Beyond the Border: A New Age in Latin American Women's Fiction edited by Nora Erro-Peralta and Caridad Silva Nuñez (review)

230Rocky Mountain Review inquiries, understanding—and admiration—that England believes the poet deserves. BEATRICE S. GORDON Arizona State University NORA ERRO-PERALTA and CARIDAD SILVA NUNEZ, eds. Beyond the Border: A New Age in Latin American Women's Fiction. Pittsburgh: Cleis Press, 1991. 223 p. The ambiguously subversive title of this collection, Beyond the Border, carries an explanation in the subtitle that may seem rather cursory. Taking into consideration only the geographic origin, gender, and profession of the authors of the stories, the subtitle does not even suggest the miscellany of voices, themes, and styles in this text. Recognizing that women writers, particularly those with Latin American roots, have been woefully underpublished in their own countries, the caveat to the readers of these stories is that they will encounter in many of them the same aesthetic qualities and literary interest that they would in those published by the traditional male establishment. The critical introduction to the fourteen stories in this volume gives a succinct but valuable overview of some of the literary contributions of Latin American women, from the letter of complaint of Isabel de Guevara in 1556 to our days. It not only acknowledges the efforts of literary journals that publish exclusively, mostly, or prominently women's work, but it also thanks by name those women "whose dynamism and generosity have made possible a continuous dialogue between North and South America" (11). The editors grouped the short stories in three common spheres of literary development , noticing that some of the tales do not necessarily fall into one or another category, but represent a fusion of the three. Themes that reflect what have been classed as predominantly "women's concerns" fall into the first category; the second division groups those stories that use "open and militant language and a pronounced feminist approach" (14); and the last group consists of stories that "use démystification as means to subvert institutions and traditional male mythology" (14). In the latter group falls the work of authors interested in non-traditional rhetoric, self-reflexivity, and intertextuality. In "A Passion for Donna Summer," for example, Aída Cartagena Portalatin from the Dominican Republic blends thematic and stylistic concerns by exposing the relentlessness of global racial prejudice in a streamof -consciousness narrative that exudes vitality and humor. The Mexican Elena Poniatowska, on the other hand, uses traditional narrative techniques in "Slide in My Dark One, Between the Crosstie and the Whistle," the robust tale of Pancho Ventura, a railroad engineer, whose relish in slow and exploratory lovemaking with his Teresa gets transferred to his old-fashioned but beloved engine, "La Prieta." The arrival of diesel engines in the Book Reviews231 yard and La Prieta's imminent disappearance from it disclose the parallel— and confusion—between Pancho's private and public life. Each story is prefaced by a brief account of the writer's life, and the name of each translator appears at the end of her work. A bibliography of the author's publications and criticism follows each story, and the last twenty pages of the book include a general bibliography encompassing works on the short story, feminism, and Latin American women writers. Beyond the Border includes stories by writers from twelve different Latin American countries. Splendidly suited for use in courses focusing on Hispanic or comparative literature, women's or gender studies, and feminist studies, this anthology offers a variety of literary types, themes, and styles in the stories included, as well as excellent and well classified bibliographies . The tales will, of course, enchant and captivate the general reader. SUSANA CONDE Boise State University MARIE-LISE GAZARIAN GAUTIER. Interviews with Spanish Writers. Elmwood Park, IL: Dalkey Archive Press, 1991. 343 p. In the space of 24 interviews, Gazarian Gautier outlines the political and aesthetic context of contemporary Spanish literature. Two dozen of Spain's most important writers discuss their own works and the works of other writers, creativity, art, Franco, censorship, and the upcoming anniversary of Columbus' voyage to America. The interviewees are well chosen. Though novelists predominate, there are also poets and playwrights. All geographic regions of Spain are represented . The authors range in age from 35 to 89. Rafael Alberti, Antonio Buero Vallejo...