Nicolás Guillén's "El gran zoo" (1967), illustrated by Fayad Jamís, was the first Hispanic bestiary to prominently feature humans in a space traditionally inhabited by beasts. Guillén's verses transform the bestiary from a didactic tool used for centuries to instruct and uniform society into a subversive text that openly denounces the…

Cristina Fernández Cubas's short story "La nueva vida" ("La habitación de Nona" 2015) foregrounds the play between truth and fiction, past and present, and death and identity, where the widowed protagonist finds meaning not in philosophy, but in physics. Widowed in 2007 at age 62, Fernández Cubas focalized this story through…

This essay examines the state of Digital Humanities work in the subfield of literature from the Spanish speaking world. It provides a case study of a multiyear digital mapping project conducted with undergraduate students at a highly selective liberal arts college. This project serves as a means of examining the digital state of the field and…

In the context of Latin American Studies (LAS) and from a sociohistorical perspective, the author proposes a non-credit workshop in Spanish as a Foreign Language (SFL) at the University of Ottawa, Canada. Its general aim is to raise students' awareness of the interrelationships between coloniality and the geopolitics of knowledge through fiction.…

Ventura García Calderón (1886-1959) was a Peruvian man of letters and a diplomat who was at the center of the hispanophone community in Paris in the first half of the twentieth century. Known as a proponent of Spanish American literature, García Calderón achieved a global celebrity for his dramatic, colorful, and ironic short stories. These…

This study focuses on some of the classical features of Rubem Fonseca's "A grande arte" (1983) in order to emphasize the puzzle-solving tradition of the detective novel that is embedded within Fonseca's crime thriller, producing a work that does not entirely fit into traditional divisions of detective, hardboiled, or crime…

The detrimental effects of neoliberalism accompany globalization. The paradoxes generated by the global-regional gap have revealed local cultures' double vulnerability to national and international development. Miguel Pereira fictionalizes this complex phenomenon in the film "Verónico Cruz. La deuda interna" (Argentina, 1988). Inspired…

This current study presents a unique approach to the examination of Hispanic film through the incorporation of a civic engagement project, the Mayerson Student Philanthropy Project (MSPP), into the curriculum. Students examined and assessed important global issues, and how they are portrayed in films from several Spanish-speaking countries, while…

Ernesto "Che" Guevara's iconic photograph has taken on mythical proportions since his death. Though his image has ironically been exploited by the apparatus of capitalism against which he fought, his translation into a symbol has assured that his foothold within popular culture remains largely unassailable. While recent films and…

It is proposed that college second-language students can increase understanding of the nature of fiction and film in a carefully planned upper-level course combining genres. One Spanish teacher's experience illustrates that this improves students' appreciation of Hispanic values, specific literary and cinematographic techniques, and use of…

An annotated list of outstanding fiction and nonfiction books for children is presented, including works recently published in Spain, Venezuela, Chile, Mexico, Columbia, Argentina, Great Britain, and the United States. The 17 books should appeal to Spanish-speaking readers as well as readers on the elementary school level. (LB)

Provides a list of recently published books in Spanish for children and adolescents. A tentative grade level is indicated for each book, but it is suggested that the individual child's Spanish-reading ability, interest, taste, and purpose should be the main criteria for determining the true level of each book. (Author/VWL)

Special issue devoted to works and criticisms of Benito Perez Galdos on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Spanish author's death. First time that Hispania" has dedicated an entire issue to one author. (DS)