Disaster Writing: The Cultural Politics of Catastrophe in Latin America Contributor(s): Anderson, Mark D. (Author) |
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ISBN: 0813931967 ISBN-13: 9780813931968 Publisher: University of Virginia Press OUR PRICE: $54.45 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: October 2011 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Literary Criticism | Caribbean & Latin American |
Dewey: 860.935 |
LCCN: 2011015738 |
Series: New World Studies (Hardcover) |
Physical Information: 0.9" H x 6.1" W x 9.1" (0.97 lbs) 256 pages |
Themes: - Cultural Region - Latin America |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: In the aftermath of disaster, literary and other cultural representations of the event can play a role in the renegotiation of political power. In Disaster Writing, Mark D. Anderson analyzes four natural disasters in Latin America that acquired national significance and symbolism through literary mediation: the 1930 cyclone in the Dominican Republic, volcanic eruptions in Central America, the 1985 earthquake in Mexico City, and recurring drought in northeastern Brazil. Taking a comparative and interdisciplinary approach to the disaster narratives, Anderson explores concepts such as the social construction of risk, landscape as political and cultural geography, vulnerability as the convergence of natural hazard and social marginalization, and the cultural mediation of trauma and loss. He shows how the political and historical contexts suggest a systematic link between natural disaster and cultural politics. |