Although fictional-and often fantastic-representations of nature have been a distinguishing feature of Latin American literature for centuries, ecocriticism, understood as the study of literature as it relates to depictions of the natural world, environmental issues, and the ways in which human beings interact and identify with their natural surroundings, did not emerge as a field of scholarly interest in the region until the end of the twentieth century. This volume employs an ecocritical lens in order to explore and question the use of the river imagery in Latino and Latin American literature from the colonial period to our modern world, creating a space in which to examine both its literal and figurative meanings, associated as much with processes of a personal nature as with those of the collective experience in the region. The slow, meandering streams of nostalgia, the raging currents of conflict or the stagnant waters of social decay are just a few of the ways in which the river has become an important symbol and inspiration to many of the region's writers. This book offers a diverse collection of writings that, through a trans-historical and trans-geographical perspective, allows us, from the vantage point of the twenty-first century, to reflect on the rich and dynamic image of the river and, by extension, on the vital context of Latin/o America, its people and societies.
Introduction: Written in the Water: The Image of the River in Latin/o American Literature Part I: Memory of Water: Rivers and the Politics and Praxis of Remembrance 1 Along the River of Memory: Los fuegos de San Telmo by Jose Pedro Diaz Elizabeth G. Rivero 2 Floating Statues and Streams of Consciousness: Memory Work in Argentina's Rio de la Plata and Rio Sali Bridget V. Franco 3 From "Obstinate Memory" to Explosions of Recollections: Rivers as Cultural Sites of Remembrance Julia A. Kushigian Part II: Rivers at the Crossroads: Borders, Land/Cityscapes and Social Imaginaries as Contested Spaces 4 The River as Political Quagmire: Mempo Giardinelli's An Impossible Balance Jeanie Murphy 5 Rippling Borders in Latina Literature Rebeca L. Hey-Colon 6 Social and Geographical Landscapes: The River as Metaphor for Female Sexuality Kathryn Quinn-Sanchez 7 Myth and Reality: Imaging the River in Early Colonial Spanish Writing J. Manuel Gomez 8 Writing the Riverbanks in El libro flotante by Leonardo Valencia Renata Eguez About the Contributors
