Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-06, Section: A, page: 2472. Adviser: Mariselle Melendez. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 219-228) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

En el presente trabajo se realiza un análisis de características narrativas y técnicas de reporteo presentes en las crónicas de maestros de la Fundación Gabo (antes Fundación Gabriel García Márquez para el Nuevo Periodismo Iberoamericano). Los maestros seleccionados están antalogados en dos antologías de crónica (Antología de crónica latinoamericana actual, de Darío Jaramillo; y Mejor que ficción, de Jorge Carrión) y forman parte del movimiento del Nuevo Periodismo Latinoamericano. De este grupo de autores, se seleccionan crónicas publicadas en libros entre el 2000 y 2012. Para definir los indicadores literarios, se utiliza como referencia determinadas características narrativas desarrolladas por Mario Vargas Llosa en su obra Cartas a un joven novelista y para establecer los indicadores periodísticas se usa como referencia artículos desarrollados por cronistas representativos del Nuevo Periodismo Latinoamericano. A partir del análisis, se concluye que existen características narrativas y de reporteo similares entre el grupo de cronistas escogidos. / This thesis describes the narrative characteristics and reporting techniques of non-fiction texts written by Gabo Foundation’s teachers. Authors selected are part of two anthologies focused in New Journalism non-fiction texts (Antología de crónica latinoamericana actual, by Darío Jaramillo; y Mejor que ficción, by Jorge Carrión); and also are part of New Latin American Journalism movement. From this group of authors, this thesis choose non-fiction texts published between 2000 and 2012. To define the narrative characteristics, a book of Mario Vargas Llosa, named Cartas a un joven novelista, is used. To define the reporting techniques, articles of recognized authors of New Latin American Journalism are used. From the analysis, it is concluded that there are similar literary and journalistic characteristics among the group of selected authors. / Tesis

This doctoral thesis studies the relationship between journalism and literature in contexts in which freedom of speech is at risk. It takes as primary sources a variety of nonfiction, crónicas, literary journalism and testimonial novels published by Latin American authors in Spanish, from the 1950s to the 2000s. I propose the concept ‘documentary narratives’ to refer to all literary modes of discourse which are related, in diverse degrees, to a journalistic representation of reality. My corpus covers a wide range of topics such as social protests, dictatorships, civil wars, natural disaster, crime and migration. While scholars have focused on the rhetoric and history of this kind of narratives, my reading considers the real, face-to-face encounter between the journalist and others. I argue that the representation of these encounters influences the pact with the reader and challenges the notion of truthfulness. I contend that documentary narratives can serve as a tool for the transmission of knowledge and the production of public debate in societies marked by political and social instability. In a world overwhelmed by data production and immersed in violent acts against those to be considered ‘Others’, I argue that storytelling is still an essential form of communication among individuals, classes and cultures. Contrary to the authors’s intentions of documenting others’ lives, I conclude that these stories offer an (interrupted) account of oneself, that is, the account of a contemporary storyteller pursuing a rarely fulfilled desire of getting to know the Other truly. The thesis has two appendices. Appendix 1 showcases archival material that support some of my arguments. Appendix 2 includes the transcripts of the interviews that I conducted with eight Latin American authors: Elena Poniatowska, Leila Guerriero, Cristian Alarcón, Arturo Fontaine, Santiago Roncagliolo, Francisco Goldman, Martín Caparrós, and Juan Villoro.