Resistance and Survival
196 pages, 6 x 9
Hardcover
Release Date:15 Nov 2009
ISBN:9780816528240
Resistance and Survival
Children’s Narrative from Central America and the Caribbean
By Ann González
The University of Arizona Press
In her analysis of some of the most interesting and important children’s literature from Central America and the Caribbean, Ann González uses postcolonial narrative theory to expose and decode what marginalized peoples say when they tell stories to their children—and how the interpretations children give these stories today differ from the ways they have read them in the past. González reads against the grain, deconstructing and critiquing dominant discourses to reveal consistent narrative patterns throughout the region that have helped children maneuver in a world dominated by powerful figures—from parents to agents of social control, political repression, and global takeover.
Many of these stories are in some way lessons in resistance and survival in a world where “the toughest kid on the block,” often an outsider, demands that a group of children “play or pay,” on his terms. González demonstrates that where traditional strategies have proposed the model of the “trickster” or the “paradoxically astute fool,” to mock the pretensions of the would-be oppressor, new trends indicate that the region’s children—and those who write for them—show increasing interest in playing the game on their own terms, getting to know the Other, embracing difference, and redefining their identity and role within the new global culture.
Resistance and Survival emphasizes the hope underlying this contemporary children’s literature for a world in which all voices can be heard and valued—the hope of an authentic happy ending.
Many of these stories are in some way lessons in resistance and survival in a world where “the toughest kid on the block,” often an outsider, demands that a group of children “play or pay,” on his terms. González demonstrates that where traditional strategies have proposed the model of the “trickster” or the “paradoxically astute fool,” to mock the pretensions of the would-be oppressor, new trends indicate that the region’s children—and those who write for them—show increasing interest in playing the game on their own terms, getting to know the Other, embracing difference, and redefining their identity and role within the new global culture.
Resistance and Survival emphasizes the hope underlying this contemporary children’s literature for a world in which all voices can be heard and valued—the hope of an authentic happy ending.
“This original scholarship should stimulate further academic research on children’s literature from Latin America. It is, in many ways, a ground-breaking work. González offers a new way to look at and read writings for children.” —Edward Waters Hood, author of La Ficción de Gabriel García Márquez: Repetición e intertextualidad
Ann González is Associate Chair of the Department of Languages and Culture Studies and a professor of Spanish and Latin American studies at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. She co-edited a volume of the Dictionary of Literary Biography: Modern Latin-American Fiction Writers with William Luis. She is the author of a book on one of Costa Rica’s most famous novelists, Sí Pero No: Fabián Dobles and the Postcolonial Challenge.
Acknowledgments
1 Introduction: Walking in Reverse/Reading in Reverse
2 In the Beginning: José Martí and La edad de oro
3 And They All Lived Unhappily Ever After: Carmen Lyra and Cuentos de mi tía Panchita
4 A Question of Power: Rosario Ferré and Sonatinas
5 The Debate Over Racism: Joaquín Gutiérrez and Cocorí
6 Dissent from Within: Manlio Argueta’s Los perros mágicos de los volcanes
7 Transgressing Limits: Gioconda Belli and El taller de las mariposas
8 Politically Correct in Costa Rica: Lara Ríos, Leonardo Garnier, and Carlos Rubio
9 Conclusion: Juan Bobo’s True IQ
Notes
Bibliography
Index
