The Other/Argentina: Jews, Gender, and Sexuality in the Making of a Modern Nation by Amy K. Kaminsky (review)

IF 0.2 4区 文学 0 LANGUAGE & LINGUISTICS Hispania-A Journal Devoted To the Teaching of Spanish and Portuguese Pub Date : 2023-09-01 DOI:10.1353/hpn.2023.a906587
Luciano Martínez
{"title":"The Other/Argentina: Jews, Gender, and Sexuality in the Making of a Modern Nation by Amy K. Kaminsky (review)","authors":"Luciano Martínez","doi":"10.1353/hpn.2023.a906587","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Indeed, delirious. As an aid, the author includes an insert, a roadmap of sorts: a genealogical diagram detailing what is to him the convoluted nature of modern Latin American cultural and political history. Granés’s focus is, on the one hand, vast: He gives consideration to a plethora of poets, painters, essayists, dictators, and so on, from all the regions (and subregions) of Latin America during the time period in question. He could have started his account prior to Martí (with Bolívar, for instance, or even Spanish colonialism itself), but a longer temporal framework was not necessary for Granés’s argument. Opening the book with Martí’s reckless charge sets the stage in dramatic fashion; in addition, Latin American cultural and political history post Martí is (as the author shows) already intricate enough. On the other hand, there are recurring dramatis personae, ideas, and debates in Delirio americano: these serve as guides in what is otherwise a lengthy and dense text of more than five hundred pages before the endnotes. Some of these include the longstanding impact of José Enrique Rodo’s essay “Ariel,” related notions of anti-Yankeeism, and the skepticism toward science and pragmatism often found in the region. The author is adept at showing, through many examples, how poets and novelists in the region influenced the ideologies of political leaders; indeed, it was not uncommon for Latin American writers to become rulers of their countries. In many respects, as Granés makes plain, at stake in its various intellectual debates are views regarding the nature and destiny of Latin America: is the region, on account of its history and demography, destined (doomed, even) to frenzied and cacophonous political experiments that often lead to dictatorship, tyranny, and a pervasive sense of victimhood? Similarly, is Latin America the land of magical realism, opaque to—and essentially different from—the rest of the world? Or is it best, as intellectuals like Mario Vargas Llosa have posited in what might be described as a counter option, for the region to commit to the path of liberalism and democracy, messy and protracted though this path may be? Granés argues for the counter option, placing himself firmly in the camp of Vargas Llosa and other Latin American intellectuals who became disillusioned with the upheavals, power grabs, and polarization characteristic of the region (and which are becoming, Granés observes, increasingly common beyond the region). In contrast, readers committed to the first array of options will almost certainly find Granés’s book unconvincing (if not misguided). In addition, one could further critique Delirio americano as paying too much attention to masculine, patriarchal cultural and political figures and institutions. Granted, there are counterexamples of female artists, intellectuals, and political figures (e.g., Nahui Olin, Doris Salcedo, and Evita Perón), but in the study they are probably best considered the exceptions that prove the rule. Conversely, however, it is also clear in Granés’s book that the delirium he observes in Latin America has mostly masculine and patriarchal roots. Readers who have yet to make up their minds about Latin America will find Delirio americano a worthwhile and educational read: the writing (in Spanish) is clear and aimed at a general readership curious about Latin American culture, and there are many insights (both large and small) on the region, its history, and its thinkers. Rudyard Alcocer University of Tennessee","PeriodicalId":51796,"journal":{"name":"Hispania-A Journal Devoted To the Teaching of Spanish and Portuguese","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.2000,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Hispania-A Journal Devoted To the Teaching of Spanish and Portuguese","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1353/hpn.2023.a906587","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"LANGUAGE & LINGUISTICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0

Abstract

Indeed, delirious. As an aid, the author includes an insert, a roadmap of sorts: a genealogical diagram detailing what is to him the convoluted nature of modern Latin American cultural and political history. Granés’s focus is, on the one hand, vast: He gives consideration to a plethora of poets, painters, essayists, dictators, and so on, from all the regions (and subregions) of Latin America during the time period in question. He could have started his account prior to Martí (with Bolívar, for instance, or even Spanish colonialism itself), but a longer temporal framework was not necessary for Granés’s argument. Opening the book with Martí’s reckless charge sets the stage in dramatic fashion; in addition, Latin American cultural and political history post Martí is (as the author shows) already intricate enough. On the other hand, there are recurring dramatis personae, ideas, and debates in Delirio americano: these serve as guides in what is otherwise a lengthy and dense text of more than five hundred pages before the endnotes. Some of these include the longstanding impact of José Enrique Rodo’s essay “Ariel,” related notions of anti-Yankeeism, and the skepticism toward science and pragmatism often found in the region. The author is adept at showing, through many examples, how poets and novelists in the region influenced the ideologies of political leaders; indeed, it was not uncommon for Latin American writers to become rulers of their countries. In many respects, as Granés makes plain, at stake in its various intellectual debates are views regarding the nature and destiny of Latin America: is the region, on account of its history and demography, destined (doomed, even) to frenzied and cacophonous political experiments that often lead to dictatorship, tyranny, and a pervasive sense of victimhood? Similarly, is Latin America the land of magical realism, opaque to—and essentially different from—the rest of the world? Or is it best, as intellectuals like Mario Vargas Llosa have posited in what might be described as a counter option, for the region to commit to the path of liberalism and democracy, messy and protracted though this path may be? Granés argues for the counter option, placing himself firmly in the camp of Vargas Llosa and other Latin American intellectuals who became disillusioned with the upheavals, power grabs, and polarization characteristic of the region (and which are becoming, Granés observes, increasingly common beyond the region). In contrast, readers committed to the first array of options will almost certainly find Granés’s book unconvincing (if not misguided). In addition, one could further critique Delirio americano as paying too much attention to masculine, patriarchal cultural and political figures and institutions. Granted, there are counterexamples of female artists, intellectuals, and political figures (e.g., Nahui Olin, Doris Salcedo, and Evita Perón), but in the study they are probably best considered the exceptions that prove the rule. Conversely, however, it is also clear in Granés’s book that the delirium he observes in Latin America has mostly masculine and patriarchal roots. Readers who have yet to make up their minds about Latin America will find Delirio americano a worthwhile and educational read: the writing (in Spanish) is clear and aimed at a general readership curious about Latin American culture, and there are many insights (both large and small) on the region, its history, and its thinkers. Rudyard Alcocer University of Tennessee
查看原文
分享 分享
微信好友 朋友圈 QQ好友 复制链接
本刊更多论文
Amy K.Kaminsky的《另一个/阿根廷:犹太人、性别和性在现代国家的形成中》(评论)
的确,神志不清。作为一种帮助,作者包括了一个插页,一个路线图:一个家谱图,详细说明了现代拉丁美洲文化和政治史的复杂性。一方面,Granés的关注点是广泛的:他考虑到了在所述时期来自拉丁美洲所有地区(和次区域)的大量诗人、画家、散文家、独裁者等。他本可以在马蒂之前开始他的叙述(例如,与玻利瓦尔,甚至西班牙殖民主义本身),但格拉内斯的论点不需要更长的时间框架。以Martí鲁莽的指控开场,戏剧性地奠定了舞台;此外,正如作者所展示的那样,后马蒂斯时代的拉丁美洲文化和政治历史已经足够复杂。另一方面,《Delirio americano》中反复出现戏剧性的人物、思想和辩论:这些都是尾注前500多页冗长而密集的文本的指南。其中包括若泽·恩里克·罗多(JoséEnrique Rodo)的文章《阿里尔》(Ariel)的长期影响、反扬基主义的相关概念,以及该地区经常出现的对科学和实用主义的怀疑。作者善于通过许多例子展示该地区的诗人和小说家如何影响政治领导人的意识形态;事实上,拉丁美洲作家成为自己国家的统治者并不罕见。正如Granés明确指出的那样,在许多方面,关于拉丁美洲的性质和命运的观点在其各种学术辩论中岌岌可危:由于其历史和人口结构,该地区是否注定(甚至注定)要进行疯狂和刺耳的政治实验,这些实验往往会导致独裁、暴政和普遍的受害者意识?同样,拉丁美洲是魔幻现实主义的土地,对世界其他地区来说是不透明的,而且本质上不同于世界其他地区吗?或者,正如马里奥·巴尔加斯·略萨(Mario Vargas Llosa)等知识分子在可能被描述为一种反选择的情况下所设想的那样,该地区最好走自由主义和民主的道路,尽管这条道路可能是混乱和漫长的?Granés主张采取相反的选择,将自己坚定地站在Vargas Llosa和其他拉丁美洲知识分子的阵营中,他们对该地区特有的动荡、权力争夺和两极分化感到失望(Grané斯观察到,这种情况在该地区以外越来越普遍)。相比之下,致力于第一系列选择的读者几乎肯定会发现Granés的书没有说服力(如果不是被误导的话)。此外,人们可以进一步批评Delirio americano过于关注男性化、父权制的文化和政治人物和制度。诚然,女性艺术家、知识分子和政治人物也有反例(如Nahui Olin、Doris Salcedo和Evita Perón),但在研究中,她们可能被认为是证明这一规律的例外。然而,相反,Granés的书中也清楚地表明,他在拉丁美洲观察到的谵妄大多有男性和父权的根源。尚未对拉丁美洲下定决心的读者会发现《Delirio americano》是一本有价值和教育意义的读物:这本书(西班牙语)内容清晰,面向对拉丁美洲文化好奇的普通读者,对该地区、其历史和思想家有许多见解(无论大小)。田纳西州鲁迪亚德·阿尔柯瑟大学
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
求助全文
约1分钟内获得全文 去求助
来源期刊
CiteScore
0.30
自引率
0.00%
发文量
87
期刊最新文献
Pero habla(n): Las heridas de los hijos de los inmigrantes en la poesía de Paloma Chen Francoist Repression and Incarceration in Contemporary Spanish Culture: Justice through Memory by Maureen Tobin Stanley (review) Colectficción: Sobrepasando los límites de la autoficción ed. by Priscilla Gac-Artigas (review) Un intelectual en tiempos sombríos: Francisco Ayala, entre la razón y las emociones (1929–1949) by Javier Krauel (review) Latinx Health and Object-based Learning: Moving Students of Spanish into Museums to Meet the 5Cs
×
引用
GB/T 7714-2015
复制
MLA
复制
APA
复制
导出至
BibTeX EndNote RefMan NoteFirst NoteExpress
×
×
提示
您的信息不完整,为了账户安全,请先补充。
现在去补充
×
提示
您因"违规操作"
具体请查看互助需知
我知道了
×
提示
现在去查看 取消
×
提示
确定
0
微信
客服QQ
Book学术公众号 扫码关注我们
反馈
×
意见反馈
请填写您的意见或建议
请填写您的手机或邮箱
已复制链接
已复制链接
快去分享给好友吧!
我知道了
×
扫码分享
扫码分享
Book学术官方微信
Book学术文献互助
Book学术文献互助群
群 号:481959085
Book学术
文献互助 智能选刊 最新文献 互助须知 联系我们:info@booksci.cn
Book学术提供免费学术资源搜索服务,方便国内外学者检索中英文文献。致力于提供最便捷和优质的服务体验。
Copyright © 2023 Book学术 All rights reserved.
ghs 京公网安备 11010802042870号 京ICP备2023020795号-1