scholarly journals Transnationalism and Testimonio in Contemporary Central American Migrant Literature

2021 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-147
Author(s):  
Upasana Thakkar
Keyword(s):  
American Literature ◽  
Latin American ◽  
The United States ◽  
Central American ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Critical Writing ◽  
Migrant Literature ◽  
The North ◽  
Central American Literature ◽  
International Audience

This article explores contemporary Central American literature dealing with transnationalism in migrant narratives from the region within the framework of testimonio. The transnational elements in literary texts read as testimonio were also present in previous Latin American narratives but were ignored in critical writing about this genre. These elements often included two countries, and involved transmission of, as well as continuous negotiation between, different languages. Moreover, the immediate translation of these texts into English made them available more to an international audience than to the citizens of the countries in which they were mostly set. Taking Odyssey to the North by Mario Bencastro, and The Tattooed Soldier by Hector Tobar as my point of reference, I will argue that these and several other contemporary Central American works of fiction can be read as testimonio. These works, by focusing attention on the repercussions of the civil war in a new context, depict migration to the United States

scholarly journals El hombre de Montserrat: writings on violence in the latin american crime fiction

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 142-160
Author(s):  
Víctor Manuel Sanchis Amat
Keyword(s):  
American Literature ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Crime Fiction ◽  
Central American ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Detective Novel ◽  
Theoretical Terms ◽  
Central American Literature ◽  
Latin American Narrative ◽  
History Of

Abstract: The article adresses the novel El hombre de Montserrat, written by the Guatemalan writer Dante Liano and recognized within the genre of crime fiction, as a precursory model for a narrative that established a way of rewriting the history of violence in Central American countries in both fictional and theoretical terms. Dante Liano’s successful reception has turned the novel into a reference of the Central American literature of the nineties. This is due to the fact that his narrative is replete with mechanisms that were seen in the best works of the previous Latin American narrative, far from the great discourses, by a displaying genre hybridization, a parodic transgression or lexical localism. This article analyses the interweaving of genres and the subversion of the plot, the characters and the rewriting of the history against the postulates of the classic detective novel.

scholarly journals “Ningún lugar sagrado” de Rodrigo Rey Rosa: una ficción paranoica desde la diáspora centroamericana

Neophilologus ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marileen La Haije
Keyword(s):  
American Literature ◽  
Short Story ◽  
Central American ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
General Tendency ◽  
Unreliable Narrator ◽  
Central American Literature ◽  
Social Discourses ◽  
Narrative Techniques ◽  
The Voice

AbstractThis paper analyzes “Ningún lugar sagrado” (1998) by the Guatemalan writer Rodrigo Rey Rosa as a ‘ficción paranoica’ (“La ficción paranoica”, Clarín, 10 de octubre de 1991; Blanco nocturno, Anagrama, Barcelona, 2010). I will explain that Rey Rosa’s short story does not include univocal clues to identify the protagonist as an unreliable narrator whose overinterpretations give rise to a misrepresentation of the facts. According to my reading of “Ningún lugar sagrado”, the paranoiac features of the main character contribute to the ambiguity of the text that, in fact, never explicitly confirms or discredits his persecutory ideas. Following this line of argument, I suggest that Rey Rosa’s short story narrates an “imaginario de amenaza” (“La ficción paranoica”, Clarín, 10 de octubre de 1991) that, alluding to the climate of repression, intrigues and complicities in postwar Guatemala, generates paranoia –including that of the reader. “Ningún lugar sagrado” points to a more general tendency in recent Central American literature that, from the realm of fiction, highlights the widespread nature of paranoia in the region. Unlike social discourses that discuss the topic, these literary texts make use of narrative techniques that do not necessarily respond to a referential notion of truth (including hyperboles, digressions, irony and narrative ambiguity), when constructing the voice of a paranoiac character. According to my perspective, such narrative techniques lend themselves especially to capturing the alienating dimensions of violence in Central America where paranoia, rather than being a question of truth or exaggeration, constitutes a survival strategy.

Uncommon Grounds

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Lawrence
Keyword(s):  
American Literature ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Historical Novel ◽  
Latin American Literature ◽  
Historical Account ◽  
American Novel ◽  
Song Of Solomon ◽  
The Past ◽  
The North ◽  
The Us

This chapter turns from a historical account of the development of the US literature of experience and the Latin American literature of reading to a textual analysis of the US and Latin American historical novel. Hemispheric/inter-American scholars often cite William Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom! (1936), Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967), and Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon (1977) as exemplifying instances of literary borrowing across the North–South divide. As I demonstrate, however, each of the later texts also realigns its predecessor’s historical imaginary according to the dominant logics of the US and Latin American literary fields. Whereas the American works foreground experiential models of reconstructing the past and conveying knowledge across generations, García Márquez’s Latin American novel presents reading as the fundamental mode of comprehending and transmitting history.

Brazil at World Stage

2012 ◽  
pp. 59-67
Author(s):  
E. Dabagyan
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
The United States ◽  
Great Powers ◽  
American Continent ◽  
The North ◽  
Brazilian Government ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
Short Period ◽  
International Reputation ◽  
The Military

The author puts forward and substantiates a thesis about the transformation of Brazil into an important actor of the international relations. This becomes possible because a number of factors, including the well-designed, multi-tasked and balanced foreign policy strategy. It was founded during the military regime. Then, it was maintained and developed by the civilian Brazilian governments, primarily by such an outstanding figure as the president L. da Silva. His successor D. Rousseff s in a short period of time managed to gain a solid international reputation. She successfully copes with the mission to lead Brazil into the club of world’s great powers. To perform this task Brazilian government constantly makes efforts to strengthen relations with the neighbors on the Latin American continent, to gradually smoothen tensions with the United States. Also, it closely works with the countries of BRICS, contributes to building bridges between the South and the North, as well as actively participates in the activities of international organizations and the settlement of contentious issues in the world.

Carlos Fuentes, Mexico, and the United States

PMLA ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 128 (3) ◽  
pp. 723-726
Author(s):  
Maarten Van Delden
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Latin American ◽  
The United States ◽  
Carlos Fuentes ◽  
Octavio Paz ◽  
United States Foreign Policy ◽  
Alberto Fuguet ◽  
Historical Significance ◽  
The North ◽  
Early Twenty

The United States looms large in the Latin American literary imagination. From Domingo Sarmiento and José Martí in the nineteenth century to Octavio Paz and Alberto Fuguet in the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, many Latin American writers have depicted the United States in their writings and pondered the cultural and historical significance of their powerful neighbor to the north. But perhaps no Latin American writer has had as close—and complicated—a relationship with the United States as Carlos Fuentes. Fuentes was a fierce critic of American culture and United States foreign policy; at the same time, there was much that he admired about the United States, and it was clear that he was eager to have his voice heard here.

Neoliberalism and Counterinsurgency

Colombia ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard D. Mahoney
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Latin American ◽  
North American ◽  
Free Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
The United States ◽  
The North ◽  
Trade Promotion ◽  
The U.S

How did the U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement come about? The officially named “U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement” was the stepchild of a rancorous hemispheric divorce between the United States and five Latin American governments over the proposal to extend the North American Free Trade Agreement...

scholarly journals Neglected, Protected, Ejected: Latin American Women Caught by Crimmigration

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 293-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katie Dingeman ◽  
Yekaterina Arzhayev ◽  
Cristy Ayala ◽  
Erika Bermudez ◽  
Lauren Padama ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Life History ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Public Support ◽  
The United States ◽  
The State ◽  
Central American ◽  
Legal Aid ◽  
American Women

The United States deported 24,870 women in 2013, mostly to Latin America. We examine life history interviews with Mexican and Central American women who were apprehended, detained, and experienced different outcomes. We find that norms of the “crimmigration era” override humanitarian concerns, such that the state treats migrants as criminals first and as persons with claims for relief second. Removal and relief decisions appear less dependent on eligibility than geography, access to legal aid, and public support. Women’s experiences parallel men’s but are often worsened by their gendered statuses. Far from passively accepting the violence of crimmigration, women resist through discourse and activism.

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