Into the Mainstream: Essays on Spanish American and Latino
Literature and Culture is a direct outgrowth of Jorge Febles's
involvement with the annual conference of the American Culture
Association and the Popular Culture Association. In that sense, the
compilation expands on a project initiated in 1993 by Helen
Ryan-Ransom with her book Imagination, Emblems and Expressions:
Essays on Latin American, Caribbean, and Continental Culture and
Identity (Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green State University
Popular Press, 1993). David William Foster, who penned a lengthy
preface to that collection, justified its intent by underscoring:
"The very fact that our approach to culture is dominated by
categories based on high, academic, institutionalized phenomena
poses from the very outset the question of how to deal with all
those other cultural manifestations that do not comfortably
assimilate to the accepted canon" (Ryan-Ransom 3). The past
fourteen years, however, have witnessed a radical transformation of
that so-called canon due to the widespread acceptance of ideas
espoused by cultural theorists like Garcia Canclini, Homi Bhabba,
Said, Stuart Hall, Benhabib, Bourdieu and countless others.
Therefore, the ambivalence regarding what constitutes culture
identified by Foster is inoperative nowadays to a substantial
degree. In fact, a fundamental component of the postmodern outlook
resides in the ability to blend comfortably the high and the low,
the elitist and the popular realms of production in a multiplicity
of textual artifacts, creative as well as critical in nature.
Hence, the essays that conform Into the Mainstream do not question
barriers anymore, nor do they expound on the need to assign a
discursive intellectual space to matters pertaining to popular
culture. Thus, this collection espouses an inclusive approach in
which a variety of analytical approaches coalesce to reflect on an
equally kaleidoscopic textuality.Pursuant to its comprehensive
nature, Into the Mainstream airs established as well as developing
critical voices so as to reflect both ideological continuity and
evolving viewpoints. Scholars who have compiled strong academic
records like Hortensia Morell, Raquel Rivas Rojas, Elsa Gilmore,
David Petreman and Benjamin Torres Caballero share a venue with
younger critics like Corey Shouse Tourino, Roberto Vela Cordova,
Stacy Hoult, Eduardo del Rio, Bruce Campbell, Laura Redruello,
Dinora Cardoso and April Marshall, as well as with two graduate
students about to complete their academic preparation: Nuria Ibanez
Quintana and Maria Teresa Vera Rojas. The result is an eclectic
compilation meant to elicit discussion on the basis of its variety.
Into the Mainstream's primordial objective is to place these
provocative essays-which are expanded versions of papers presented
during the annual gathering of the American Culture Association and
the Popular Culture Association in the period 2002-2005-along with
the numerous subjects they treat in the academic mainstream where
they rightfully belong.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
(2)
(4)
