Matching Items (6)
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- All Subjects: Identity
- All Subjects: Sociology
- Language: Spanish
- Creators: Arizona State University
Description
The subject of this study is the work of Spanish novelist J. Á. González Sainz, comprised of Los encuentros (1989), Un mundo exasperado (1995), Volver al mundo (2003) y Ojos que no ven (2010). His work, which is structurally demanding, treats themes such as morality, terrorism, the nostos or return to one's homeland, and nature. He has been connected to the "dehumanized novel" of Juan Benet, though his career demonstrates an attempt to make clear references to historical reality. González Sainz has acquired a measure of prestige in the estimation of important critics. With his latest book, he has furthermore gained recognition for his moral commitment in opposing the terrorism of ETA, and his work has entered debates on current events. In my study I argue that this formally rigorous narrative has a singular capacity for political engagement. I argue that González Sainz is an example of the integration of ethics in a narrative discourse whose semantic density allows a commitment with moral conflicts. To situate it in the context of contemporary Spanish fiction, I relate Pierre Bourdieu's notion of the literary field to the proposals concerning the history of literature of Pablo Gil Casado, Gonzalo Sobejano, Ramón Buckley, Ignacio Soldevila Durante and others. I follow three lines of investigation: terrorism in literature; ethics; and the political engagement of the writer. Ethics, whose relation to literature has been studied by Zachary Newton, Wolfgang Hallet or Nina Rosenstand, has allowed the author a political engagement in opposition to terrorism in general and in particular in opposition to ETA. González Sainz exhibits an equilibrium between aesthetic and ethical values of literature. In the plural context of the latest fiction in Spain, his novels have found a place in the tradition that since the middle of the twentieth century has been characterized by a dialectic between political engagement and the autonomy of literature. The theme of ETA terrorism and his structural rigor situate González Sainz's work in a position that maintains the validity of this dialectic.
ContributorsMartín de Marcos, Gonzalo (Author) / García-Fernández, Carlos Javier (Thesis advisor) / Volek, Emil (Committee member) / Acereda, Alberto (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
The 1920s have played a key role in the formation of the Latin American consciousness of its own cultural identity. In approaching the selected three heterogeneous regions of Latin America, the Southern Cone, the Andean Zone and the Afroantillan Caribbean, this research focuses on Latin American identity issues as a literary avant-garde construct found in the poetics and in the programmatic texts of the leading avant-garde journals of each corresponding region: Martín Fierro (1924-1927) in Argentina; revista de avance (1927-1930) in Cuba, and Amauta (1926-1930) in Perú. To carry out this kind of analysis and to fully understand the historic implications characteristics of each region, one of the initial tasks of the study has been to contextualize the period in each country in which the journals were published. After that, an analysis of each region's avant-garde production has been performed in order to categorize and situate the underlying questions of identity expressed in corresponding journals. Each region has been studied separately, yet all in view of contributing to a comprehensive and comparative study of the regions selected. The final result has been an organization of diverse principal semantic and ideological fields overlapping in and cross-crossing different regions as represented by the selected literary journals. Starting from the very same literature, which was inspired by the spirit of its time, this research has aimed at reconstructing the notions of identity that were common within the intellectual circles of the avant-garde times as expressed in the journals Martín Fierro, revista de avance, and Amauta, and, in the end, played a signal role in the development of national and continental cultural identity consciousness throughout Latin America from the beginning of the 20th century until today.
ContributorsNaciff, Marcela (Author) / Volek, Emil (Thesis advisor) / García Fernández, Carlos J (Committee member) / Acereda, Alberto (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
This doctoral dissertation analyzes the rendering of three complex concepts (otherness, alterity, and identity)—and their relationship— in three rewrites of William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Hamlet and The Tragedy of Macbeth from America’s Southern Cone (Uruguay, Argentina, and Chile). By embarking in a close reading of Interrogatorio en Elsinore (Carlos Manuel Varela), La señora Macbeth (Griselda Gambaro), and Yorick: la historia de Hámlet (Francisco y Simón Reyes), this dissertation approaches otherness, alterity, and identity in three of its multiple dimensions (ideological, gender, and artistic subjectivity of the translator/adaptator vis-à-vis the writer). While several studies have explored these three concepts separately and mostly from a cultural standpoint, this is the first one to show how they interact between one another through its representation in three rewrites of Shakespeare in Spanish from Uruguay, Argentina, and Chile. The cultures and history of the countries in which these three translations/adaptations are immersed are just a layer of this research. In addition to it—and loyal to the spirit of the texts being analyzed—this study takes advantage of other disciplines (translation studies, psychoanalysis, philosophy, and gender and communication theory, just to name a few) to analyze in depth and systematically what is implied in otherness, alterity, and identity. The interdisciplinary nature of this dissertation leads to valuable conclusions that can be of benefit, not only for the type of societies portrayed by the rewrites being studied, but for others as well.
ContributorsCorrea-Londono, Jorge (Author) / Foster, David William (Thesis advisor) / Urioste-Azcorra, Carmen (Committee member) / Tompkins, Cynthia (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
Race is a complex system founded on social ideologies that categorize and evaluate human beings into different groups based on their visible characteristics (e.g., skin color) that, according to this notion of race, indicate a person's personal traits (e.g., intelligence). The concept of race has been an integral part of American society since the ratification of the United States Constitution in the late 18th century. Early on, the practice of race within American society established one particular group as the norm: the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant. By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the distinctions among racial groups essentially came down to "white" and "nonwhite." Consequently, certain social inequalities were bestowed upon those groups that did not fit the model of the dominant "white" group. Autobiographies, especially those from marginalized groups, can serve as an important source of these social disparities since the author is able to recount their own social experiences vis-à-vis racial practices within society. With this in mind, this thesis analyses the concept of race in relation to the personal experiences of two authors through their respective autobiographies: Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez (1982) by Richard Rodriguez and How Did You Get to Be Mexican?: A White/Brown Man's Search for Identity (1999) by Kevin R. Johnson. The critical work of Paula M. L. Moya, Linda Martín Alcoff, Hazel Rose Markus, George M. Fredrickson, Genaro M. Padilla and others are used as the theoretical framework in the literary analysis of these authors' texts. In summary, the results of this study demonstrate the concept of race as a salient aspect in regards to the ideological formation of each respective author.
ContributorsMancillas, Jorge E (Author) / Rosales, Jesus (Thesis advisor) / Hernández-Gutierrez, Manuel J (Thesis advisor) / Garcia-Fernandez, Carlos J (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
ABSTRACT
The analytical sensitivity of Nellie Campobello allows her to perceive and draw several contexts into her fiction. Her work offers the reader a glimpse of the subtle connections between the individual experience and the social milieu that make up history. In the two editions of Cartucho (1931 and 1940) the reader encounters the Mexican Revolution as a plausible setting. By transferring this context into fiction, the author deals with core social matters that fostered the disfunctionality of Mexican society, at the time the novel was written. Furthermore, her intuition allows her to depict in her literary work many aspects of dehumanization that are timeless and universal. This depth of social cognition is expressed freely, producing a literary style that communicates a modern worldview.
Therefore, a critical analysis of the book should supersede historical facts to discern the expression of an object of ethical appreciation. The active reading of Cartucho forces us to appreciate the precise aesthetic form that communicates, through a plurality of voices, history to reconfigure -through discourse- diverse social contexts that are accessible, identifiable and pertinent to readers from different epochs. This is perhaps the value of the book for the social sciences. However, our study seeks to understand the social and historic minutiae of the text to better equip the reader to achieve an ethical catharsis through the reading of fiction. We believe that it is only when the reader surpasses the historic level of discourse that he or she can fully identify himself or herself with the characters, thus restoring their humanity and at the same time becoming more fully human.
SÍNTESIS
El temperamento analítico y sensible de Nellie Campobello le permite abordar aspectos sociológicos de múltiples contextos; derivando además los puntos de contacto entre el desarrollo social y la experiencia individual. Cartucho nos presenta, en sus dos versiones (1931 y 1940), la Revolución Mexicana como un contexto verosímil que permite expresar los temas que preocupan a la autora. A partir de esta ambientación ficcional, ella expone las causas del estado en el que se encuentra la nación en el momento en el que escribe la obra. Además, su intuición la lleva a trazar procesos de deshumanización inherentemente humanos con los que se puede identificar un lector universal. Esta profundidad de pensamiento se formula libremente dando lugar a un estilo propio que comunica una cosmovisión moderna.
Una lectura crítica de la obra debe partir del contexto de la Revolución Mexicana. Pero debe también rebasarlo para observar que Cartucho no es un receptáculo de voces rescatadas del pasado, sino la expresión de un objeto de apreciación ética formulado mediante una estética precisa que complementa y enuncia el discurso de la autora con la pluralidad de voces que reconstituyen, discursivamente, contextos sociales con los que el lector de cualquier época se puede identificar. En esta observación recae el valor de la obra camposiana para las ciencias sociales. Sin embargo, nuestro trabajo busca alcanzar una mejor apreciación del discurso histórico y sociológico para que el mensaje de la obra surta un efecto ético. Consideramos que es mediante este tipo de análisis que el lector logra identificarse con los personajes de Cartucho humanizándolos y humanizándose mediante la lectura de un texto de ficción.
The analytical sensitivity of Nellie Campobello allows her to perceive and draw several contexts into her fiction. Her work offers the reader a glimpse of the subtle connections between the individual experience and the social milieu that make up history. In the two editions of Cartucho (1931 and 1940) the reader encounters the Mexican Revolution as a plausible setting. By transferring this context into fiction, the author deals with core social matters that fostered the disfunctionality of Mexican society, at the time the novel was written. Furthermore, her intuition allows her to depict in her literary work many aspects of dehumanization that are timeless and universal. This depth of social cognition is expressed freely, producing a literary style that communicates a modern worldview.
Therefore, a critical analysis of the book should supersede historical facts to discern the expression of an object of ethical appreciation. The active reading of Cartucho forces us to appreciate the precise aesthetic form that communicates, through a plurality of voices, history to reconfigure -through discourse- diverse social contexts that are accessible, identifiable and pertinent to readers from different epochs. This is perhaps the value of the book for the social sciences. However, our study seeks to understand the social and historic minutiae of the text to better equip the reader to achieve an ethical catharsis through the reading of fiction. We believe that it is only when the reader surpasses the historic level of discourse that he or she can fully identify himself or herself with the characters, thus restoring their humanity and at the same time becoming more fully human.
SÍNTESIS
El temperamento analítico y sensible de Nellie Campobello le permite abordar aspectos sociológicos de múltiples contextos; derivando además los puntos de contacto entre el desarrollo social y la experiencia individual. Cartucho nos presenta, en sus dos versiones (1931 y 1940), la Revolución Mexicana como un contexto verosímil que permite expresar los temas que preocupan a la autora. A partir de esta ambientación ficcional, ella expone las causas del estado en el que se encuentra la nación en el momento en el que escribe la obra. Además, su intuición la lleva a trazar procesos de deshumanización inherentemente humanos con los que se puede identificar un lector universal. Esta profundidad de pensamiento se formula libremente dando lugar a un estilo propio que comunica una cosmovisión moderna.
Una lectura crítica de la obra debe partir del contexto de la Revolución Mexicana. Pero debe también rebasarlo para observar que Cartucho no es un receptáculo de voces rescatadas del pasado, sino la expresión de un objeto de apreciación ética formulado mediante una estética precisa que complementa y enuncia el discurso de la autora con la pluralidad de voces que reconstituyen, discursivamente, contextos sociales con los que el lector de cualquier época se puede identificar. En esta observación recae el valor de la obra camposiana para las ciencias sociales. Sin embargo, nuestro trabajo busca alcanzar una mejor apreciación del discurso histórico y sociológico para que el mensaje de la obra surta un efecto ético. Consideramos que es mediante este tipo de análisis que el lector logra identificarse con los personajes de Cartucho humanizándolos y humanizándose mediante la lectura de un texto de ficción.
ContributorsEstevez, Dulce (Author) / Volek, Emil (Thesis advisor) / García-Fernández, Carlos (Committee member) / Keller, Garry (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Beginning in the late 20th century, Spanish writers have shown great concern for matters relating to the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) and its aftermath. In narratives, they reveal, explicitly or implicitly, hidden events covered by the Franco dictatorship (1939-75). This persistence in their works about the past has been examined as necessary to society in overcoming the terrible events that occurred during the Franco's regime. Also, these narratives stand as a loud voice against impunity regarding crimes committed for almost half a century and the actual ongoing denial of the State to investigate, in depth, the crimes carried out in the past. Within this denial of the State, the disappearance of children took place during the postwar up until the first democratic government, established in 1978.
The objective of this research is to show, via fiction, the oppression and the manipulation of women during the Francoist period through different institutions, among them, Sección Femenina. Also, this study aims to prove that the separation of children from Republican mothers during the dictatorship, and later on from single poor mothers during the early years of the first democracy, was in violation of both the maternity rights of women and the children's rights. This investigation focuses on the novels Mala gente que camina (2006) by Benjamín Prado, Si a los tres años no he vuelto (2011) by Ana R. Cañil and Mientras pueda pensarte (2013) by Inmaculada Chacón. These literary works contest the stealing of children as a legitimized action with the appearance of goodness. The theoretical approaches selected for this study are: the abjection concept of Julia Kristeva, the hegemonic ideology of Antonio Gramsci; and lastly, the legalization of punishment of Michel Foucault.
The originality of this research as thesis lies to shine a light on the novels mentioned above as the evidence of the violation of the rights of motherhood and the biological family as a whole during the Franco dictatorship and again later during the early stages of Spanish democracy.
The objective of this research is to show, via fiction, the oppression and the manipulation of women during the Francoist period through different institutions, among them, Sección Femenina. Also, this study aims to prove that the separation of children from Republican mothers during the dictatorship, and later on from single poor mothers during the early years of the first democracy, was in violation of both the maternity rights of women and the children's rights. This investigation focuses on the novels Mala gente que camina (2006) by Benjamín Prado, Si a los tres años no he vuelto (2011) by Ana R. Cañil and Mientras pueda pensarte (2013) by Inmaculada Chacón. These literary works contest the stealing of children as a legitimized action with the appearance of goodness. The theoretical approaches selected for this study are: the abjection concept of Julia Kristeva, the hegemonic ideology of Antonio Gramsci; and lastly, the legalization of punishment of Michel Foucault.
The originality of this research as thesis lies to shine a light on the novels mentioned above as the evidence of the violation of the rights of motherhood and the biological family as a whole during the Franco dictatorship and again later during the early stages of Spanish democracy.
ContributorsAcosta-Cadena, Elizabeth (Author) / Urioste-Azcorra, Carmen (Thesis advisor) / Hernández, Manuel D (Committee member) / Tompkins, Cynthia M (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015