In this Book

Gothic Imagination in Latin American Fiction and Film

Book
Carmen A. Serrano
2019
summary

This work traces how Gothic imagination from the literature and culture of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Europe and twentieth-century US and European film has impacted Latin American literature and film culture. Serrano argues that the Gothic has provided Latin American authors with a way to critique a number of issues, including colonization, authoritarianism, feudalism, and patriarchy. The book includes a literary history of the European Gothic to demonstrate how Latin American authors have incorporated its characteristics but also how they have broken away or inverted some elements, such as traditional plot lines, to suit their work and address a unique set of issues. The book examines both the modernistas of the nineteenth century and the avant-garde writers of the twentieth century, including Huidobro, Bombal, Rulfo, Roa Bastos, and Fuentes. Looking at the Gothic in Latin American literature and film, this book is a groundbreaking study that brings a fresh perspective to Latin American creative culture.

This work traces how Gothic imagination from the literature and culture of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Europe and twentieth-century US and European film has impacted Latin American literature and film culture. Serrano argues that the Gothic has provided Latin American authors with a way to critique a number of issues, including colonization, authoritarianism, feudalism, and patriarchy. The book includes a literary history of the European Gothic to demonstrate how Latin American authors have incorporated its characteristics but also how they have broken away or inverted some elements, such as traditional plot lines, to suit their work and address a unique set of issues. The book examines both the modernistas of the nineteenth century and the avant-garde writers of the twentieth century, including Huidobro, Bombal, Rulfo, Roa Bastos, and Fuentes. Looking at the Gothic in Latin American literature and film, this book is a groundbreaking study that brings a fresh perspective to Latin American creative culture.

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page, Copyright Page, Dedication

pp. i-vi

Table of Contents

pp. vii-viii

Preface

pp. ix-xiv

Introduction: Contextualizing the Gothic Presence in Latin America

pp. 1-24

Part 1. The Context

pp. 25-26

Chapter 1. Vampires: The First Bat-Men Are from the Americas

pp. 27-52

Chapter 2. Films Love Monsters: Film’s Arrival in Latin America

pp. 53-78

Part 2. Cultural Anxieties and Aesthetic Critiques

pp. 79-80

Chapter 3. Live Burials and Death-Defying Beauties

pp. 81-108

Chapter 4. Vampires Cloaked in Metaphor

pp. 109-140

Chapter 5. The Doppelgänger: Split-Sleves, Animal-Doubles, and Spectral Couples

pp. 141-174

Epilogue: Globalized Current Monsters

pp. 175-186

Notes

pp. 187-206

Bibliography

pp. 207-232

Index

pp. 233-250
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