Latin American culture

Más allá de la nación cubana: prácticas metaxtuales en el cine “callejero” de Esteban Insausti

by Santiago Juan-Navarro

Paper to be delivered at the II International Conference on Hispanic Metafiction, Université de Bourgogne, Dijon, France, June 21-22, 2012.

Tras el derrumbe de la industria cinematográfica cubana a finales del siglo XX (resultado de los cambios radicales... more Tras el derrumbe de la industria cinematográfica cubana a finales del siglo XX (resultado de los cambios radicales experimentados por el Cuba a partir del Periodo Especial), se ha producido en los últimos años un boom de películas independientes dentro de un contexto posnacional y globalizado.  Ann Marie Stock (On Location in Cuba 2009) se ha referido a este fenómeno como “Street Filmmaking” (“cine callejero”), ya que consiste en producciones realizadas al margen de la industria estatal y con una increíble precariedad de medios. Aunque la calidad de estos filmes es desigual, como se desprende de la Muestra de Jóvenes Realizadores que tiene lugar cada año en La Habana, destaca la obra profundamente innovadora de Esteban Insausti. Filmes documentales como “Las manos y el ángel” (2002), sobre el pianista de jazz latino Emiliano Salvador, “La sed de mirar”, homenaje al fotógrafo Jorge Herrera, “Existen” (2005), construido sobre la base de entrevistas a “ilustres” locos de La Habana, el mediometraje de ficción “Luz roja”, integrado en el filme-tríptico Tres veces dos (2003), o su primer largometraje, Larga distancia (2009), rinden homenaje a la tradición vanguardista del cine cubano al mismo tiempo que reciclan elementos de la estética del video arte, la publicidad y los video clips musicales dentro de una mirada interrogadora que busca desmarcarse de los mitos nacionales del origen que durante más de 50 años marcaron obsesivamente la producción del ICAIC (el Instituto Cubano de Arte e Industrias Cinematográficas). En mi ponencia analizaré esta paradójica amalgama de apropiación de modelos autóctonos y foráneos dentro de una cinematografía que tiende a alejarse de las imposiciones del aparato cultural del Estado para reafirmar su identidad en la subjetividad del autor.

А. Скромницкий. В. Талах. Энциклопедия доколумбовой Америки. Часть 1. Южная Америка. Том 2. Источники XVI-XVII веков по истории Южной Америки: Хроники. Документы.

by Alejandro Skromnitsky

A. Skromnitsky (editor). V. Talakh (editor).
The Encyclopedia of pre-Columbian America. Part 1. South America. Vol 2. Cronicas and documents of the XVI-XVII centuries about South America. / Ed. A. Skromnitsky, V. Talakh. - Kiev: Blok.NOT, 2012. - 1335 p.

Скромницкий, А. (редактор-составитель), Талах, В. (редактор).
Энциклопедия доколумбовой Америки. Часть 1. Южная Америка. Том 2. Источники XVI-XVII веков по истории Южной Америки: Хроники. Документы. / под ред. А. Скромницкого. — Киев: Blok.NOT, 2012. — 1335 с.
ISBN 978-966-XXXX-XX-X


© А. Скромницкий, 2012,
перевод с испанского и английского, статьи, составление, редактирование, оформление, комментарии

© В.Н. Талах, 2012,
перевод, статьи, редактирование, комментарии

© В. Тюленева, 2012,
перевод, статья

© различные авторы, 2012,
статьи

Детектив величиною с континент. Именно так можно охарактеризовать эпоху завоевания Нового света европейцами, и... more Детектив величиною с континент. Именно так можно охарактеризовать эпоху завоевания Нового света европейцами, и прочесть этот «детектив» помогут документы, включенные в данное издание украинскими историками и переводчиками А. Скромницким и В. Талахом.
Во второй том первой части «Энциклопедии доколумбовой Америки» вошло большинство доступных на русском языке источников по истории Южной Америки XVI-XVII веков, в которых отражены все стороны жизни индейцев, даны описания индейских обществ, их обычаев, нравов, традиций, военного дела, а также подробно изложена политическая, социально-экономическая история.
Источники поданы в книге в хронологическом порядке: это позволит понять логику конкисты, степень проникновения европейцев в индейский мир и обратного влияния «индейского» на представителей Старого Света.
Книга рассчитана на студентов, аспирантов и преподавателей исторических факультетов высших учебных заведений, а также всех тех, кто интересуется историей Южной Америки (Аргентина, Боливия, Бразилия, Венесуэла, Колумбия, Панама, Парагвай, Перу, Чили, Эквадор), эпохой Великих географических открытий, завоеванием Нового Света и доколумбовыми цивилизациями, в частности инками, чибча-муисками и другими менее известными народами.

Preliminary PHD-discription: Including the recipient in a study of cultural memory - the case of Cuban culture

by Sjamme van de Voort

To be finished march 2012

By publishing my preliminary thoughts about my PHD-project, I hope to find feedback.

Specially I would... more By publishing my preliminary thoughts about my PHD-project, I hope to find feedback.

Specially I would like ideas as to:
- Which networks, universities and researchers would be interesting??
- How to grasp the essence of historical consciousness through ethnographic fieldwork, studies of official and educational sources??

Living la Inseguridad and Making Sense of Urban Poor

by Jenny Ingridsdotter

Master-thesis.

In this thesis ethnographical interviews with women in Buenos Aires are analyzed with discourse theory in order to... more In this thesis ethnographical interviews with women in Buenos Aires are analyzed with discourse theory in order to examine how discourses of safe/unsafe and urban poor construct places and bodies. A central element of discourse is argued to be the partially fixed inscription of danger in territories and bodies of the urban poor. Neoliberalism´s impact on urban space has meant a transformation of public space and impacts on constructing reality. This transformation of meaning is connected to the neoliberal transformation of the labor market, once invested with rights and security, now deregulated and precarious. Urban poor are visible in every interviewed woman´s everyday life, but the way of constructing them as subjects varies with level of closeness and identification. The Argentine historic construction of Europeaness, modernity and civilization as opposed to Latin Americaness, backwardness and barbarism can be found in many of the women´s constructions of urban poor. So is the othering of them in relationship to motherhood and citizenship. The constructions of the urban poor are also analyzed with the Foucaultian concept of biopower.

El relajo de la cultura de la pobreza

by Miguel Diaz-Barriga

ALTERIDADES, 1994 4 (7): Págs. 21-26

The Biblical and ANE Studies at the Periphery, Bible and Interpretation September 2010

by Juan Manuel Tebes

There is a large mass of scholarship in countries that belongs to the “periphery.” Though I am not personally fond of... more There is a large mass of scholarship in countries that belongs to the “periphery.” Though I am not personally fond of the term “periphery,” I use it because it fits with a situation in which a few countries concentrate the bulk of studies and financial resources of this specialized field, while others can only dream of having such an accumulation of resources. Scholars living in the periphery, albeit struggling with difficulties unthinkable for their fellows in America and Europe, have presented innovative ideas that with time were incorporated into the world’s scholarship.

Funcionamiento de una representación visual para interactuar

by Bianca Suárez

En el presente trabajo discutiremos el modelo de comprensión relativo al funcionamiento del estímulo en la imagen propuesto en artículo de Jean-Marie Klinkenberg (2003) que parte de la crítica de Eco al iconismo y a la doble noción entre iconismo y motivación. El modelo cognitivo propuesto por
Klinkenberg contiene elementos de análisis que nos permitirán aproximarnos a la obra de 1964 “La Inestabilidad” del mendocino Julio Le Parc y gracias ae s t e mo d e l o, p o d r emo s c omp r e n d e r esta representación como ejemplo una de las imágenes, que como ícono identifican a unos especímenes de arte cinético en Latinoamérica que pretenden la participación y la transformación social, de una manera de dominio general.

Dans ce papier, nous discutons le modèle de compréhension concernant le fonctionnement de l'article de relance proposé... more Dans ce papier, nous discutons le modèle de compréhension concernant le fonctionnement de l'article de relance proposé par l'image de Jean-Marie Klinkenberg (2003) qu'une partie de la notion écologique essentiel de l'icône et double entre les icônes et la motivation. Le modèle cognitif proposé par l'analyse Klinkenberg contient des éléments qui nous permettent d'aborder le travail de 1964 "l'instabilité" de Mendoza Julio Le Parc, et grâce à ce modèle, nous pouvons comprendre cela comme une représentation par exemple des images comme une icône pour identifier quelques spécimens de l'art cinétique en Amérique latine qui souhaitent obtenir la participation et de transformation sociale, dans un domaine général.

In this paper we discuss the model of understanding concerning the operation of the image stimulus proposed in the article by Jean-Marie Klinkenberg (2003) that part of the Eco critical to the icon and double notion between icons and motivation. The cognitive model proposed by Klinkenberg analysis contains elements that allow us to approach the work of 1964 "instability" of Julio Le Parc from Mendoza and thanks to this model, we can understand this as an example representation of images as an icon to identify some specimens of kinetic art in Latin America that seek participation and social transformation, in a general domain.

Criminalizing Miscarriage: Latin America's Zero Tolerance Policy on Abortion

by Michele Stopera Freyhauf

originally published at the Feminism and Religion Project.

Imagine suffering a miscarriage. All of us have or know someone who has suffered one; I had two. For me it was a... more Imagine suffering a miscarriage. All of us have or know someone who has suffered one; I had two. For me it was a terrible time and I still remember the day of loss and the expected due date. We all cope differently with this loss, but it is just that – a physical and/or emotional loss. Statistically 15-25% of women in childbearing years will suffer a miscarriage anywhere from 5 to 20 weeks gestation. In the United States, when we suffer a miscarriage we go to the hospital. Often times the visit results in a dilation and curettage (or D&C) to stop bleeding and possible infection. For me this was also done after the doctors removed the baby girl that was dead inside of my womb.

If this would have occurred in certain Latin American countries, especially in El Salvador, Chile, Colombia, Malta, Nicaragua, and even Mexico, the emergency room doctor would notify the authorities of my miscarriage and I would be arrested and jailed anywhere from 3-50 years for having an “abortion.” El Salvador even has a prosecutor’s office responsible for crimes against minors and women whose responsibilities are capturing, trying, and incarcerating women who have abortions and miscarriages. In this office, there are police, investigators, medical spies, and forensic vagina inspectors. Medical providers have an obligation to report abortions; this is focused more on young uneducated and impoverished women. For these women, there is no presumption of innocence; they are guilty.

Affective - Emotional Profile Of Adolescents Vulnerable To School Bullying

by Santiago Hidalgo Isaza

Co-authored with: María Angélica Hidalgo Isaza, Andrea Alexandra Espinel Garzón, María Fernanda Toro Contreras

The purpose of this research is to establish the emotional affective profile of young people aged 10 to 18 belonging... more The purpose of this research is to establish the emotional affective profile of young people aged 10 to 18 belonging to basic elementary schools in the city of Bogotá, who may be vulnerable to bullying at school, identified from social demographic, individual and school variables, profile serving as input in the approach to interventions aimed at combating bullying.
The research was conducted with a sample of 301 students, and the test “Tools for the Assessment of Bullying INSEBULL” was used to measure the psychological, emotional and social dimensions. The results allowed to identify- through the grouping of social, demographic and individual categories contained in the assessment instrument- that the emotional affective profile of adolescent victims of bullying is influenced by the relationship and interaction arising between variables such as age, gender, socioeconomic status of schools, social isolation or rejection in interpersonal relationships, communication patterns and expression of emotions and coping strategies.

Скромницкий, А. Энциклопедия доколумбовой Америки. Часть 1. Южная Америка. Том 1. Хронисты, чиновники, миссионеры, историки XVI-XVII веков в Южной Америке: Биографии. Библиография. Источники.

by Alejandro Skromnitsky

A. Skromnitsky (editor).
The Encyclopedia of pre-Columbian America. Part 1. South America. Vol 1. Chroniclers, officials, missionaries, historians XVI-XVII centuries in South America: Biographies. Bibliography. Sources. / Ed. A. Skromnitsky. - Kiev: Blok.NOT, 2011. - 316 p.

Скромницкий, А. (составитель).
Энциклопедия доколумбовой Америки. Часть 1. Южная Америка. Том 1. Хронисты, чиновники, миссионеры, историки XVI-XVII веков в Южной Америке: Биографии. Библиография. Источники. / под ред. А. Скромницкого. — К.: Blok.NOT, 2011. — 316 с.

© А. Скромницкий, 2011,
перевод с испанского, статьи, составление, редактирование, оформление, комментарии
© В.Н. Талах, 2011,
статьи
© различные авторы, 2011,
статьи

В энциклопедию вошли биографии ключевых историков, хронистов, чиновников и миссионеров, действовавших в Южной Америке... more В энциклопедию вошли биографии ключевых историков, хронистов, чиновников и миссионеров, действовавших в Южной Америке в XVI-XVII веках и составивших подробные описания индейских обществ, их обычаев, нравов, традиций, военного дела. Некоторые авторы, побывав в Новом Свете сделали важные научные открытия в различных областях знаний: истории (теория заселения Америки Хосе де Акосты), географии (многочисленные «открытия» территорий), минералогии (колумбийские изумруды, платина), биологии (описаны новые растения и животные), экономике (тетория свободного рынка Хуана де Матьенсо), политике.
Книга рассчитана на студентов, аспирантов и преподавателей исторических факультетов высших учебных заведений, а также всех тех, кто интересуется историей Южной Америки (Аргентина, Боливия, Бразилия, Венесуэла, Колумбия, Панама, Парагвай, Перу, Чили, Эквадор), эпохой Великих географических открытий, завоеванием Нового Света и доколумбовыми цивилизациями, в частности инками, чибча-муисками.

Young Argentine Filmmakers: Remembering the Past from a Present of Crisis

by Ana Ros

In David Gallagher (ed.) Latin American Studies: Critiques of Contemporary Cinema, Literatures, Politics and Revolution. Palo Alto: Academica Press, 2011.

In this essay, I reflect on how young filmmakers intervene in the formation of collective memory about the last... more In this essay, I reflect on how young filmmakers intervene in the formation of collective memory about the last Argentine dictatorship (1976-1983), contributing to the renewed societal interest on the subject. The two films I analyze share a concern with creating a more instructive and inclusive collective memory by encouraging different groups to learn from the past to inform decisions in the present. In an experimental documentary, Diario argentino/Argentine Diary (2007), Lupe Pérez García focuses on the so-called “bystanders”—those who were neither activists nor represores. She challenges their typical image as passive spectators in a war between “two demons” and highlights their role as political actors in the past and the present. Secondly, in the feature film Cordero de Dios/Lamb of God (2008), Lucía Cedrón, herself daughter of a “disappeared” activist, proposes a way of taking the past as a guide for acting in present situations of hate and violence. The 2001 crisis plays an important role in these two films and in the directors' lives. The uncertainty impels them to understand their choices in relation to their interpretation of the past and to own the decisions they make and their (political/human) implications.

La traición de la belleza: Cuerpos, deseo y subjetividad femenina en Fanny Buitrago y Mayra Santos-Febres

by Nadia Celis

Published in Chasqui. Revista de Estudios Latinoamericanos. Vol.37 No. 2 (November of 2008). 88-105.

Uma aliança pela pátria: relação entre política expansionista fascista e italianidade na comunidade italiana do Rio Grande do Sul

by Luis Fernando Beneduzi

published in Dimensões, vol. 26, 2011, p. 89-112. ISSN: 2179-8869

In  the 1930‟s two different phenomena  involving Italian communities in the world were closely related. On... more In  the 1930‟s two different phenomena  involving Italian communities in the world were closely related. On the one hand, it observes a strong fascist policy interested in creating stronger relations with Italy, in her “fascistized” dress. On the other hand,  there was a process of social uprising of the Italians immigrants and of their descendants that included a reformulation of the Italian migratory experience, with the construction of an epic narration of the expatriation phenomenon. By examining the specific historical situation  – that is, the dynamics that had taken place before the invasion of Abyssinia by the Italian army and the first war movements, in a complicated international context, in which fascist Italy was punished by the League of Nations with economic sanctions – this paper tries to understand
the construction process of a link in terms of emotion and identity between the communities of immigrants in the Italian colonial zone in Rio Grande do Sul and the society of the land of their ancestors, represented by the Fascist State.

Keywords: Italian Immigration; Fascism; Identity.

The Role of Lucha Libre in the Construction of Mexican Male Identity

by Javier Pereda

Co-authored with Patricia Murrieta-Flores
Published in Networking Knowledge: Journal of the MeCCSA PGN
ISSN: 1755-9944

Lucha Libre has played an important role in Mexican culture since the late 1950s. The sport became famous mainly due... more Lucha Libre has played an important role in Mexican culture since the late 1950s. The sport became famous mainly due to its masked wrestlers, who incorporated their own family traditions, beliefs and fears into the design of their masks, transforming an ordinary person into a fearless character.

After the introduction of the Monsters Cinema in the 1930s, Mexican audiences welcomed and adopted characters like Dracula, Nosferatu, Frankenstein and The Werewolf. The success of Monster Cinema in Mexican culture was based on the integration of national legends and beliefs, placing them in local and identifiable concepts in the Mexican popular imagination. Later, Lucha Libre Cinema mixed with Monster Cinema resulting in the birth of new heroes and myths. These emergent paladins of the Mexican metropolis set the cultural and moral standards of that time and how Mexicans wanted to be perceived.

Through an anthropological and historical analysis of Mexican Cinema and Lucha Libre, this paper investigates the main social interaction of male wrestlers who perform as heroes inside the celluloid world and outside of it. We explore how masculinity and the male figure evolves in Lucha Libre Cinema, and the processes that wrestlers have to undergo in order to be able to portray themselves as superheroes of an evolving and fast growing Mexico.

Metadata usage tendencies in Latin American electronic journals

by Saray Córdoba

Characteristics shared by the scientific electronic journals of Latin America and the Caribbean

by Saray Córdoba

La alquimia del verbo: "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" de J.L. Borges y la Sociedad de la Rosa-Cruz

by Santiago Juan-Navarro

Published in Hispanófila 120 (1997): 67-80

Of Sins, Vices and Pecados: The Cultural Context of Videogame Play

by Thomas Apperley

Apperley, T. (2008). Of sins, vices, and pecados: The cultural context of videogame play. In D. Capsi and T. Samuel-Azran (Eds.). New media and innovative technologies (pp. 240-261). Be’er Shiva: Ben-Gurion University Press/Tzivonim Publishers.

Using a case study of Grand Theft Auto 3: Vice City, this chapter examines the cultural context of videogame... more Using a case study of Grand Theft Auto 3: Vice City, this chapter examines the cultural context of videogame consumption in Caracas, Venezuela in Summer 2005. Using data gathered through ethnographic fieldwork, participant observation and interviews over that period, it analyzes the features of Vice City that made it the most frequently played single player game in Internet cafés. We argue that it is not so much the game’s graphic or narrative elements, but its flexibility in terms of styles and approaches to play that led to it becoming a standard feature of Venezuelan gaming life. The game caters to the requirements of the intense social space of offline interactions within the Internet café and supersedes the limitations and difficulties imposed by various social, economic and technological factors affecting the game playing audience in Venezuela.

Day of the Dead

by Javier Pereda

Co-authored with Patricia Murrieta-Flores
Poster for exhibition presented in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

During Mesoamerican times, before the Spanish colonies,Mexican civilizations believed that when somebody died, their... more During Mesoamerican times, before the Spanish colonies,Mexican civilizations believed that when somebody died, their soul continued to live in a special place called Mictlán. The benevolent gods created this pleasant and peaceful ideal site, in which the souls waited to be called to go back to their former homes and visit their relatives on particular, traditionally defined, days. After the arrival of Catholicism the new customs were merged with the indigenous resulting in a mixture of Christian and Prehispanic customs and beliefs.

Edgardo Dobry, Una profecía del pasado. Lugones y la invención del "linaje de Hércules"

by Pablo Martinez

Reseña del libro de Dobry, publicada en A Contracorriente.