Ecocriticism: The Ibero-American Experience presents a distinct view of the diverse social and physical geographies of the Americas, their political and cultural connections to the Iberian Peninsula, and their relationship to the environment in its diverse representations. The topics ranging from myths and legends, poetics, young adult literature, arts and performance, to cinematography by women dialogue across chapters reveal a persistent usage of nature and environment as recurrent themes. Through visual and plastic arts, as well as poetic narratives of social utopias/dystopias, the contributors provide original readings on the effects of societal views and struggles to protect and consciously exploit the natural world. The uniqueness of this book relies therefore on the geographical and cultural approach to the poetics of nature and its metaphorical and physical embodiment, place and geography through utopian and dystopian world recreation and representation, and finally the nexus with ecology and social actors.
Table of Contents Acknowledgments Introduction: Ecocriticism: The Ibero-American Experience J. Manuel Gómez I Ecopoetics 1. Antonio Colina’s Poetics of Feminine Geographic Spaces Maria C. Fellie 2. Latin American Women’s Ecocinema: Indigenous Nations, the Tourist Gaze, and Global Screens in El verano de los peces voladores Victoria Jara 3. The Affective Force of the Landscape in Cristina Rivera Garza’s El mal de la taiga Rafael Andúgar II Ecodystopias 4. From “Earth’s Best Friend” to “Unkillable Ghost” (and Back Again): A Literary History of Kudzu in the American South Megan Cole 5. Voice of a Region, Matter of the World: The Ecological Landscape in A.M. Pires Cabral’s Poetry Isabel Maria Fernandes Alves 6. Ibero-American Images: Ecocritical Tales J. Manuel Gómez III: Ecojustice 7. Of Monsters and Men: An Ecocritical Perspective of Isabel Allende’s Young Adult Literature Victoria Ketz 8. Decolonizing Nature and Indigenous Representation from Chilean Pre-Columbians Art to Mapuche Poetry Julia A. Kushigian 9. Environmental Justice/Social Justice: Úselo y tírelo (Eduardo Galeano, 1994) Elizabeth Rivero About the Contributors
J. Manuel Gómez is associate professor and director of the Hispanic Institute at La Salle University.
Reviews for Ibero-American Ecocriticism: Cultural and Social Explorations
Ibero-American Ecocriticism: Cultural and Social Explorations gathers nine essays on novels, films, poems, myths, and the literary history of peoples, plants, and lands that transcend nationalities and lineages, and bring to the fore the transatlantic dimension of both, environmental and cultural conflicts of global magnitude. Under the rubrics of Ecopoetics, Ecodystopias, and Ecojustice, the reader of Ibero-American Ecocriticism will find sharp critical studies and encouraging proposals for a better future within a transgeographical and dialogic frame where affection has as much a prominent role as aesthetics and ethics. This book offers a valuable contribution to the growing body of scholarly studies on the Latin American environmental humanities, including many literary and cinematic works that have gone unstudied until now.
