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- All Subjects: Nationalism in literature
- Creators: Acereda, Alberto
Description
Antonio López de Santa Anna (1794-1876) is considered as one of the biggest villains of Mexican history. This frequent president in the first decades of Independence of México is the main character portrayed in the novels analyzed in this dissertation: Su alteza serenísima (1895-1896) by Ireneo Paz, Santa Anna, el dictador resplandeciente (1936) by Rafael F. Muñoz, El seductor de la patria (1999) by Enrique Serna, and México mutilado (2006) by Francisco Martín Moreno. Many Mexican novelists have tackled iconic personalities from Mexican history. However, based upon the historical context that occurred within their lifetime, each author takes a different approach to the story and characters they portray. In the novel Su alteza serenísima, Santa Anna is presented with identical characteristics as in the official history. That was written for other liberals, like Paz, the author. In El dictador resplandeciente an image almost romantic of the leader is presented through the valorization of his role in history. The narrator shows the contradictions of Santa Anna, who was a hero and villain. Santa Anna is presented from different perspectives in El seductor de la patria. The narrator uses Santa Anna's voice projecting a consciousness of the future's judgment of history upon his actions and the voices of "the others" that live around him. In México mutilado Santa Anna is presented from the same perspective as the official history, although other traitors are added to distribute the fault among various important figures. This dissertation works through the analysis of the discursive mechanisms used in these novels, of the configuration of the message that they wish to convey to the reader, of the level of re-writing official history, of the perspective from which each author is reviewing the history, of the recount of what historical aspects and voices were chosen for inclusion in each novel, and through the evaluation of how the authors recover the figure of Santa Anna. This study follows an eclectic model of cultural commentary, taking up critical concepts from Latin American literary scholars such as Perkowska, Pons, Jitrik, Aínsa, among others.
ContributorsSigüenza Ponce, Olga (Author) / Volek, Emil (Thesis advisor) / Acereda, Alberto (Committee member) / Hernández-Gutierrez, Manuel J (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
In Angel Rama's La Novela Latinoamericana 1920-1980 (1982), the influential critic discloses a map of 20th century Latin American narrative. Rama stresses three literary styles merging into the phenomenon called Boom: fantastic, regional and realistic. On the other hand, another influential critic such as Nestor Garcia Canclini, in his article "Aesthetic Moments of Latin Americanism" suggests the 60's and 70's as a period in which art worked as a herald of utopia, trying to include in the present a future that seemed feasible. Rama's narrative map does not even mention writers as Manuel Puig and Rubem Fonseca. Both, the Argentine and the Brazilian, were censored by authoritarian governments. At the same time, their works deliver plastic representations of crime; therefore, I argue that these literary works, along with those created by Armonia Somers (Uruguay), Dalton Trevisan (Brazil) and Rodolfo Fogwill (Argentina) provides a representation of reality that confronts two mainstream discourses: one concerned with nationalism (authoritarian discourse) and another concerned with utopia (Boom discourse). The narratives I study disclose body and crime representations that do not address a symbolic conflict with modernity like the authoritarian and the Boom discourse do; yet modern elements are integrated into these narratives. This study focuses on Un Retrato para Dickens (1967) by Armonia Somers; O Vampiro de Curitiba by Dalton Trevisan; Feliz Ano Novo (1976) by Rubem Fonseca; The Buenos Aires Affair (1973) by Manuel Puig; and Los Pichy-cyegos (1983) by Rodolfo Fogwill. This study assumes that the technological/digital development has modified the perception of last sixty years in Latin American Literature. This work is engaged in developing a new perspective over 20th Century Southern Cone Narrative and it interprets the Boom as a symptom of a wider picture: the development of a global cultural market. Accordingly, this perspective might explain partially the rise of new identities and the present status of Southern Cone Narratives.
ContributorsSueldo, Martín (Author) / Volek, Emil (Thesis advisor) / Acereda, Alberto (Committee member) / Sanchez, Angel (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2010