CRÓNICA DE UN CANIBALSinópsisCrónica de un Caníbal es una historia de amor, de dolor y de perseverancia. Es la historia de Sebastián Mogollón, un muchacho pobre que se enamora de Beatriz una muchacha rica de ciudad Panamá. El inicio de la novela tiene lugar en ciudad Panamá, a finales de la década del los ochenta, durante el gobierno de Manuel Antonio Noriega. Luego los personajes emigran a la ciudad de Nueva york, y la novela se desarrolla en las zonas marginadas de Brooklyn y el bajo Manhattan. Es diciembre del 1989, y además de todas las barreras sociales que se interponen en los planes de Sebastián para conquistar al amor de su vida, parece que el destino conspira también contra él. Sebastián, desesperado por ganarse el cariño de Beatriz, recuerda un embrujo de amor que le había enseñado un amigo. Se ilusiona pensando que sin dudas Beatriz se rendiría ante ese sortilegio. Para su sorpresa, ella se escapa con otro de sus pretendientes a los Estados Unidos. Sebastián cae en una depresión tal, que sólo desea morirse o dormir toda una vida; no se suicida porque le falta la energía suficiente para levantarse de la cama y matarse. Rehúsa escuchar los consejos de sus padres y su hermana, y solo encuentra algún alivio a su desventura tocando la guitarra y escuchando canciones de boleros. Cuando pensaba que dentro de él no quedaba más espacio para más sufrimiento, su familia perece durante la invasión de Estados Unidos a Panamá de 1989. Sin Beatriz, y sin su familia, Sebastián pierde aun más la falta de interés por la vida. Su amigo César Ramirez le recuerda que siempre hay razón para seguir viviendo, que solo se ha perdido una batalla, pero no la guerra, y lo convence para que emigre a Los Estados Unidos. Los dos atraviesan la frontera Méjico-Estados Unidos y llegan a Williamsburg, New York, un sector plagado drogas, prostitución y violencia. Sebastián había escuchado sobre los pesares que sufren los emigrantes en Nueva York, pero nunca pensó vivirlos en carne propia. Aprender un nuevo idioma, adaptarse a nueva cultura, sobrevivir al peligro de las calles del Williamsburg, y a los inviernos de Nueva York, sin embargo no lo desanimaron a seguir buscando el tesoro que escondía los muros de esa gran ciudad. Con la paciencia de quien busca una aguja en un pajar y está dispuesto a remover cada hoja de heno hasta encontrarla, o como el cazador furtivo que en medio del bosque arma una trampa y se sienta a esperar, así Sebastián espera que el efecto de ese embrujo de amor haga su efecto en Beatriz. El tema de la novela tiene cierta similitud con El Amor en los Tiempos del Cólera de Gabriel García Márquez. Es la historia del músico pobre que se enamora de la muchacha rica. Sebastián Mogollón, al igual que Florentino Ariza, en El Amor en los Tiempos del Cólera, se enferma gravemente de amor y ambos se refugian en la música para consolarse. La perseverancia, y un amor que prevalece a través de los años es el tema principal de ambas novelas. Pero a diferencia de Florentino Ariza, Sebastián no pretende hacerse rico y famoso para poder conquistar a Beatriz. Él se conforma con mucho menos: le es suficiente con ser un mesero de un restauran, y ver a través del cristal a la gente pasar, y soñar con algún día ver a Beatriz pasar frente a él.

Silvia Roig explores the narrative of Aurora Bertrana (1892-1974), an unknown writer today, but a successful and recognized female author in Catalonia and Spain during the 20th century. Aurora Bertrana's works are almost never mentioned in manuals of literature. Her rich, intellectual work has not received the attention it deserves, relegated almost to absolute oblivion. The author reviews and studies twenty-four of Bertrana's novels written in Catalan andSpanish, including: Ariatea (1960), El pomell de les violes (MS), L'inefable Philip (MS), La aldea sin hombres (mn.), La madrecita de los cerdos (MS), Entre dos silencis (1958), La ninfa d'argila (1959), Fracàs (1966) and La ciutat dels joves: reportatge fantasia (1971). She studies her work, published and unpublished, from a feminist approach, taking into account the intellectual history of Spain and Catalonia. Bertana's strong commitment to social issues reveals her association with the Modernist and Noucentists trends of her time. Bertrana's novels reveal a unique interest in non-Western cultures and lifestyles and her work undertakes controversial topics and socio-cultural issues, while she observes and draws special attention to the situation of women in different circumstances and cultural geographies. This book is therefore anchored on interpretive and theoretical parameters that intersect with consideration of gender, such as travel-and-gender and war-and-gender. Roig uses the work of feminists such as Simone De Beauvoir, Shulamith Firestone, Jelke Boesten, Margaret and Patrice Higonnet, Michelle Zimbalist Rosaldo and Julia Kristeva to help assess Bertrana's engagement with gender and socio-political issues. This approach is particularly well suited for a writer like Bertrana, a Catalan and Republican intellectual woman forced into self-exile during the Spanish Civil War and the dictatorship of Francisco Franco. Silvia Roig is a Faculty Member, BMCC Department of Modern Languages, The City University of New York.

En otro tiempo hubo dos reinos enfrentados. Sus habitantes querían la paz, pero no sabían como conseguirlo. Hasta que llegó un héroe.

Apresentando Marry, uma moça com seus 24 anos, e que acaba de passar pelo seu pior momento, logo quando ela desiste dos relacionamentos, e está decidida a não se apegar mais a ninguém, a vida decide surpreende-lá.

The surprising true story of Mexico’s hunt, arrest, and conviction of its first female serial killer For three years, amid widespread public outrage, police in Mexico City struggled to uncover the identity of the killer responsible for the ghastly deaths of forty elderly women, many of whom had been strangled in their homes with a stethoscope by someone posing as a government nurse. When Juana Barraza Samperio, a female professional wrestler known as la Dama del Silencio (the Lady of Silence), was arrested—and eventually sentenced to 759 years in prison—for her crimes as the Mataviejitas (the little old lady killer), her case disrupted traditional narratives about gender, criminality, and victimhood in the popular and criminological imagination. Marshaling ten years of research, and one of the only interviews that Juana Barraza Samperio has given while in prison, Susana Vargas Cervantes deconstructs this uniquely provocative story. She focuses, in particular, on the complex, gendered aspects of the case, asking: Who is a killer? Barraza—with her “manly” features and strength, her career as a masked wrestler in lucha libre, and her violent crimes—is presented, here, as a study in gender deviance, a disruption of what scholars call mexicanidad, or the masculine notion of what it means to be Mexican. Cervantes also challenges our conception of victimhood—specifically, who “counts” as a victim. The Little Old Lady Killer presents a fascinating analysis of what serial killing—often considered “killing for the pleasure of killing”—represents to us.

This collection of essays offers alternative readings of historical and literary texts produced during Latin America's colonial period. By considering the political and ideological implications of the texts' interpretation yesterday and today, it attempts to "decolonize" the field of Latin American studies and promote an ethical, interdisciplinary practice that does not falsify or appropriate knowledge produced by both the colonial subjects of the past and the oppressed subjects of the present. Using recent developments in postcolonial theory, the contributors challenge traditional approaches to Hispanism. The colonial situation under which these texts were composed, with all its injustices and prejudices, still lingers, and most studies have consistently avoided the connection between this colonial legacy and the situation of disenfranchised groups today. Colonialism Past and Present challenges discursive strategies that celebrate only European cultural traits, dismiss non-European cultural legacies, and solidify constructions of national projects considered natural extensions of European civilization since independence from Spain.

El mundo hispanohablante contemporáneo: historia, política, sociedades y culturas is a comprehensive and innovative book for advanced students of Spanish. Offering a constructivist approach to the study of the civilizations, cultures and histories of the contemporary Spanish-speaking world, the book focuses on learning as an active process that enables learners to develop high-level critical thinking skills through the exposure, research, examination and discussion of a variety of authentic films, songs and literary texts. Divided into twelve chapters, each chapter begins with an introduction to the general topic followed by various activities that lead students to critically analyse a range of authentic materials. Learners are able to practice higher level critical-thinking and linguistic skills through a wealth of tasks and exercises which culminate in a capstone section that requires the application of the concepts learned and sources utilized throughout the lesson. El mundo hispanohablante contemporáneo: historia, política, sociedades y culturas offers great flexibility and adaptability to suit advanced courses in Hispanic culture and civilization. Each chapter is methodologically designed with a balanced mix of activities for individual and teamwork. Additional resources are available online for both instructors and students. These include an instructor’s guide with answer key, a grammar supplement and links to the authentic materials referenced within the book.