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Volume 60 / Humanities

LITERATURE: SPANISH AMERICA


Colonial Period

JENNIFER L. EICH, Associate Professor of Modern Languages and Literatures, Loyola Marymount University


RECENT CURRENTS OF CRITICAL THEORY that carried scholars into new fields of literary inquiry and stimulated their interest in re-examining canonical texts also have prompted the publication of new editions of works written in the colonial era. These bibliographic and historical efforts have continued, producing attractive editions and thought-provoking studies of traditional works (items #bi2003006367#, #bi2003006403#, #bi2003006372#, #bi2003006397#, and #bi2003001901#). In addition, updated versions of literary histories are appearing, especially in regard to national literatures (item #bi2003001897#). These relatively new theories also have prompted scholars to put together anthologies of traditional and/or marginalized works, which generally focus on a specific genre (e.g., drama, epistolary, sermons, essay, and poetry) (items #bi2003006365#, #bi2003006373#, #bi2003005132#, #bi2003006351#, #bi2003006352#, #bi2003006353#, #bi2003001904#, and #bi2003006357#). Finally, the numbers of high-quality literary studies of newly discovered or recuperated colonial and 19th-century texts have continued to increase in the years covered by HLAS 60 (items #bi2003006401#, #bi2003006363#, #bi2003006348#, #bi2003001903#, and #bi2003001895#).

Scholars continue to look at transcultural connections and European influences in the Americas (items #bi2001001675#, #bi2003006344#, #bi2003006389#, #bi2003006390#, and #bi2003006393#) in texts that chronicle the European/American encounter during different historical periods as well as autochthonous literary and visual representations (items #bi2003006390#, #bi2003006362#, and #bi2003006395#). They also continue to recuperate forgotten and/or lost texts. Thus, recent studies focus on analyzing and including authors, such as women or indigenous writers, whose works were either previously marginalized or assigned a secondary status (items #bi2003006386#, #bi2003006344#, #bi2003006370#, and #bi2003006381#). Interestingly, new subareas of this subject are beginning to appear that are promising both in content and theoretical grounds, such as cartography, and queer theory (item #bi2003006392#). The re-evaluation of canonic works and authors is fruitful as well: Sor Juanistas continue to produce new editions and studies of her works and influence (items #bi2003006391#, #bi2003006375#, #bi2003006394#, and #bi2003001894#). Studies of previously ignored or unpublished works by other colonial nuns and female religious and inquisitional documents are also proving fertile ground (items #bi2003006402#, #bi2003006387#, #bi2003006343#, #bi2003006371#, #bi2003005132#, #bi2003006345#, #bi2003006356#, and #bi2003006355#). Finally, scholars now demonstrate great interest in fashioning new theories to account for or explain textual, visual, and verbal expressions by indigenous, American subaltern/colonized, and marginalized subjects (items #bi2003006364#, #bi2003006399#, #bi2003006347#, and #bi2003006382#). However, more traditional studies of colonial culture and texts have been widened in scope and intriguingly informed by new theories and ideas of cultural formation and many authors suggest the need for continued research (items #bi2003006361#, #bi2003006383#, #bi2002003372#, #bi2003006367#, #bi2003006368#, #bi2003006385#, #bi2003006393#, and #bi2003006396#). Indeed, this direction is wonderfully exemplified by scholars studying narratives chronicling colonial era explorations on the northern frontiers of Mexico and in South America. These works, often authored by less well-studied religious and secular chroniclers, offer new possibilities for cultural studies and theoretical formation (items #bi2003006358#, #bi2003006359#, #bi2003006361#, #bi2003006405#, and #bi2003006378#).

Conferences honoring scholars for their professional contributions and scholarly work have led to publications that either continue these scholars' approaches or take a new theoretical and critical look at canonic and newly recuperated texts by canonic authors (items #bi2003006399#, #bi2003006374#, #bi2003006407#, and #bi2003006408#). Other conferences have addressed questions of how to use and teach these newly discovered and published documents. All of them have brought together national and international scholars who are interested in including authors and representative works written during the colonial era (item #bi2003006377#). A new and exciting interdisciplinary approach reflects a need to examine literary and historical texts from a cultural, rather than purely disciplinary, perspective. Many of these conferences, symposia, and meetings have issued publications of their proceedings or individual studies that remark on the topics discussed. A common thread has been examinations of how to combine previously separate areas of study, such as the Spanish, English, and French-speaking sections of the American continents, or how to insure inclusion of areas such as Central America (items #bi2003006376# and #bi2003006409#).

As technology has advanced, the range of resources available to students, scholars, and general readers has increased, including the ever growing number of electronic journals and websites. Archives and libraries alike now selectively digitize and mount on their websites excerpts and entire texts from their collections, thereby granting document-level access to those with access to the internet (items #bi2003006409# and #bi2003006410#). In general, creators wish to offer access to written, visual, and cultural texts and objects. Nevertheless high maintenance costs and frequent software upgrades or conversions continue to frustrate institutions and users lacking the necessary funds or skills to implement needed changes. Online resources may vanish as suddenly as they appeared for want of funding, technological expertise, or staff time.

Finally, and perhaps most intriguing, has been the explosion in contemporary literature that treats colonial Latin American topics and events. This literature includes both translated texts and historical novels, many giving life once again to canonic and marginalized historical figures who participated in events that shaped the colonial era in large and small ways. Four examples show the breadth of this interest: the Peruvian Álvaro Vargas Llosa's La mestiza de Pizarro: una mestiza entre dos mundos (2003), the Spanish Ángeles de Irisarri, América: La aventura de cuatro mujeres en el Nuevo Mundo (2002), the Chicana Alicia Gaspar de Alba's Sor Juana's Second Dream: A Novel (1999), and the scholarly collection of essays on representations of the colonial era encounter between Europe and the Americas in Iberian and Iberian American literature and film (item #bi2003006379#).


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