Revista de estudios norteamericanos - 2018 - Nº 22
URI permanente para esta colecciónhttps://hdl.handle.net/11441/85316
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Artículo The Portrayal of the Grotesque in Stoddard’s and Quantin’s Illustrated Editions of Edgar Allan Poe (1884): an Interdisciplinary Analysis of the Relations between the Visual and Verbal [Reseña](Universidad de Sevilla, 2018) Sommerfeld, StephanieArtículo Edgar Allan Poe and the Tradition of Western Mysticism: A Study of A Selection of his Short Stories(Universidad de Sevilla, 2018) Studniarz, SławomirThe article is devoted to the mystical elements and allusions surfacing in Poe‘s ―analytical,‖ ―angelic,‖ and ―landscape‖ tales: ―A Descent into the Maelström,‖ ―The Purloined Letter,‖ ―The Murders in the Rue Morgue,‖ ―The Domain of Arnheim,‖ ―Landor‘s Cottage,‖ ―Mesmeric Revelation,‖ ―The Colloquy of Monos and Una,‖ ―The Conversation of Eiros and Charmion,‖ and “The Power of Words.‖ It is argued that the narrative circumstances in ――A Descent into the Maelström,‖‖ in which the Norwegian fisherman describes to the unnamed narrator his adventure, rework the long-established spiritual imagery. The Dupin tales, in turn, are grounded in the cult of Night and in the initiatory powers of darkness, recalling the mystical ―night of the soul.‖ The two ―landscape tales‖ depict the act of an artistic transcendence, performed by an artisan devoted to emulating the supernal order within the bounds of empirical reality. The article pays also due attention to the revelatory experience that results from crossing the boundary between the temporal and the eternal in Poe‘s ―angelic‖ dialogues.Artículo Transhumanism in Dave Eggers' The Circle: Utopia vs. Dystopia, Dream vs. Nightmare(Universidad de Sevilla, 2018) Laguarta Bueno, CarmenAlthough transhumanism counts with the support of a growing number of followers, some critics and writers of fiction have recently warned about the detrimental effects that some particular technologies may have on human beings. Dave Eggers‘ 2013 The Circle is a novel that overtly deals with the possible dangers of transhumanism. Set in the near future, the novel places particular emphasis on social media tools and surveillance devices. This paper aims to explore some textual strategies the novel uses to set the debate over human enhancement technologies. More specifically, it argues that, by using a series of narrative strategies which ultimately make readers realize the dehumanization that social media tools and surveillance devices bring about, Eggers stresses the need to adopt a critical stance towards these technologies, avoiding the temptation of being carried away by their appealing promises.Artículo On Susan Glaspell’s Trifles and A Jury of Her Peers: Centennial Essays, Interviews and Adaptations [Reseña](Universidad de Sevilla, 2018) Herrera Medalle, RovieArtículo Exhaustion and Regeneration in 9/11 Speculative Fiction: Kris Saknussemm’s Beyond The Flags (2015)(Universidad de Sevilla, 2018) Baelo Allué, SoniaEarly 9/11 fiction has often been criticised for focusing too much on the victims and on the local aspects of the tragedy ignoring the global and political consequences of the attacks. 9/11 speculative fiction writers have taken longer to engage directly with the tragedy and when doing so they have also often adopted trauma-oriented approaches that could appease but not challenge. In 2015 Douglas Lain edited In the Shadow of the Towers: Speculative Fiction in a Post-9/11 World, a collection that shows how the idiom of the fantastic can be serious and meaningful and also a means to explore cultural anxieties in the United States. Within Lain‘s collection, this paper pays special attention to Kris Saknussemm‘s ―Beyond the Flags,‖ a story that combines cultural anxieties of our time and helps readers confront their own contradictions by questioning accepted assumptions like the sacred nature of the victims or the expected patriotism following a national tragedy. It also suggests new ways in which speculative fiction can offer original approaches to regenerate 9/11 fiction.Artículo On Racism and the Impossibility of Mourning: A Critical Reading of Claudia Rankine‘s Citizen, an American Lyric(Universidad de Sevilla, 2018) Cantero Sánchez, MayteClaudia Rankine‘s Citizen, An American Lyric (2015) problematizes the notion of citizenship through theory-laden poetical prose, images, and video scripts. This paper aims to critically read Citizen, the theoretical work In the Wake: on Blackness and Being (2016) written by Christina Sharpe, and Sara Ahmed‘s Phenomenology of Whiteness (2007) and Living a Feminist Life (2017). The trace of canonical thinkers for Critical Race Theory (CRT) such as Frantz Fanon or Achille Mbembe will also be observed. I contend that Citizen can be read in the vein of a theoretical work close to CRT approaches, as it tackles similar topics such as death, structural racism, necropolitics, and raced intimacy. It provides multiple illustrative cases which are poetry-laden and politically-laden, as well as theoretical statements that give accounts of the phenomenology of racism in current US.Artículo The Animal Teacher in Daniel Quinn’s Ishmael(Universidad de Sevilla, 2018) Villanueva Romero, DianaThis article aims at offering an analysis of the animal protagonist of Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and the Spirit (1992) by American author Daniel Quinn as well as his environmental lesson. This book tells the story of the relationship between a human and an animal teacher, the telepathic gorilla Ishmael. Throughout their conversations some of the reasons behind the environmental crisis are discussed and the need for a shift in the Western paradigm is defended. Special attention is given throughout this artice to the gorilla’s acquisition of personhood, his Socratic method, his thorough lesson on animal and human captivity, and the timeless quality of a fable that continues resonating with many of the global attempts towards a more sustainable world.Artículo 2016: A Populist Odyssey: Neoliberalism and Populism in Hell or High Water(Universidad de Sevilla, 2018) Orán Llarena, FabiánThe year 2016 will be long associated to the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States. Although the film studies literature on ―Trump‘s America‖ is yet to be written, there are instances of American films addressing the conditions leading to the seismic shifts of 2016. This article examines the film Hell or High Water in light of the epochal political changes of the year 2016. Drawing on the concept of populism and analyzing the central aspects of neoliberalism, I argue that Hell or High Water represents the state of the political camps circa 2016, as well as the political and economic demands prefiguring a potential populist reaction.Artículo That Was Poe, The Great American Hack: Retracing Echoes of Poe’s Gothic Tales in Stephen King’s The Shining(Universidad de Sevilla, 2018) Miquel Baldellou, MartaBurton Pollin argues that, despite Edgar Allan Poe‟s evident legacy in Stephen King‟s fiction, Poe‟s influence on the writings of this author from Maine has often been overlooked and even ignored by Poe scholars. Pollin suggests that King‟s most acclaimed horror novel The Shining (1977) was mostly inspired by Poe‟s gothic tales “The Masque of the Red Death” and “The Fall of the House of Usher.” Taking Pollin‟s premise as a point of departure, this article aims to retrace examples of transtextuality – to use Gérard Genette‟s term − between King‟s novel The Shining and some of Poe‟s gothic tales, thus following Pollin‟s initial proposal, but with the view to analyse different passages from King‟s novel in comparison with other Poe‟s tales that have been hardly mentioned in relation to The Shining.Artículo Under Bech’s Eyes: Emotional Geographies of the European East in John Updike’s Short Stories(Universidad de Sevilla, 2018) Bryla, MartynaJohn Updike‘s short stories about Henry Bech‘s diplomatic adventures in the European East have been analysed mainly in the context of the Cold-War balance of power and Updike‘s ambivalent attitude to communist Russia. While the hard-boiled politics constitute the backdrop of Bech‘s cultural mission, the three stories which I discuss in this essay entertain tensions between the official and the personal, which in turn shape the protagonist‘s representations of Eastern European others. Accordingly, by combining imagology with elements of geocriticism and affect studies, this essay explores how cultural patterns of perceiving alterity are intertwined with emotions to produce Bech‘s emotional geographies of the European East, which in mapping the other reflect back on and consolidate Bech‘s American self.Artículo Two Decades Fighting Inhuman Natures: Naomi Wallace’s In the Heart of America (1994)(Universidad de Sevilla, 2018) Herrera Medalle, RovieNaomi Wallace is one of the most representative voices of contemporary American women‟s drama. Wallace‟s plays have been produced for over twenty years in the USA and around the world. The dramatist presents a political writing that rattles the theaters with experimental techniques, unfamiliar characters, and intricate stories. Although many of Wallace‟s recent plays have been well received by the audience, In the Heart of America (1994) is still praised as her masterpiece. This essay discusses the aspects that make In the Heart of America, after two decades of production, her best-known and most recognized play. Focused on the spectatorial experience, this essay provides insights into cognitive theories by Giovanna Colombetti and Bruce McConachie applied to spectatorship that cast some light on Wallace‟s complex drama.Artículo Blackface Nation. Race, Reform, and Identity in American Popular Music [Reseña](Universidad de Sevilla, 2018) Masa de Lucas, OlmoArtículo The Representation of The Female Body in the Contemporary Cultural Context: The Case of HBO’s Girls(Universidad de Sevilla, 2018) Narbona Carrión, María DoloresKeeping in mind the confusing atmosphere surrounding the contemporary understanding of feminism, and guided by a solid theoretical feminist perspective, the aim of this work is to study how economic neoliberal interests are utilising supposedly feminist ideas to commodify the bodies of contemporary women in different ways. I will highlight how the mass media has become an essential tool to spread confusing messages which try to lead women to think that, by controlling their bodies in order to have particular physical attributes, they will also feel happier and empowered. Afterwards, I will demonstrate how the above-mentioned confusion is also stirred by contemporary celebrities –such as Lena Dunham– who have taken personal advantage of this fashionable feminist trend. To prove my hypothesis, I will develop an analysis of Dunham‘s representations of female bodies (especially in her TV series Girls) in order to study and reflect on their supposedly feminist foundations. This will lead us to question the genuineness of her self-proclamation as a champion of the acceptance and defence of the ordinary body. I will base this idea on my inference that the motivation of her original portrayal of the female body is rather derived from an economic interest that resembles that proper to the beauty industry against which she is allegedly fighting.Artículo Borges’s Poe. The Influence and Reinvention of Edgar Allan Poe in Spanish America [Reseña](Universidad de Sevilla, 2018) Rodríguez Guerrero, SantiagoArtículo North America and Spain: Transversal Perspectives [Reseña](Universidad de Sevilla, 2018) Gurpegui Palacios, José AntonioArtículo Paint the Desert Pink: Islam, Homosexuality and Kazim Ali's Living Scripture(Universidad de Sevilla, 2018) Guimarães, João PauloAccording to Henry Corbin, in Islamic philosophy, “divine language” (a notion that straddles the material and the spiritual) is seen as an inexhaustible creative power that ensures nature‟s ever-changing configuration. In this essay, I claim that American poet Kazim Ali‟s compositions show us that there is continuity between divine, natural and poetic language and that it is through the verbal acts of his creatures that God‟s scripture goes on writing itself. Ali‟s work is thus in line with Islam‟s “lettristic” tradition, which shows us religion allows room for the kind of broad-minded views about natural diversity and sexuality that some critics accuse the West of exporting to Islamic countries.Artículo Native Waterscapes in the Northern Borderlands: Restoring Traditional Environmental Knowledge in Linda Hogan’s Solar Storms(Universidad de Sevilla, 2018) Brígido Corachán, Anna M.In her novel Solar Storms (1995) Chickasaw novelist and poet Linda Hogan foresees what political geographers today refer to as waterscapes, that is, water-based environments where a multiplicity of human and other-than-human forces interact with each other producing diverse forms of signification. This essay examines Indigenous experiences of water, geography, and social activism as they intersect in Hogan‘s waterscape narrative. I ground my analysis of this visionary novel in recent geographical studies that look at waterscapes from the perspective of cultural politics and which criticize rationalist conceptions of water that reduce it to the sole function of human commodity. Challenging such a reductionist view, Western and non-Western political geographers have begun to take into account traditional environmental knowledge (TEK), local ecologies, and historically rooted, alternative social practices to argue that water environments produce meaning through the ways human and other-than-human beings experience them, and this includes beings such as the earth or water. In this article I contend that such a view is the epistemological backbone sustaining Hogan‘s Solar Storms. While the potential swirling action of water as a form of environmental and spiritual power is strongly highlighted, I also consider how alternative cartographical practices and stories may challenge the boundaries of colonial dominance and propose ways in which Hogan‘s waterscape may contribute to contemporary geographical and political debates concerning home, territory, sovereignty, and sustainability in the Americas.Artículo Constructing the Self: Essays on Southern Life-Writing [Reseña](Universidad de Sevilla, 2018) Clemente, CristóbalArtículo Victoria Kent y Louise Crane en Nueva York. Un exilio compartido [Reseña](Universidad de Sevilla, 2018) Guijarro González, Juan Ignacio; Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Filología Inglesa (Literatura Inglesa y Norteamericana)Artículo Vital Contacts: Dramatic Downclassing in Bosworth Crocker’s Humble Folk(Universidad de Sevilla, 2018) Hernando Real, NoeliaThe present paper provides a revision of the concept of vital contact, which gained importance during the Progressive Era, and its gendered division, as applied to Bosworth Crocker‘s plays included in the collection Humble Folk (1923). Taking Crocker‘s plays as case studies, this paper discusses the binary division between tourism narratives and sociological narratives of slumming, which enables the rediscovery of Bosworth Crocker, a long-neglected transatlantic author usually regarded as a minor writer known through her failed marriage to famous critic and scholar Ludwig Lewisohn. Consequently, the present discussion argues how, through her theater, Crocker engaged with social activism, appealing to the social conscience of her audiences/readers and voicing the need to legislate on tenement housing, prostitution, domestic violence and women‘s rights over their own salaries, concerns that marked U.S evolution from Victorian to modern times.