The Literary Social Symbol for an Interrelated Study of Mexico

1965 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 385-399
Author(s):  
Mario J. Valdés

The idea of a seminar that would contribute as much to the understanding of the country or area studied as to the individual disciplines participating is still one of those interesting projects that very rarely materialize. I can only provide knowledgeable discussion on the contribution that literary criticism can make to the larger objective of the study of Latin American society and culture. I am of the opinion that the insights of literary analysis can be very useful to my colleagues in the social sciences, but the adaptation of material from a discipline that is dealing with the imagination in its most elaborate expression, in the last analysis, must depend on each specialist's willingness to confront the subjective vision in man as a part of the human experience.

2014 ◽  
Vol 17 (17) ◽  
pp. 281-320
Author(s):  
Alexis Francisco Uscátegui Narváez

Este artículo sintetiza los resultados de un trabajo investigativo que busca, a través de la crítica literaria y la teoría de la subalternidad, repensar la historia de aquellas personas a las que se consideraba como subalternos en la sociedad latinoamericana. Este documento destaca los aportes socioculturales de dos razas (indígena y afrodescendiente), representadas por dos protagonistas de la novela Eclipse de luna, del escritor colombiano Ricardo Estupiñán Bravo, quienes por cosas del destino afrontan un apasionante universo de amor, dolor y muerte. En términos claves, erguido con firmeza sobre dichos supuestos, Estupiñán expresa, con esta maravillosa novela, la dolorosa y cruda verdad de la subalternidad en Nariño, el desarraigo y la miseria de Cumbal y Barbacoas. Por esta razón, se realizó una interpretación que desplaza los discursos coloniales al olvido y legitima la heterogeneidad cultural y literaria que presentan las letras de Nariño, el mundo sureño, en cuyo verbo prolifera la libertad.ABSTRACTThis article summarizes the results of a research project which seeks, through literary criticism and the theory of subalternity, to rethink the history of those who are regarded as subordinate in Latin American society. This paper highlights the social and cultural contributions of two races (indigenous and African descent), represented by two main characters in the novel entitled Lunar Eclipse by the Colombian writer Ricardo Estupiñán Bravo. These characters, for reasons of fate face an exciting universe of love, pain and death. In key terms, standing firmly on these assumptions, Estupiñán through this wonderful novel describes the painful and raw truth of subalternity in Nariño and the uprooting and misery of Cumbal and Barbacoas. For this reason, an interpretation that displaces colonial discourses to forgetfulness and legitimizes the cultural and literary heterogeneity expressed in the letters of Nariño - the southern world-, was performed-, in which the word freedom revolves.RESUMOEste artigo sintetiza os resultados de un trabalho de pesquisa que busca, através da crítica literaria e da teoría da subordinação, repensar a historia daquelas pessoas às quais são considerada como subordinados da sociedade latinoamericana. Este documento destaca as contribuições sociais e culturais de duas raças (indígena e afrodescendente), representadas por dois protagonistas da novela Eclipse de luna, do escritor colômbiano Ricardo Estupiñán Bravo, quem por coisas do destino diante de um apaixonante universo de amor, dor e morte. Em termos chaves, erguer-se firmemente sobre ditas suposições, Estupiñán expressa, com esta maravilhosa novela, a dolorosa e crua verdade da subordinação em Nariño, o desenraizamento e miséria de Cumbal e Barbacoas. Por estarazão, se realizou uma interpretação que move os discursos coloniais ao esquecimento e legitima a heterogeneidade cultural e literária que apresentam as letras de Nariño, o mundo do sul, no qual se dá a proliferação da liberdade.


2016 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 101-109
Author(s):  
L. D’yakova

The article deals with problems of the modern Latin American democracy in the context of various research methods, factors of stability and proneness to conflict, as well as new challenges for democracy set by the developing modern society. The author analyzes the leading experts' opinions in the field – mainly Spanish and Latin American researchers involved in modern social and political problems. Much attention is given to: political development issues in the region; transformation of the political parties' and civil society's role in response to consolidation of Latin American democracies; the youth activity as a new political phenomena; the increase of social protests, and the phenomenon of exaggerated social expectations. The important role of the social policy in stabilization of the political situation in the region, as well as in a successful democratic consolidation process is noted. Almost all countries of the region used the period of economic prosperity and growth (2003–2013) to develop and implement a targeted social policy aimed at the social sphere development, employment growth, and the improvement of education and public health systems. But the majority of successful social projects were devoted mainly to solving the most daunting and morbid problem of the Latin American society – poverty, which has been significantly lowered. Thus, the state targeted social policy played a significant role in shaping a positive attitude towards democracy. However, even over a ten-year period of economic growth, a state was unable to solve all problems accumulated. These challenges have been left unattended. It poses a serious threat to political stability. It is noted that the assessment of the democratic development prospects in the leading countries is closely related to social pessimism, which has been spreading among different classes of the Latin American society in recent years, and is associated not only with the worsening economic situation, but also with the growing disappointment in possibilities of democracy itself. Ineffective public administration, bureaucratization of state agencies and corruption cause irritation and discontent among the population. At the same time, along with criticism and emphasis on the subject of “disappointment” in politics, the commanding view among researchers is that the liberal democracy must be defended despite all its drawbacks and weaknesses, as the challenges for democracy set by the modern developing society, however serious they may be, are merely the tests of its prospects and possibilities, and not the evidence of its inconsistency.


Author(s):  
Agnaldo Garcia ◽  
Julia Sursis Nobre Ferro Bucher-Maluschke ◽  
Daniela Marisol Pérez-Angarita ◽  
Fábio Nogueira Pereira

Friendship has been traditionally investigated in the field of interpersonal relationships using different theoretical frameworks and approaches. This paper discusses the possibility of investigating friendship from a comparative Latin American perspective, based on a wide literature review on the subject. Based on the theoretical proposals of Hinde (1997) for the investigation of interpersonal relationships, the paper considers that friendship involves several levels of complexity and affects and is affected by distinct dimensions of Latin American society. The paper recognizes that comparative studies have placed the importance of friends and friendship in areas such as economy, health, education, and migration, among others. As expected, Latin American comparative studies are more frequent in some disciplines, mainly those based on censuses data, and theoretically related to social-economic and demographic concepts, including social networks and social capital. The possibility of developing a Latin American perspective for the study of friendship requires not only the need of empirical but also theoretical advances, as well as scientific cooperation and innovation. Friendship is seen as relevant for the constitution of the social tissue of Latin American society, being affected and affecting different areas and levels. In the social economic dimension, friends are relevant, specifically in Latin America, to themes such as poverty and social vulnerability. Some future possibilities for investigation are discussed.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriela Benza ◽  
Gabriel Kessler

2010 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Fontaine

ArgumentFor more than thirty years after World War II, the unconventional economist Kenneth E. Boulding (1910–1993) was a fervent advocate of the integration of the social sciences. Building on common general principles from various fields, notably economics, political science, and sociology, Boulding claimed that an integrated social science in which mental images were recognized as the main determinant of human behavior would allow for a better understanding of society. Boulding's approach culminated in the social triangle, a view of society as comprised of three main social organizers – exchange, threat, and love – combined in varying proportions. According to this view, the problems of American society were caused by an unbalanced combination of these three organizers. The goal of integrated social scientific knowledge was therefore to help policy makers achieve the “right” proportions of exchange, threat, and love that would lead to social stabilization. Though he was hopeful that cross-disciplinary exchanges would overcome the shortcomings of too narrow specialization, Boulding found that rather than being the locus of a peaceful and mutually beneficial exchange, disciplinary boundaries were often the occasion of conflict and miscommunication.


2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-54
Author(s):  
P. Conrad Kotze ◽  
Jan K. Coetzee

Transformation has come to be a defining characteristic of contemporary societies, while it has rarely been studied in a way that gives acknowledgement to both its societal effects and the experience thereof by the individual. This article discusses a recent study that attempts to do just that. The everyday life of a South African is explored within the context of changes that can be linked, more or less directly, to those that have characterized South Africa as a state since the end of apartheid in 1994. The study strives to avoid the pitfalls associated with either an empirical or solely constructivist appreciation of this phenomenon, but rather represents an integral onto-epistemological framework for the practice of sociological research. The illustrated framework is argued to facilitate an analysis of social reality that encompasses all aspects thereof, from the objectively given to the intersubjectively constructed and subjectively constituted. While not requiring extensive development on the theoretical or methodological level, the possibility of carrying out such an integral study is highlighted as being comfortably within the capabilities of sociology as a discipline. While the article sheds light on the experience of transformation, it is also intended to contribute to the contemporary debate surrounding the current “ontological turn” within the social sciences.


1962 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 417-421 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel A. Almond ◽  
Eric C. Bellquist ◽  
Joseph M. Ray ◽  
John P. Roche ◽  
Irvin Stewart ◽  
...  

Political science is a basic discipline in the social sciences. Although it must necessarily maintain close scholarly association with the disciplines of history, economics, sociology, anthropology, geography, and social psychology, political science cannot be considered a part of any of these other social sciences. Political science has its own area of human experience to analyze, its own body of descriptive and factual data to gather, its own conceptual schemes to formulate and test for truth.


2021 ◽  
pp. 17-36
Author(s):  
Hisashi Nasu

The conception of relevance has come to be increasingly under discussion in various scientific fields under the recent social-cultural-historical conditions of the globalization, digitalization, and liquidation of society. In my opinion, many of these various discussions are, explicitly or implicitly, founded on Alfred Schutz's ideas about relevance. This essay aims to clarify his sociological conception of relevance founded on phenomenological investigations by inquiries into what he said about the concept and problem of relevance through a comparison between Schutz's ideas on how to deal with the «incomprehensiveness» of the «totality» of the world with M. Weber's and F. von Hayek's with reference to Schutz's ideas as to how human experience proceeds


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