This article discusses the representation of news media in two crime novels by Argentine writer Claudia Piñeiro: "Betibú" (2011) and "Las maldiciones" (2017). It proposes that in these two novels, Piñeiro addresses both the limitations and the possibilities of activist journalism in the twenty-first century. Piñeiro's work…

A central theme throughout Machado de Assis's works is the way characters look at each other inside and outside houses. This article argues that vision, race, and houses define his narrative strategies in the short stories "Pai contra Mãe" and "O Caso da Vara," and the novels "Dom Casmurro," "Memórias póstumas de…

By reclaiming the power of self-definition and the use of the term "travesti" to designate their unique experience within the Latin American cultural, economic, and political context, "travesti" intellectuals have fought the dehumanization of their personhood. In her novel "Las malas," the Argentine author Camila Sosa…

Through her epistolary correspondence and her novel "Ifigenia" (1924), Teresa de la Parra (1889-1936) questions racial stratification systems reminiscent of colonial times and still present in twentieth-century Venezuela. Parra establishes the malleability of racial categories through a moderate racial discourse that intends to…

Following several calls in recent scholarship for increased attention to the study of the Central American diaspora in the United States, this article offers readings of Honduran-born author Roberto Quesada's novels "Big Banana" (1999) and "Nunca entres por Miami" (2003). Written in New York City, where he has resided since…

Despite apparent connections between Brazilian and Spanish American narratives, comparative scholarship has only recently begun to investigate actively these important points of contact. In this study, we introduce a vital crossover between the two traditions, involving Juan Rulfo and Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis. Rulfo's outspoken affinity for…

This current study explores the relationship between visual technology (cinema and photography) and a metanarrative preoccupation with the craft of literary narration in two texts by Pablo Palacio (Ecuador, 1906-47). In his novella "Débora" (1927), Palacio employs the language of cinema (e.g., the cinematograph, the cinema, references to…

This article examines Peruvian-American Marie Arana's second novel "Lima Nights" (2008) in which she represents Amazonian indigenous migrations to Lima, Peru during and after the Shining Path civil war years (1986-2006). As part of a generation of transnational US Latina authors in the post-2000 period, Arana recovers the image of the…

This essay explores the career of the understudied writer Pedro Castera (1846-1906), who is regarded as one of the first practitioners of science fiction in Mexico. A man of many talents, Castera is one of the most eccentric and eclectic figures in the intellectual life of fin-de-siècle Mexico City. His career took many turns: While during…

This paper speculates about whether a literary canon exists in contemporary Latin American literature, particularly in the prose genre. The paper points to Carlos Fuentes, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Mario Vargas Llosa as the three authors who might form this traditional and liberal canon with their works "La Muerte de Artemio Cruz"…

This paper profiles representative Afro-Brazilian writers and provides a guide to English language translations and critical studies of their work. The aim is to encourage instructors to broaden the scope of current curricula in black and Latin American studies courses. Recent studies estimate that more than 40 percent of Brazil's inhabitants are…

As Latin American literature progressively enters into the English curriculum, two writers deserve special commentary for their representative contribution to the literary world. Through their works, the Columbian author, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and the Peruvian author, Mario Vargas Llosa clearly convey the Latin American writer's desire to be…