Desembarcos en el papel: La imagen de la literatura de Julio Cortázar (review)

Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies 303 and the problems associated with the cteation of national expositions as well as Brazilian participation in international expositions (ch. 6). The narrative and analysis are accompanied by well-chosen tables and illustrations. There are period photographs , tables detailing such matters as government expenditure in the area of "culture" and statistics on museum visitation, and plates of some of the most important—often the most hotly-contested —cultural objects. Of the multiple significant contributions made by this study, several stand out. One is the analysis of the competition among governmental agencies, each vying not only for budger but also to have its concepts of nation and of national cultural heritage predominate. Resulting state policy is revealed often to have been the product of such infighting rather than of overall srrategy. Another area of interest is the legal: the various court battles over governmental right to engage in historical preservation versus individual property rights. A third has to do with the foreign policy—as well as domestic policy—implications attendant upon the various national and international expositions in which the Vargas regime was involved. A fourth area involves the simple fact that, despite its populist discourse regarding nation in general and national cultural patrimony in particular, rhe regime's policies in the area of culture can be shown ro have been created by and for rhe social elites. All of these considerarions and more are correlated clearly with previous work on the cultural politics of the Vargas regime: its conceptualization and symbolization of national history and culture as somehow composed of forerunners of itself and therefore legitimators of its policies, as well as its ability to accommodate artistic modernism within a cultural politics that simultaneously enlisted the remaining monarchist elements in society . Finally, Williams points out how national policies and institutional structures formed during the years of Vargas regime culture management held sway well beyond that period—indeed, in some cases even today. Within the overall contribution that it makes, some aspects ofWilliams' analysis bear scrutiny . The most troublesome is his characterization of the modernistas. He touches the right base when he refers early on to Sergio Miceli's work and those who have followed Miceli. But when he allows that "it may seem counterinruitive that the modernists would join conservatives in seeking inspiration in the beauties of colonial architecture" (44) he is fact detiving too little from studies such as Miceli's. If one were to take that work fully into account, it would not be "counterintuitive" at all. It would merely be complex in a way that Williams' wish ultimately to conceive of the modemutas as simply "left-leaning" and thus base his narrative on a reductionistic "left-right" logic cannot support. Also, the study suffers generally from undertheorization. While it is not its point to do so and therefore is probably unfair to ask, this reviewer would have liked to see discussion of the theoretical bases of the project beyond allusions to the work of Pierre Bourdieu and/or greater investment of theory within practical analysis. Especially lacking is discussion of what might be understood by "memory" and how it can be created and managed. That concept is central to chapter 5, which outlines a detailed, useful discussion of the advent and tole of museums and museology. Failure to endow the key term with sufficient depth limits argumenrative potential and therefore reduces the chapter's efficacy. Culture Wars in Brazil does, however, locate itself well in relation to the accumulated political histories of the first Vargas regime, histories of literature and the arts in Brazil in the firsr decades of the twentieth century, and especially the many studies of Brazilian modernism. It will function as a valuable resource in rhat location. Ronald W Sousa University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Desembarcos en elpapeU La imagen de L· literatura de Julio Cortázar Beatriz Viterbo Editora, 2001 Por MarÃ-a de Lourdes Dávila En Desembarcos en el papel: La imagen en k literatura de Julio Cortázar, MarÃ-a de Lourdes Dávila formula una perspectiva integradora del arte para 304 Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies estudiar aquellos textos hÃ-bridos...