New Readings in Latin American and Spanish Literary and Cultural Studies

Presenting and interrogating an array of texts and discourses, this collection brings into focus a broad range of topics whose common denominator is the intersection between cultural productions and politics in different moments of the history of Latin America and Spain. From the struggles of class distinction, identity and community in 19th and 20th century and contemporary Latin America as explored in photography, literature and film, to how political and sexual transgressions from medieval times to the present are portrayed in Hispanic literature, and the ways that canonical and non-canonical texts in Spain have been defying hegemonic power relations in the 20th century and beyond. This volume provides fresh approaches from well-established scholars, as well as from a new generation of researchers whose works enlighten the reader about the rich facets of such intersections. This publication also offers a background to pursue further research in these areas and to serve the general public interested in Latin American and Spanish literary and cultural studies, and those seeking a greater understanding of social and economic change in both Latin America and Spain: specifically, issues of inclusion and citizenship; the constraints on state power in the neoliberal era; the strategies used by texts to create subjects that are not bound to conventional identity formations; and the challenges and possibilities of subverting the gaze of the institutional spectator.

About the Author :
Laura M. Martins is Associate Professor of Latin American and Film Studies at Louisiana State University, USA. She has published widely on Luis Buñuel's films and Latin American visual and literary culture, including her book En primer plano: Literatura y cine en Argentina, 1955–1969 (2001). Her works have appeared internationally in Estudios interdisciplinarios de América Latina y el Caribe, Luis Buñuel: New Readings (The British Film Institute), Revista Iberoamericana; Revista de Crítica Literaria Latinoamericana (RCLL); and Cine y derechos humanos (Instituto Multimedia DerHumALC-Buenos Aires), among other journals and edited volumes. Her work in progress includes a book-length manuscript on the effects of the application of neo-liberal policies in Latin America and how photography, films, art installations, memorials, and literary texts manage to construct a multi-layered account of the last twenty-five years.