Imagining the Plains of Latin America: An Ecocritical Study

Description

From the Pampas lowlands of Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil to the Altiplano plateau that stretches between Chile and Peru, the plains of Latin America have haunted the literature and culture of the continent. Bringing these landscapes into focus as a major subject of Latin American culture, this book outlines innovative new ecocritcial readings of canonical literary texts from the 19th century to the present. Tracing these natural landscapes across national borders the book develops a new transnational understanding of Hispanic culture in South America and expands the scope of the contemporary environmental humanities. Texts covered include works by: Ciro Alegría, Manoel de Barros, Ezequiel Martínez Estrada, Rómulo Gallegos, José Eustasio Rivera, João Guimarães Rosa, and Domingo Sarmiento. Title Page Copyright Page Contents Acknowledgements Translations Introduction: The continental imaginaries of Latin America Chapter 1: The empty desert of the Pampas Chapter 2: The ruined lands of the Altiplanos Chapter 3: Predation in the Orinoco Llanos Chapter 4: Naming the Pantanal wetlands Conclusion Notes References Index