| Body of Writing: Figuring Desire in Spanish American Literature Contributor(s): Prieto, René (Author) |
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ISBN: 0822324512 ISBN-13: 9780822324515 Publisher: Duke University Press OUR PRICE: $102.55 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: April 2000 Annotation: "Original, witty and passionate, "Body of Writing" is sure to interest Hispanists and non-Hispanists alike. I can think of few Latin Americanists capable of producing readings as energetic and elegant as Prieto's."--Gustavo Perez Firmat, author of "Next Year in Cuba" and "Life on the Hyphen " "A most significant contribution to Spanish American literary criticism. Prieto is a gifted scholar with an unusual talent for reading texts."--William Luis, author of "Dance Between Two Cultures: Latino Caribbean Literature Written in the United States ""Body of Writing" is the most advanced piece of criticism on Latin American literature available. Prieto's unique mixture of theoretical sophistication with elegance of mind and style makes him soar above today's cacophonous cackle. I know of no better critic of Latin American literature than him."--Roberto Gonzalez-Echevarria, author of "Myth and Archive: A Theory of Latin American Narrative |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Literary Criticism | American - Hispanic American |
| Dewey: 863 |
| LCCN: 99049778 |
| Lexile Measure: 1470 |
| Physical Information: 1.16" H x 6.35" W x 9.59" (1.55 lbs) 312 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 20th Century - Ethnic Orientation - Hispanic |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Body of Writing focuses on the traces that an author's "body" leaves on a work of fiction. Drawing on the work of six important Spanish American writers of the twentieth century, Ren Prieto examines narratives that reflect--in differing yet ultimately complementary ways--the imprint of the author's body, thereby disclosing insights about power, aggression, transgression, and eroticism. Healthy, invalid, lustful, and confined bodies--as portrayed by Julio Cort zar, Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Gabriel Garc a M rquez, Severo Sarduy, Rosario Castellanos, and Tununa Mercado--become evidence for Roland Barthes's contention that works of fiction are "anagrams of the body." Claiming that an author's intentions can be uncovered by analyzing "the topography of a text," Prieto pays particular attention not to the actions or plots of these writers' fiction but rather to their settings and characterizations. In the belief that bodily traces left on the page reveal the motivating force behind a writer's creative act, he explores such fictional themes as camouflage, deterioration, defilement, entrapment, and subordination. Along the way, Prieto reaches unexpected conclusions regarding topics that include the relationship of the female body to power, male and female transgressive impulses, and the connection between aggression, the idealization of women, and anal eroticism in men. This study of how authors' longings and fears become embodied in literature will interest students and scholars of literary and psychoanalytic criticism, gender studies, and twentieth-century and Latin American literature. |