Katherine Anne Porter regards Mexico as her "familiar country." lndeed, Mexico in the art of this gifted American writer is more important than generally believed for, as William Nance says, "Mexico entered into her earliest work as both motivating force and subject matter." Miss Porter has traveled extensively in Mexico and lived there on several occasions. Her highly developed artistic sensibility has allowed her to gain more than a mere familiarity with the country, its inhabitants, and its history. Naturally, her deep knowledge of the culture is reflected in her artistic production, part of which is devoted exclusively to Mexico. This thesis presents a brief study of Miss Porter's fiction which deals with that country: it attempts to demonstrate a change in the author's perspective of it, evinced in those stories that have Mexico as a setting: namely, it shows how Miss Porter starts out deeply involved with the culture in the stories of ''Maria Concepcion", "The Martyr", and "Virgin Violeta", and how, slowly, the theme of alienation evolves in the stories "Flowering Judas',' "That Tree", and "Hacienda", interpreted as Miss Porter's disillusionment with the failure of the Mexican Revolution. This study intends to contribute to the field of Inter-American Studies in the sense that it deals directly with inter-cultural relations within the North American continent and with the understanding between cultures, seen through the eyes of a most accomplished writer. If there is a person who could be called truly inter-American, Miss Porter would be the perfect model, because she embodies the ideals of understanding between the different cultures of the North American continent.

This book is being edited at the suggestion of colleagues who feel a great need for a Spanish reader with the the following qualifications: A good connected story from Spanish Literature Subject matter suitable for adolescents Sufficiently simple for use in Beginning Spanish This is an edited version of Part One, and consequently is simplified and cut. Many authorities prefer to wait until students get to college so that they may be introduced to the great masterpiece in its original. In as much as the average high school student does not take more than two years of Spanish, this system removes the greatest Spanish classic from the education of the masses of American people. Furthermore the study of Don Quixote offers excellent character training and basic education for the adolescent. To the student: This book is arranged to help English-speaking students of thirteen years of age or over to learn to read their second language. You must remember that unless you can make use of your English vocabulary and ability, you will learn to read Spanish at somewhat the same rate of speed with which you learned English. In other words, at the end of one year, you will know about as much as you did in English at the end of the First Grade, and at the end of ten years, you may expect to have somewhat the same ability that is usual for a Junior in High School, furthermore, you must remember that it is impossible to Iearn all the common or useful words in a foreign language, and it is not always possible to consult a dictionary at every turn when traveling around Mexico or South America.

<p>Race and gender categories have rarely operated in isolation in the lives of Afro-Brazilian women, intersecting to shape their historical and social positioning, everyday experiences, and collective activism. Despite opposition from the Brazilian state and some civil society groups, the Afro-Brazilian women’s movement has increased awareness of the specificity of black women’s identities and oppressions. In recent years their activism has moved beyond Brazil’s borders through participation in United Nations (UN) Conferences. Yet, the dynamism of Afro-Brazilian women’s intersectional identities and their strategic use to gain legitimacy in these arenas has remained noticeably understudied.</p> <p>This dissertation argues that since activist groups do not participate in transnational forums detached from their specific histories and localized experiences, their actions, and strategies must be historically grounded. It draws upon the major arguments of postcolonial feminism, intersectionality, and the political process model to examine how national and transnational processes have shaped the identity articulations and mobilization strategies of Afro-Brazilian women activists. Four distinct processes operating in and outside of Brazil are identified as critical to the identity positions, strategies, and overall trajectory of the Afro-Brazilian women’s movement: colonialism, slavery, democratic transition, and preparations for and proceedings of UN Conferences. The influence of Afro-Brazilian women activists in domestic policy domains and internal movement dynamics are also explored. The result is a comprehensive analysis of the intricate workings of race and gender categories in activist spaces and the multiple historical and contextual factors which shape their configuration, intersection, and impact.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The Reagan administration launched a two term campaign to win support for the Contra rebels fighting Nicaragua. The rhetorical war began in secrecy and ended in scandal. With Reagan's reputation as a "great communicator" and the priority he assigned to the Contra cause it seemed surprising to find virtually nothing on the topic in a search of the communication journals through mid 1992. The central research question of this thesis is whether President Reagan used rhetorical strategies and similar depictions to other presidents in his prowar rhetoric against Nicaragua. A common theme of war rhetoric is the dehumanizing of the enemy in order to justify retaliation and to deflect the attention of the audience away from the realities of war. Robert 'vie, using Burke's dramatistic analysis, found over a hundred and fifty years of presidential rhetoric a predictable pattern of justifications for war. He found motives for war arranged in a hierarchy with "rights" as the primary god-term for purpose. Before a textual evaluation this study reviewed the history of the region the role of the rhetor and of the media. 'The data included a computer scan covering all of Reagan's statements on Nicaragua (59,000 words), a brief overview of 45 speeches and a detailed examination of three nationally televised speeches. The television speeches were analyzed in light of the following: a) Rhetorical exigencies surrounding the appeal were researched. b) Key players in the drama and their effect on the rhetoric were reviewed. c) Main arguments and counter-evidence were related to the speeches. d) A metaphoric analysis was conducted with particular emphasis on mega-images. e) Identification strategies in Burkeian terms were applied to the speeches. f) The speeches were subjected to a pentadic analysis to determine ratios and their relationship to motive. g) The effects were reviewed in terms of the press, Congress and polls.

This dissertation analyzes six contemporary texts (2008–18) that represent indigenous Mexicans to transnational audiences. Despite being disparate in authorship, genre, and mode of presentation, all address the failings of the Mexican state discourse of mestizaje that exalts indigenous antiquities while obfuscating the racialized socioeconomic hierarchies that marginalize contemporary indigenous peoples. Casting this conflict synecdochally as the national imposing itself on quotidian life, the texts help the reader/viewer come to understand it in personal, affective terms. The audience is encouraged to identify with how it feels to exist in a space where, paradoxically, the interruption of everyday life has become the status quo. Questioning the status quo by appealing to international audiences, these texts form a contestatory current against state mestizaje within the same transnational networks of legitimation employed in the 19th and 20th centuries to promote it. In this way, the texts work to build political solidarity via affective means in order to promote and propagate in the popular discourse a questioning how the Mexican state apprehends its indigenous citizens. Ultimately, they seek more inclusive, representative governmental policies for indigenous peoples in Mexico without rejecting capitalist hegemony: they are articulating it against itself.

The purpose of this study was to explore the daily life of the younger generation of Mexican Americans through a phenomenology design. Specifically, in regard to how the culture-sharing pattern of biculturalism is reflected in their lives and the way they construct their bicultural identity. The study utilized rich qualitative data to paint a clear and descriptive picture of the internal process of biculturalism within eight Mexican American college students. Ultimately, the data analysis aimed to collect and reflect their voices and the stories. This was done through three distinct data methods that complemented each other: interviews (oral), photo elicitation (visual), and document analysis (written). Results indicate that, the way bicultural individuals organize and respond to their culture in terms of behavior and cognition, is independent from the feelings they experience while engaging in cultural frame switching. No matter how well the participants are able to organize their dual cultures and compartmentalize them in their life, they still struggle with conflicting and opposing feelings. Nonetheless, even though their cultures and ideologies can clash at times and feel contradictory, this young generation can still manage to respond and function in both cultures, but to varying degrees.

Some business leaders find it challenging to manage individuals from different age groups; this is an issue, as organizations in many developed countries become more age-diverse. The purpose of this single case study was to provide business leaders with information about strategies top-level business executives and team leaders at a large company in Curaçao (a developed island nation in the Caribbean) use for enhancing productivity of an age-diverse workforce. The conceptual framework of this study consisted of generational theory of Mannheim. A key tenet of the generational theory includes that belonging to the same generational unit, generational location, and generational actuality shapes the beliefs, values, and attitudes of members of a generational cohort collectively. Data from interviews and company documentation that included an annual report, business guide, and performance management documentation were coded and analyzed using NVivo software, and member checking was used to enhance the trustworthiness of interpretations. Key themes that emerged from data analysis include the need to use communication strategies, foster equal treatment of employees, implement employee development plans, and adopt a structured approach for addressing issues related to age-diversity. Implementation of the different strategies and recommendations identified in this study might aid business leaders in their effort to manage an age-diverse workforce and increase workplace productivity. Implications for social change include the potential to improve empathy and relations between individuals from different generations and the cultivation of a more cohesive society.

This thesis uses in-depth analysis of historical Los Angeles Times articles to trace the changing representations of the Latino community in the media. Focusing on themes of patriotism and citizenship, this thesis draws out the subtleties of syntax and semantics that silently influence public opinion. The Zoot Suit Riots and the Chicano Moratorium serve as the main historical backdrop, leading to a concluding exploration of Donald Trump’s campaign rhetoric surrounding immigration and the Latino community.

The way we read and interpret literature is frequently influenced by factors that operate beyond the scope of the average reader's awareness. In this thesis, selected works by two Wayuu writers, Estercilia Simanca Pushaina and Vicenta Maria Siosi Pino, are analyzed and interpreted in an attempt to unveil some of these behind-the-scenes agents and issues, as well as explore how the stories' classification in the children's literature genre reveals a deep-rooted colonial tendency to infantilize indigenous individuals in contemporary Colombia. Despite the fact that the two authors, both mestizo women who self-identify with the Wayuu indigenous group of northern Colombia, prefer to write short stories that highlight the child and adolescent experience, the implicit themes and the complexity of their texts reject the "children's story" label that has been imposed on their literature. Furthermore, this thesis discusses how the two authors utilize the colonial trope of the Indian-as-child to their advantage by capsizing the imagery, thus rejecting the original power of the symbol and claiming it as their own. The first section of this investigation provides certain contextual specifics related to the cultural and social environment of the Wayuu indigenous group, particularly regarding that experienced by women. The second chapter includes an explanation of the impact a book's genre and its "paratext" may have on the reception and interpretation of these texts, and additionally proposes that the colonial practice of infantilizing indigenous people appears in both the assignment of genre as well as in several extratextual elements surrounding the stories. Chapter three offers an in-depth analysis of five selected pieces of the Wayuu authors' writing and explores how the texts may be read on multiple levels. This close reading reveals several examples of overt criticism towards the hegemonic society as well as displays instances of a more subtle rebellion; both explicit and implicit messages effectively expose and protest the current conditions of abuse, oppression and injustice that continue to anguish the Wayuu people.

The purpose of this thesis was to explore how Christian networks enable strategies of transnational alliance, whereby groups in different nations strive to strengthen one another’s leverage and credibility in order to resolve conflicts and elaborate new possibilities. This research does so by analyzing the case of the Presbyterian Church of Colombia (IPC). The project examines the historical development of the IPC from the initial missionary period of the 1850s until the present. Specifically, the purpose of the study was to consider how the historical struggle to articulate autonomy and equality vis-à-vis the U.S. Presbyterians (PCUSA) and paternalist models of ecclesial relations has affected recent political strategies pursued by the IPC. Despite the paternalism of the early missionary model, changing conceptions of social transformation during the 60s contributed to a shift in relations. Over time the IPC and PCUSA negotiated relationships in which groups both acknowledge a problematic history and insist upon an ethnic of partnership and respect. Today, PCUSA groups, in concert with the IPC, collaborate on a range of transnational political strategies aimed at strengthening the IPC’s leverage in local struggles for justice and peace. A review of this case suggests that long-established Christian networks may have an advantage over other civil society groups such as NGOs in facilitating strategies of transnational alliance. Although civil society organizations often have better access to important resources needed for international advocacy initiatives, Christian networks, such as the one established between the IPC and U.S. Presbyterian communities, rely on a history of negotiating power-disparity in order to elaborate relationships based on listening and partnership. Such findings prove important not only to how we conceptualize transnational alliance but also to the ways that we think about the history and future of Christian networks.