This dissertation examines neoliberal discourse’s construction and its impact represented in short stories published during the late 1980s and 1990s in the northern and central part of Mexico. Focusing primarily on short stories by authors Luis Humberto Crosthwaite, Rafael Saavedra, Oscar de la Borbolla, and Rosario Sanmiguel, this study analyzes how re-imagined, in their literary texts, the immediate aftermath of neoliberal policies in Mexican’s society, economy, culture, and politics. By re-imagining neoliberalism, I propose that each text creates a dialogue with and a juxtaposition of reality to the rhetoric constructed by the state apparatuses; and, at the same time, by exploring Mexicans’ daily lives, each text offers a different perspective on neoliberalism’s effects on them. Each chapter draws on an interdisciplinary theoretical framework to provide a complete understanding of the origin of neoliberalism, its discursive evolution, its implementation in Mexico, its benefits and consequences, and its influence on the transformation of language, culture, politics, and feminism. Part I discusses the linguistic transformations on the Mexican side of the border after the arrival of neoliberal policies in areas of commerce, as presented in the short stories by Luis Humberto Crosthwaite and Rafael Saavedra. The conclusion of this analysis is that a kind of transitory bilingualism has emerged and, eventually, has become part of Tijuana’s linguistic identity. Part II explores the transformation of Mexico City represented in the book of Ucronías of Oscar de la Borbolla. In this part, I propose that these texts are ucronías políticas (political uchronies) –hybrid, humoristic news reports– that subvert neoliberal discourse by staging the negative effects of neoliberalism through the portrayal of marginalized spaces to make visible those forgotten by an apparently progressive rhetoric. Part III presents a rereading through an economic lens of Callejón Sucre y otros relatos, by Rosario Sanmiguel. The primary argument is that although the short stories in this book present feminist characters, some of them are neoliberal feminists. Neoliberal feminists are women in a privileged position of agency and empowerment; they can or need not accept patriarchal norms, and some characters in these stories decide to accept them.

ABSTRACT Research into the state of literature in the beginning years of the 20th century in Spain shows an absence of women’s voices. A logical conclusion, that women had no interest in written expression during the years of 1900-1936 in Spain, has shown itself to be completely false. Suffering under the pressure of unfair civil laws, the power of the patriarchy and the influence of the Church (“the angel of the house”), women were living in a world of silence. The lack of writings by women erases women from the historical memory in Spain and creates a literary emptiness. After researching in the shops of antique dealers and second-hand book shops of Spain, a large variety of kiosk literature written by women is revealed, exposing a substantial quantity of short novels intended for a women’s audience. Applying various literary theories such as feminism, queer theory, Marxism and deconstructionism, the literary value of these novels emerges and is worthy of being studied and included in the literary canon of Spain. In order to demonstrate the intrinsic cultural and literary value, an analysis of 9 novels written by 6 women whose literary talents had not as yet been recognized, was undertaken. The six women authors-heroins for their revolutionary literary expression- are: Magda Dontao (La carabina, Las otras dos), Sara Insúa (Salomé de hoy, La llama de Bengala ), Regina Opisso (Mi honor…!qué importa!), Angela Graupera (En las garras del hombre, Como las abejas) and Federica Montseny (Vampiresa). These novels, sold in kiosks across Spain, serve as the literary voices of women at that time that expressed the repressive condition of Spanish women, and which need to be included in the literary landscape of Spain. ABSTRACTO Examinar la literatura de los albores del siglo XX en España pone de manifiesto una ausencia de voces femeninas. Una conclusión lógica de esta ausencia, de que las mujeres no tenían ningún interés en la expresión escrita entre los años 1900 y 1936 en España, se demuestra a lo largo de esta disertación completamente equivocada. Presionadas por códigos civiles injustos, el poder del patriarcado y las influencias de la Iglesia (“el ángel del hogar”), las mujeres parecían vivir en un mundo de silencio. La falsa escasez de textos escritos por mujeres las borra del mundo literario. Sin embargo, después de algunas búsquedas en los almacenes de los anticuarios y librerías de segunda mano en España, una gran variedad de literatura de quiosco—un modo novedoso de difusión literaria que rompe con las normas tradicionales de circulación de textos—en forma de novelas cortas escritas por mujeres para lectoras principalmente femeninas, se hace accesible para el investigador. Al analizar estas obras a la luz de varias teorías críticas contemporáneas como el feminismo, la teoría queer, el marxismo y la deconstrucción, se pone de manifiesto el valor de dichos textos durante el periodo estudiado. Es decir, la ausencia de autoras se debe a un fallo del canon, basado en la ideología patriarcal, y no a la ausencia de autoras y obras con un intrínseco valor literario, social y didáctico. En esta disertación se analizan 9 novelas escritas por 6 mujeres de este período—heroínas por su expresión literaria revolucionaria— son: Magda Dontao (La carabina, Las otras dos), Sara Insúa (Salomé de hoy, La llama de Bengala), Regina Opisso (Mi honor…!qué importa!), Ángela Graupera (En las garras del hombre, Como las abejas) y Federica Montseny (Vampiresa). Estas novelas, vendidas en los quioscos de España durante las primeras décadas de siglo XX, sirvieron como ejemplos literarios de las voces de las mujeres que existieron en aquellos años que expresaron la condición represiva de las mujeres españolas y que merecieron ser incluidas en el panorama literario español.

This doctoral dissertation analyzes the rendering of three complex concepts (otherness, alterity, and identity)—and their relationship— in three rewrites of William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Hamlet and The Tragedy of Macbeth from America’s Southern Cone (Uruguay, Argentina, and Chile). By embarking in a close reading of Interrogatorio en Elsinore (Carlos Manuel Varela), La señora Macbeth (Griselda Gambaro), and Yorick: la historia de Hámlet (Francisco y Simón Reyes), this dissertation approaches otherness, alterity, and identity in three of its multiple dimensions (ideological, gender, and artistic subjectivity of the translator/adaptator vis-à-vis the writer). While several studies have explored these three concepts separately and mostly from a cultural standpoint, this is the first one to show how they interact between one another through its representation in three rewrites of Shakespeare in Spanish from Uruguay, Argentina, and Chile. The cultures and history of the countries in which these three translations/adaptations are immersed are just a layer of this research. In addition to it—and loyal to the spirit of the texts being analyzed—this study takes advantage of other disciplines (translation studies, psychoanalysis, philosophy, and gender and communication theory, just to name a few) to analyze in depth and systematically what is implied in otherness, alterity, and identity. The interdisciplinary nature of this dissertation leads to valuable conclusions that can be of benefit, not only for the type of societies portrayed by the rewrites being studied, but for others as well.

This doctoral dissertation proposes an analysis of a selection of photographic series by a diverse group of Latin American photographers such as Argentinian Gustavo Di Mario, Brazilians Claudio Edinger and Alair Gomes, and Mexican Dorian Ulises López Macías. The analyzed material focuses on a revision of characteristics of masculinity and imperative heteronormativity in the discourses on their respective national identities. The projects put-fourth by these four artists represent a political proposal that unveals the homoaffective possibilities of their photographic referents. Susan Sontag postulates in her On Photography (1979) that “the powers of photography have in effect de-Platonized our understanding of reality, making it less and less plausible to reflect upon our experience according to the distinction between images and things, between copies and originals” (179). These artists understand the power of the image and, through its meticulous composition, they propose to not only photograph, but to also narrate the reality of dissident identities and their belonging to a collective national identity.

Las Islas Canarias son un archipiélago de la costa africana situado a cien kilómetros de la costa de Marruecos y del Sáhara Occidental. Estas islas fueron conquistadas a finales del siglo XV y son actualmente parte del Estado español, y su posición como punto de paso tricontinental ha facilitado una historia colonial que es paralela a la del Caribe y que está caracterizada por la asimilación de sus poblaciones indígenas, las plantaciones de caña de azúcar y el comercio esclavista atlántico, la emergencia de un Nuevo Mundo, las migraciones constantes desde las Islas Canarias hacia el Caribe, el desarrollo de movimientos independentistas y la turistificación del paraíso caribeño/canario, entre otros aspectos. La identidad de las Islas Canarias, si embargo, ha permanecido en una posición ambigua en la discusión de conceptos de tricontinentalidad o puente entre continentes, cuando estas islas no son simplemente consideradas como una región más de España con ligeras diferencias. Desde el Caribe, varios autores regionales han cuestionado sus propias identidades proponiendo los conceptos de creolización, relación o meta-archipiélago. Las ideas comunes exploradas por intelectuales de ambos archipiélagos incluyen los conceptos de colonialidad, modernidad, mitologización de la isla, fragmentación, atlanticidad, frontera y ultraperiferia, entre otros.

De esta manera, esta tesis doctoral conecta las Islas Canarias y el Caribe a través de la exploración de sus discursos identitarios, y aplica a Canarias las teorías poscoloniales desarrolladas en el Caribe. Partiendo del análisis de diversos trabajos de Fernando Ortiz, Antonio S. Pedreira, Édouard Glissant, Jean Bernabé, Patrick Chamoiseau, Raphael Confiant, Antonio Benítez Rojo, José Luis González, Juan Flores, Gustavo Pérez-Firmat, Walter Mignolo, Enrique Dussel, Gloria Anzaldúa y Juan Manuel García Ramos, entre otros, esta tesis propone el término canaribeñidad para definir el desarrollo bilateral y común de las identidades nacionales en las Islas Canarias y el Caribe, destacando la contribución canaria a la identidad caribeña (la fundación de la literatura cubana, el guajiro/jíbaro, la brujería…) y viceversa (discursos independentistas y nacionalistas, la experiencia diaspórica, la música, el tabaco, el sentido de fraternidad con el Caribe…). El corpus analizado en esta disertación incluye obras literarias transatlánticas, desde las primeras crónicas hasta ejemplos de teatro, novelas, ensayos, artículos periodísticos y poesía de los siglos XVI-XX.

As a result of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and blogs, works can be distributed and viewed at a global scale with the simple click of the mouse. One can even visit entire museums and virtually walk through their collections without having to leave one’s own seat. Furthermore, new software, programs, and digital tools facilitate and make possible the ability to experiment and create one’s art in ways that were previously unimaginable or even unheard of. This is also true with the dissemination of one’s art and the visibility of contemporary artists who create works pertaining to the digital realm. However, the availability, usage, and training associated with such technologies do not come without its own implications and drawbacks. Unfortunately, there exists a great disparity not only with access and availability of the Internet at a global level, but also a digital divide, which indicates that the technologies and sciences are “gendered”—for instance, the male majority in STEM professions and fields of study. When considering the Humanities, specifically the genre of contemporary art and literature, women’s marginalization is witnessed there too, as distinguished canonical works belong to predominantly Caucasian, Anglo-Saxon men. In the digital age then, Iberian and Latin American women writers and artists face the challenge of visibility and recognition in two territories—technology and contemporary artistic creation—dominated by men. This study gathers contemporary female artists of digital works originating from North America, the Caribbean, South America, and Spain who utilize a wide variety of tools to conduct and create their artwork. The artists and authors analyzed in this project include: Teresa Serrano (México, D.F. 1936-), Adriana Calatayud (México, D.F. 1967-), Ana Mendieta (Havana, 1948-1985), Maritza Molina (Havana), Yasmín S. Portales Machado (Havana, 1980-), María María Acha-Kutscher (Lima, 1968-), Praba Pilar (Colombia), María Cañas (Seville, 1972-), and Pilar Albarracín (Arcena, Huelva 1968-), with the objective of investigating the manner in which digital tools are being used by these women artists and writers for the purpose visibility, identity (de)construction, as spaces of resistance, and to explore how those messages are transmitted and transformed through digital mediums.

The surge of the chola alteña in Bolivia as a woman who, after being historically discriminated, has achieved her empowerment through her practices of resistance and agency is a very particular and new phenomenon hardly studied. The contribution of this research is in principle to describe and discover the complexity of this occurrence, but at the same time to open a field of understanding the works of the chola as a preliminary input for alternative feminisms, in accordance to the particularity of each context. As a result, an eclectic perspective from different non-canonical theories stemming from the Americas has been adopted. For example, intersectionality stemming from various social, cultural, racial, and gender contexts is addressed by Kimberlé Crenshaw, Dora Inés Munévar, Ann Phoenix, Breny Mendoza y Sonia Montecinos. Research from Aníbal Quijano, Walter Mignolo and María Lugones proposes the decolonization of knowledge. From a Bolivian perspective, the proposal of communitarian feminism by Julieta Paredes and the chi’xi approach by Silvia Rivera Cusicanqui. At the same time, the documenting of the chola practices has been obtained from non-conventional digital and oral sources. Thus, this research becomes a referent for future feminist research about the chola, but also for understanding other movements and practices of subaltern and discriminated women in similar or different contexts.

The chola is characterized by her peculiar garment which was imposed by the colonizer in the XVIII century, nullifying her indigenous identity. However, this woman has continued to wear it to the present day as much as a tactic of resistance as of empowerment and agency and has transformed it into a current fashion for the valorization of her identity. She is a chi’xi subject who complements or antagonizes opposites without subsuming them. Finally, what guides her practices and strategies are her native cultural values, such as the principle of Living Well, cooperation, reciprocity, and godfatherhood.

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Coming out from under the shadow of sight, blindness has a story to tell. From Tiresias to The Miracle Worker, literary and visual representations of blindness are cornerstones of compelling tales of loss and overcoming. In support of the inherent value of sight, these conventional narratives overshadow the stories and lived experiences of blind people themselves. In light of this misrepresentation, I explore what it means to read, write, and see blindness, as well as consider the implications of being blind in present-day Latin America. I achieve this through a transnational and interdisciplinary analysis of novels, short stories, film, and photography by blind and sighted artists and writers whose work has been published or exhibited after the year 2000. In this context, I will demonstrate how blindness can serve as a lens through which the production and reception of narrative and visual culture can be critically evaluated from a blind person’s perspective. Most importantly, this dissertation showcases the critical and creative work of blind people in order to demystify stereotypes and contextualize anxieties surrounding blindness, perception, and identity.

Hispanic Narratives of the Ill or Disabled Woman: A Feminist Disability Theory Approach, is a comprehensive study that delves into the topic of the ill or disabled female in the narratives of Hispanic female authors who either have a disability or who have been affected by a chronic or terminal illness, causing debilitation. In order to address this topic, this thesis investigates disability identity by utilizing feminist disability theory by Kim Q. Hall, Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, and Susan Wendell, amongst others, and at the same time reviews current disability policies in both Latin American and Spanish societies. By providing a critical view of this theme from a feminist standpoint, this study places emphasis on the lived experiences that ill or disabled Hispanic women face, doubly marginalized, not only based on their illness or (dis)ability, but also their gender.

This in depth analysis of Fruta Podrida (2007) and Sangre en el ojo (2012) by Lina Meruane, Diario del dolor (2004) by María Luisa Puga, Clavícula: (mi clavícula y otros inmensos desajustes (2017) by Marta Sanz, Diario de una pasajera by Ágata Gligo (1997), Si crees en mí, te sorprenderé (2014) by Ana Vives, and The Ladies Gallery: A Memory of Family Secrets by Irene Vilar provides relevant information on societal norms, policies and current debate about healthcare and women’s rights in various Hispanic countries and the United States. At the same time, it emphasizes the disabled female as subject, and investigates the societal perpetuation of disability. This dissertation discusses various concepts from disability studies, such as the illness/disability narrative, corporeal invisibility, normalcy, medical pathologization, stereotyping, and ableism, and investigates them in relation to both chronic and terminal illness or physical and mental disability in relation to the ill or disabled Hispanic female.