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FDU PRESS
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| Scholarly Review |
 | Hybrid Nations
ISBN# 9780838642092
Reviewed by: R. Ocasio, Agnes Scott College
Choice, July 2010 |
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Swier (Wake Forest University) argues that since the 19th century "gender troping," which she defines as "opposing conceptualizations of gender," has been an inherent component of the development of national identities throughout Latin America. Although individual countries dealt in different ways with the impact of gender on national identity, one can find common sociopolitical trends. Esteban Echeverria's short story "El matadero," presumably the first Latin American short story written after Argentine independence in the 19th century, provides Swier the basis for her discussion of the ways that gender was manipulated as part of a political discourse. Other literary works analyzed here include novels by Cuban Jose Marti (Amistad funesta, 1885), Venezuelan Romulo Gallegos (Dona Barbara, 1929), and Guatamalan Miguel Angel Asturias (El Senor Presidente, 1946). A concluding chapter links the novels to a major theme of "the patriarchal binary thought that corresponds to the underlying opposition between man/masculine and woman/feminine." Solidly grounded in feminist theory, this book offers an in-depth look at key literary pieces by Latin American male writers whose male and female characters reveal the complex gender-based components present in Latin America.
Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and graduate students.
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