para conmemorar los 90 años del nacimiento de Antonio Alatorre.

This new book gathers together essays concerning the strategic modes of appropriation that Bourdieu practiced with regard to Marx, together with their various outcomes. It is especially devoted to the practice of critique that both thinkers exercised vigilantly throughout their careers, as this is the terrain on which we can best illuminate the debt that Bourdieu acknowledged to Marx. Ongoing dialogue with the entire body of Marxian critique is a constant in Bourdieu's writings. This is most clearly evidenced by the adoption of a critical perspective on the social world that denotes a massive Marxian presence. It is reinforced by the repeated references to Marx’s texts that the sociologist scatters throughout his works. Indeed, in the interlinked set of critiques underpinning the architecture of his work, in the plethora of questions he raises, and in the scientific practice he adopts, Bourdieu attaches himself to the Marxian model — notwithstanding his polemical remarks and his own deviations, or, we might even say, by virtue of them. The book is divided into three interconnected sections for ease of access: critique of domination, critique of economic practices and theories, and critique of ideology. As the first volume in English to explore the relationship between Bourdieu and Marx, this book is vital reading for students and scholars of social and anthropological theory.

Varios especialistas abordan la dimensión poético-política de la crítica en la universidad, las revistas especializadas, el museo o la literatura.

Carlos Fuentes (1928–2012) was the most prominent novelist in contemporary Mexico and, until his recent death, one of the leading voices in Latin America’s Boom generation. He received the most prestigious awards and prizes in the world, including the Latin Civilization Award (presented by the Presidents of Brazil, Mexico, and France), the Miguel de Cervantes Prize, and the Prince of Asturias Award. During his fecund and accomplished life as a writer, literary theorist, and political analyst, Fuentes turned his attention to the major conflicts of the twentieth century – from the Second World War and the Cuban Revolution, to the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, the war in Vietnam, and the post-revolutionary crisis of the one-party rule in Mexico – and attended to their political and international importance in his novels, short fiction, and essays. Known for his experimentation in narrative techniques, and for novels and essays written in a global range that illuminate the conflicts of our times, Fuentes’s writings have been rightfully translated into most of the world’s languages. His literary work continues to spur and provoke the interest of a global readership on diverse civilizations and eras, from Imperial Spain and post-revolutionary France, to Ancient and Modern Mexico, the United States, and Latin America. The Reptant Eagle: Essays on Carlos Fuentes and the Art of the Novel includes nineteen essays and one full introduction written exclusively for this volume by renowned Fuentes scholars from Asia, Europe, the United States, and Latin America. Collected into five parts, the essays integrate wide-ranging methods and innovative readings of The Death of Artemio Cruz (1962), Aura (1962), Terra Nostra (1975) and, among other novels, Distant Relations (1980); they analyze the visual arts in Fuentes’s novels (Diego Rivera’s murals and world film); chart and comment on the translations of Fuentes’s narratives into Japanese and Romanian; and propose comprehensive readings of The Buried Mirror (1992) and Personas (2012), Fuentes’s posthumous book of essays. Beyond their comprehensive and interdisciplinary scope, the book’s essays trace Fuentes’s conscious resolve to contribute to the art of the novel and to its uninterrupted tradition, from Cervantes and Rabelais to Thomas Mann and Alejo Carpentier, and from the Boom generation to Latin America’s “Boomerang” group of younger writers. This book will be of importance to literary critics, teachers, students, and readers interested in Carlos Fuentes’s world-embracing literary work.