In 1970 Casa de las Americas announced the addition of testimonial literature to the list of categories for which a writer could receive the Premio Literario. Since that time, critics have attempted to establish a clear definition of that genre as well as a means of classifying works within it. John Beverley and Elsbieta Sklodowska provide the most complete attempts; each, for different reasons, however, tends to exclude works which are exemplary of this genre. / In Chapter One an inclusive definition and method of classification for the testimonial narrative is provided. Based on the genesis of the written text, three "narrative modes" have been established: narrative written by the witness; oral history, gathered, transcribed, and edited by another; and the testimonial novel. / In Chapter Two La montana es algo mas que una inmensa estepa verde by Nicaraguan Omar Cabezas is analyzed as an example of the first narrative mode. / I, Rigoberta Menchu by Guatemalan Indian Rigoberta Menchu and Venezuelan ethnologist Elisabeth Burgos-Debray is studied as an example of the second in Chapter Three. / In Chapter Four Tejas verdes by Chilean Hernan Valdes is analyzed as an example of the testimonial novel. The differentiating factors between the testimonial novel and "pure" testimonial narrative are examined. / In Chapter Five testimonial narrative is related to Levi-Strauss's concept of bricolage. This "new" genre has been created in order to reflect the Latin American realities which are different from those found in countries which dominate both culturally and economically. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 55-08, Section: A, page: 2415. / Major Professor: Ardis L. Nelson. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1994.

This dissertation is a feminist literary study concentrating on silence and dream as textual strategies in selected works of three Latin American women writers. The analyses include the historical and social circumstance determining women's position in the society of the texts and their authors. The specific texts studied are the two poems "Hombre necios ... " and "Primero sueno" and the letter "Respuesta de la poetisa a la muy ilustre Sor Filotea de la Cruz" by Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz; "El arbol" and La ultima niebla by Maria Luisa Bombal; and Arrancame la vida and Mujeres de ojos grandes by Angeles Mastretta. / The methodology encompasses a discussion of the functioning of ideology in patriarchal society and its complicity of ideology of gender, employing ideas from de Lauretis and bell hooks, among others. The constructs of gender marginalize groups or individuals who may appropriate elements of hegemony in cultural institutions in order to counter, resist, or change the ideology. / Latin American women writers who oppose the constraints of the cultural constructs of masculine and feminine cannot abandon the language of patriarchy despite the inability of that language to allow women full expression. The writer must create textual strategies which allow them movement back and forth, from center to margin, in order to deconstruct and reconstruct gender as a means of resistance. / Since silence is the designated mode for women's expression in patriarchies, women's experience is interiorized. What is unsayable in the "reality" of the text may be concretized within the unconscious in dreams. The act of reading the text, the interior experience also exteriorizes it, thus, carrying the private into the public realm of culture. The reader's response demonstrates the symbiotic relationship of ideology and culture and the possibility to effect individuals. By employing silence and dream as textual strategies the writer transforms women's allotted position into a means of transgression. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 55-09, Section: A, page: 2851. / Major Professor: Ardis L. Nelson. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1994.

The purpose of this study is to analyze Adalberto Ortiz' Juyungo and Jorge Icaza's Huasipungo in order to determine specific narrative devices used by the authors. These novels embody the fundamental themes of the human predicament in Ecuador: social injustice, class consciousness, and social morality. Several artistic techniques are analyzed, including: interior monologue, simile, anaphora, reiteration, rhyme, rhythm, and language, among others. / This dissertation contributes to the body of research on the study of the native American and the African in Ecuador's multiracial society. The first chapter provides a brief biographical background which establishes the bond that exists between each novelist and his novel. Chapter II concentrates on narrative techniques and themes. Chapter III studies form and structure. The fourth embraces a synopsis and analysis of each novel's major characters. The final chapter summarizes the similarities and differences of the novels being studied. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-09, Section: A, page: 2781. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

La investigacion estudia como tema central la imagen femenina segun la ve Enrique A. Laguerre a traves de sus novelas. Antes de la exposicion del tema, se ha resumido brevemente la biografia del autor y se ha tratado de presentar el trasfondo historico tanto de la mujer puertorriquena, como de la literatura que antecede a estas obras. / En un breve resumen de cada novela se ubica a la mujer en su trayectoria historica correspondiente al siglo de historia puertorriquena descrita por el autor. Se le presenta en su recorrido del campo al arrabal y del arrabal a Neuva York, siempre tratando de superar la miseria, el abandono, la nostalgia, la discriminacion y el fenomeno del "machismo". / Se ha enumerado una serie de personajes femeninos de la caracterizacion mejor lograda. Se percibe, sin embargo, un concepto de mujer tradicional, donde la figura de la mujer-madre ocupa el lugar mas destacado. Se destaca, tambien, aspectos de la mujer que el autor quiere exaltar o satirizar: sus rasgos f(')isicos, su renuencia a envejecer, su aparente religiosidad, la supersticion y el espiritismo, la idea del noviciado unida a la falta de libertad. . . y la forma en que la publicidad convierte a la mujer en un objeto sexual o la hace v(')ictima de la urbanizacion y de la sociedad de consumo. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-08, Section: A, page: 3057. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1986.

Since the 1930s, the problem of national identity has become one of the most crucial issues in the Puerto Rican political and cultural arena. Politicians like Pedro Albizu Campos, Luis Munoz Mar(')in, and Luis A. Ferre, and writers like Antonio S. Pedreira, Tomas Blanco, and Rene Marques, have discussed the subject. Generally, fatalistic and catastrophic views of the national identity problem have been adopted, especially by supporters of Puerto Rican independence. Jose Luis Gonzalez rejects those views as product of a class ideology, that of the "creole bourgeoisie." To Gonzalez, the Puerto Rican masses do not have an identity problem, but rather a problem of consciousness of that identity. Thus, "cultural producers," like him, must strive to develop and to enrich Puerto Rican national mass consciousness by emphasizing the positive aspects and values of Puerto Rican identity or by criticizing the negative ones. / This dissertation tries to show how Jose Luis Gonzalez has attempted to achieve his primary aim of helping develop and enrich a national mass consciousness in Puerto Rico. It also describes the evolution of his humanist views. Gonzalez's essays and theoretical writings are analyzed first, since these express his views most directly. His fictional writings are also discussed. Finally, a critical conclusion assesses Gonzalez's literary efforts. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 48-03, Section: A, page: 0660. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1987.

This dissertation examines the Indianist poetry which constitutes part of the works of four Latin Spanish American poets: Manuel Gonzalez Prada of Peru, Gabriela Mistral and Pablo Neruda of Chile, and Rosario Castellanos of Mexico. / While discussing elements comprising the definition of Indianist poetry, such as a protest of the abuse and the lack of opportunity for the predominantly Indian nations during the past five centuries, this work examines the Indianist expressions of each poet. An attempt has been made to determine the causes that motivate these poets to write about Indians while looking for a possible pattern. / For purposes of comparison, an analysis of black poetry is included to demonstrate that the same theme can be found in other types of poetry that deal with social issues. / The conclusion posits the importance of the poetic moments in the life of the four poets. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-09, Section: A, page: 3092. / Major Professor: Louis C. Bourgeois. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 38-04, Section: A, page: 2155. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1977.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 36-08, Section: A, page: 5333. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1975.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 38-12, Section: A, page: 7361. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1977.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 38-09, Section: A, page: 5507. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1977.