superb and indispensable. . . . this guide should serve to introduce a rich lode to scholarly miners of the Latin American literary tradition. Highly recommended. Choice Containing contributions by more than fifty scholars, this volume, the second of Diane Marting's edited works on the women of the literature of Spanish America, consists of analytical and biographical studies of fifty of the most important women writers of Latin America from the seventeenth century to the present. The writers covered in the individual essays represent most Spanish-speaking American nations and a variety of literary genres. Each essay provides biographical and career information, discusses the major themes in the body of work, and surveys criticism, ending with a detailed bibliography of works by the writer, works available in translation if applicable, and works about the writer. The editor's tripartite introduction freely associates themes and images with/about/for the works of Spanish American women writers; explains the history and process of the collaborative effort that this volume represents; and traces some feminist concerns that recur in the essays, providing commentary, analysis, suggestions for further research, and hypotheses to be tested. Two general essays complete the volume. The first examines the oral testimony of contemporary Indian women outside of the literary tradition, women whose words have been recorded by others. The other surveys Latina writers in the United States, an area not otherwise encompassed in the scope of this volume. Appendixes classify the writers in the main body of the work by birth date, country, and genre. Also included is a bibliography of reference works and general criticism on the Latin American woman writer, and title and subject indexes. This book addresses the needs of students, translators, and general readers, as well as scholars, by providing a general reference work in the area of Spanish American literature. As such, it belongs in the reference collections of all libraries serving scholars and students of Latin American and women's studies and literature.

This volume offers a critical study of a representative selection of Latin American women writers who have made major contributions to all literary genres and represent a wide range of literary perspectives and styles. This volume offers a critical study of a representative selection of Latin American women writers who have made major contributions to all literary genres and represent a wide range of literary perspectives and styles. Many of these women have attained the highest literary honours: Gabriela Mistral won the Nobel Prize in 1945; Clarice Lispector attracted the critical attention of theorists working mainly outside the Hispanic area; others have made such telling contributions to particular strands of literature that their names are immediately evocative of specific currents or styles. Elena Poniatowska is associated with testimonial writing; Isabel Allende and Laura Esquivel are known for the magical realism of their texts; others, such as Juana de Ibarbourou and Laura Restrepo remain relatively unknown despite their contributions to erotic poetry and to postcolonial prose fiction respectively. The distinctiveness of this volume lies in its attention to writers from widely differing historical and social contexts and to the diverse theoretical approaches adopted by the authors. Brígida M. Pastor teaches Latin American literature and film at the University of Glasgow . Her publications include Fashioning Cuban Feminism and Beyond, El discurso de Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda: Identidad Femenina y Otredad; and Discursos Caribenhos: Historia, Literatura e Cinema Lloyd Hughes Davies teaches Spanish American Literature at Swansea University. His publications include Isabel Allende, La casa de los espíritus and Projections of Peronism in Argentine Autobiography, Biography and Fiction.

The Cambridge History of Latin American Women's Literature is an essential resource for anyone interested in the development of women's writing in Latin America. Ambitious in scope, it explores women's literature from ancient indigenous cultures to the beginning of the twenty-first century. Organized chronologically and written by a host of leading scholars, this History offers an array of approaches that contribute to current dialogues about translation, literary genres, oral and written cultures, and the complex relationship between literature and the political sphere. Covering subjects from cronistas in Colonial Latin America and nation-building to feminicide and literature of the indigenous elite, this History traces the development of a literary tradition while remaining grounded in contemporary scholarship. The Cambridge History of Latin American Women's Literature will not only engage readers in ongoing debates but also serve as a definitive reference for years to come.

It includes introductions to the life and work of female authors who are not very well known in the Anglophone world due to the lack of translations of their works. This critical work with a feminist focus will provide a helpful framework for undergraduate and postgraduate students in the UK and US. A wide-ranging bibliography will be of great assistance to those looking to pursue research on the fantastic or on any of the specific writers and texts. This book is endorsed by the British Academy as part of the project Gender and the Fantastic in Hispanic Studies, and by an established international network, namely the Grupo de Estudios sobre lo Fantástico, based in the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona.

Latin American Women Writers: An Encyclopedia presents the lives and critical works of over 170 women writers in Latin America between the sixteenth and twentieth centuries. This features thematic entries as well as biographies of female writers whose works were originally published in Spanish or Portuguese, and who have had an impact on literary, political, and social studies. Focusing on drama, poetry, and fiction, this work includes authors who have published at least three literary texts that have had a significant impact on Latin American literature and culture. Each entry is followed by extensive bibliographic references, including primary and secondary sources. Coverage consists of critical appreciation and analysis of the writers' works. Brief biographical data is included, but the main focus is on the meanings and contexts of the works as well as their cultural and political impact. In addition to author entries, other themes are explored, such as humor in contemporary Latin American fiction, lesbian literature in Latin America, magic, realism, or mother images in Latin American literature. The aim is to provide a unique, thorough, scholarly survey of women writers and their works in Latin America. This Encyclopedia will be of interest to both to the student of literature as well as to any reader interested in understanding more about Latin American culture, literature, and how women have represented gender and national issues throughout the centuries.

Provides a grouping of Spanish-American short stories written by women, emphasizing their differences as much as their similarities. Bombal's La historia de Maria Griselda delves into the family tensions found in a country house in southern Chile. Somers' mordant, black humour is present in El derrumbiento, and Leccion de cocina is a humorous but pessimistic account of the profound changes that marriage demands from the Mexican middle-class woman.

Women's participation, both formal and informal, in the creation of what we now call Spanish America is reflected in its literary legacy. Stacey Schlau examines what women from a wide spectrum of classes and races have to say about the societies in which they lived and their place in them. Schlau has written the first book to study a historical selection of Spanish American women's writings with an emphasis on social and political themes. Through their words, she offers an alternative vision of the development of narrative genres—critical, fictional, and testimonial—from colonial times to the present. The authors considered here represent the chronological yet nonlinear development of women's narrative. They include Teresa Romero Zapata, accused before the Inquisition of being a false visionary; Inés Suárez, nun and writer of spiritual autobiography; Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda, author of an indigenist historical romance; Magda Portal, whose biography of Flora Tristán furthered her own political agenda; Dora Alonso, who wrote revolutionary children's books; Domitila Barrios de Chungara, political leader and organizer; Elvira Orphée, whose novel unpacks the psychology of the torturer; and several others who address social and political struggles that continue to the present day. Although the writers treated here may seem to have little in common, all sought to maneuver through institutions and systems and insert themselves into public life by using the written word, often through the appropriation and modification of mainstream genres. In examining how these authors stretched the boundaries of genre to create a multiplicity of hybrid forms, Schlau reveals points of convergence in the narrative tradition of challenging established political and social structures. Outlining the shape of this literary tradition, she introduces us to a host of neglected voices, as well as examining better-known ones, who demonstrate that for women, simply writing can be a political act.