In these five essays the Ecuadorian poet Jorge Carrera Andrade traces the evolution of Spanish-American poetry from the sixteenth century to the present. The author shows how Spanish-American literature grew out of the special conditions produced when the New World environment totally transformed Old World culture and society. Initially, the brilliance of the land and its extraordinary peoples inspired European interest in exotic travel and utopianism; later, Old World literary currents came to have distinctive expression in Spanish-American writing. "Poetry and Society in Spanish-America" follows the historic commitment of the New World poets to social issues, particularly such unique ones as the endeavor to bring the Indians into national life, while "Trends in Spanish-American Poetry" dwells on the more purely aesthetic concerns that have stimulated the poets of the twentieth century. Throughout, Carrera Andrade ties his analysis to specific poems and poets. In the last two essays the author presents a clear perspective of his poetic development from 1930 to 1960. "A Decade of My Poetry" and "Poetry of Reality and Utopia" will especially interest readers of Carrera Andrade's poetry, for not only do they elucidate the personal history and philosophy informing his poems, they also reveal how truly his inspiration springs from that unique Spanish-American world he has so clearly delineated.

The most inclusive single-volume anthology of Latin American poetry intranslation ever produced.

Moving between the speech and silence of a woman struggling to speak freely, Ruth Behar embarks on a poetic voyage into her own vulnerability and the sacrifices of her exiled ancestors as she tries to understand love, loss, regret, and the things we keep and carry with us. Behar's vivid renderings of wilted gardens, crashing waves, and firefly-lit nights recall the imagery of her inspiration, Dulce María Loynaz, who is often known as the Cuban Emily Dickinson. Presented in a beautiful bilingual English-Spanish edition--Behar serves as her own translator--Everything I Kept/Todo lo que guardé will haunt readers with the cries and whispers which illuminate the human spirit and the spectrum of emotions that make for a life and lives well-remembered.

Has poetry lost its relevance in the postmodern age, unable to keep pace with other forms of cultural production such as film, mass media, and the Internet? Quite the contrary, argues Jill Kuhnheim in this pathfinding book, which explores how recent Spanish American poetry participates in the fundamental cultural debates of its time. Using a variety of interdisciplinary approaches, Kuhnheim engages in close readings of numerous poetic works to show how contemporary Spanish American poetry struggles with the divisions between politics and aesthetics and between visual and written images; grapples with issues of ethnic, national, sexual, and urban identities; and incorporates rather than rejects technological innovations and elements from the mass media. Her analysis illuminates the ways in which contemporary issues such as indigenismo and Latin America's postcolonial legacy, modernization, immigration, globalization, economic shifts toward neoliberalism and informal economies, urbanization, and the technological revolution have been expressed in—and even changed the very form of—Spanish American poetry since the 1970s.

A comprehensive, encyclopedic guide to the authors, works, and topics crucial to the literature of Central and South America and the Caribbean, the Encyclopedia of Latin American Literature includes over 400 entries written by experts in the field of Latin American studies. Most entries are of 1500 words but the encyclopedia also includes survey articles of up to 10,000 words on the literature of individual countries, of the colonial period, and of ethnic minorities, including the Hispanic communities in the United States. Besides presenting and illuminating the traditional canon, the encyclopedia also stresses the contribution made by women authors and by contemporary writers. Outstanding Reference Source Outstanding Reference Book

A comprehensive, encyclopedic guide to the authors, works, and topics crucial to the literature of Central and South America and the Caribbean, the Encyclopedia of Latin American Literature includes over 400 entries written by experts in the field of Latin American studies. Most entries are of 1500 words but the encyclopedia also includes survey articles of up to 10,000 words on the literature of individual countries, of the colonial period, and of ethnic minorities, including the Hispanic communities in the United States. Besides presenting and illuminating the traditional canon, the encyclopedia also stresses the contribution made by women authors and by contemporary writers. Outstanding Reference Source Outstanding Reference Book