Chile's prize-winning novel of rebellious defiance in revolutionary prose--a feminist triumph of Joycean stature.

"This collection of essays, written in clear critical discourse, is a practical tool for first-time or hesitant Eltit readers who seek discussion of a particular book or books and are not familiar with the author's entire production."--BOOK JACKET.

A victimized woman victimizes by identical means: alienating surveillance, of her son and herself.

"Gerdes' brief but informative introduction makes clear that he has been a sensitive reader of El cuarto mundo. The two narrators, although twins - one male, one female, tell different tales and use language very differently. Translation is competent, but Gerdes' own language lacks the dynamic energy of Eltit's, perhaps because he follows the Spanish structures so closely"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 58.

Thirty-five years after her death, this book reassesses the Argentinian poet Alejandra Pizarnik (1936-72) in the light of recent publications of her 'complete' poetry and prose, diaries, and previously unavailable archive material.The essays in this volume explore Pizarnik's work from new angles: they examine her production as a literary critic, revealing her intense identificatory strategies as a reader, and the impact of such activities upon her own creative process. They also weigh up the influence of her ambiguous attitudes towards sexuality on her poetic personae, as well as the ways in which her concern with sex inspires her experimentation with humorous prose. New approaches are taken to key texts and themes: in the case of the much-studied work, 'La condesa sangrienta', through a detailed philosophical reading involving comparisons with Kafka, and, in the case of the theme of the split subject, through the lens of translation.By broadening the scope of Pizarnik studies, this book will act as a catalyst for further research into the work of this compelling poet.

Ana spent one perfect night with Manuel. She told me about it quite unexpectedly, knowing in advance how hopelessly caught up I would become in her reminiscences. She went into a detailed description of her expensive, provocative outfit, and I could visualise her walking forward, her legs deliberately restricted by her shiny black dress. Ana confessed that she was so driven by her depraved desire that night that she consciously sought to focus people's looks on the violent rippling of her thighs, barely disguised beneath the shiny black material. I watched her smiling and it hurt.'As the forces of political repression encircle Santiago, the capital of Chile, the narrator raises the question of the relationship between her sexual cravings and fantasies and the domination of women in Chilean society. Sacred Cow is an intense, erotic unveiling of the human psyche.

During the age of dictatorships, Latin American prisons became a symbol for the vanquishing of political opponents, many of whom were never seen again. In the postdictatorship era of the 1990s, a number of these prisons were repurposed into shopping malls, museums, and memorials. Susana Draper uses the phenomenon of the "opening" of prisons and detention centers to begin a dialog on conceptualizations of democracy and freedom in post-dictatorship Latin America. Focusing on the Southern Cone nations of Uruguay, Chile, and Argentina, Draper examines key works in architecture, film, and literature to peel away the veiled continuity of dictatorial power structures in ensuing consumer cultures. The afterlife of prisons became an important tool in the "forgetting" of past politics, while also serving as a reminder to citizens of the liberties they now enjoyed. In Draper's analysis, these symbols led the populace to believe they had attained freedom, although they had only witnessed the veneer of democracy—in the ability to vote and consume. In selected literary works by Roberto Bola–o, Eleuterio Fernandez Huidoboro, and Diamela Eltit and films by Alejandro Agresti and Marco Bechis, Draper finds further evidence of the emptiness and melancholy of underachieved goals in the afterlife of dictatorships. The social changes that did not occur, the inability to effectively mourn the losses of a now-hidden past, the homogenizing effects of market economies, and a yearning for the promises of true freedom are thematic currents underlying much of these texts. Draper's study of the manipulation of culture and consumerism under the guise of democracy will have powerful implications not only for Latin Americanists but also for those studying neoliberal transformations globally.