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Latin American Languages and Societies Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Latin American Languages and Societies

Between Confession And Realism: Lack, Vision, And The Construction Of Identity In Rafael Arévalo Martínez’S Una Vida And Manuel Aldano, Maria Spitz Apr 2015

Between Confession And Realism: Lack, Vision, And The Construction Of Identity In Rafael Arévalo Martínez’S Una Vida And Manuel Aldano, Maria Spitz

School of American and Global Studies Faculty Publications with a Focus on Modern Languages and Global Studies

The present study explores the relationship between generic ambiguity in Una vida (1914) and Manuel Aldano (1922) by the Guatemalan Rafael Aróvalo Martínez, and the Darwinian/Spencerian discourse with which the narrator attempts to construct an identity that will grant him a legitimate speaking subjectivity in the face of his inability to adapt to the changes in the Spanish American letrado’s role within societies at the periphery of modernization. Through an analysis of the narrator’s development and the emerging relationships between sexuality, language, genre, and vision in Arévalo Martínez’s short novels, the reader will note the irresolute tension between confession and …


Constructing ‘Farmer’ And ‘State’ Identities In Moral Discourses About Semi-Subsistence Agriculture In North-East Brazil, Karen E. Pennesi Jan 2015

Constructing ‘Farmer’ And ‘State’ Identities In Moral Discourses About Semi-Subsistence Agriculture In North-East Brazil, Karen E. Pennesi

Anthropology Publications

Anthropological analysis elucidates how discourses about agriculture in one North-east Brazilian community reflect relational roles of citizens and the state, the position of farmers in society, and the relationship of individuals to their work. In these discourses, farmers are positioned as moral, hard-working, autonomous citizens, justifying their participation in low-paying activities. The declining numbers of agricultural workers is explained as a result of individual laziness or government irresponsibility. In using these discourses to take stances publicly on agricultural issues, speakers assign responsibilities and moral status to agents. In constructing rural identities, such moral discourses emphasise the symbolic value of subsistence …