My dissertation explores the ways in which writers and artists from Spain and Latin America create works of art in which the environment plays a central role. My purpose is to reflect the variety of perspectives and modes of expression that the ongoing environmental crisis generates in these artists. I propose a more concrete approach to the concept of ecopoetics, one that is not limited to literary works but is also concerned with a more ample spectrum of cultural imagination and reflection, as well as on how artists can impact their communities through their work. I formulate a more precise notion of the concept of ecopoetics, one which is based on the particular genre or art form creators use to express themselves. This approach combines both the traditional notion of poetics as the variety of elections made by an author in terms of subject, composition, style, etc.; and the perception of a new type of sensibility that centers on the relationships between human beings and the environment. I argue that this concept of ecopoetics, as it is integrally related to the choices made by artists in terms of genre, mediums used, vision of the world and modes of expression, allows me to explore the diversity of viewpoints and artistic possibilities produced in the Luso-Hispanic area. The broad area I chose to work in also allows me to explore the connections among these texts and works of art in order to look for shared images and motives that all show a growing awareness of the ecological crisis. This kind of analysis is integrated with social, cultural, racial and gender perspectives. My research also explores how the ethical commitment to the environment assumes a variety of perspectives. That is the reason I include works from poetry, narrative, comics, documentary, installations and sculptures. I center my analysis on authors such as Jaime Quezada (Chile), Jorge Riechmann and José María Merino (both from Spain), Julio Ramón Ribeyro (Peru) and Rubem Fonseca (Brazil). I also work with comic artists Miguelanxo Prado and Francesc Capdevila (Max) from Spain, as well as Mexican comic artists Jis and Trino and Edgar Clément. I analyze the documentary Waste Land (2010), by Lucy Walker, which follows the work of Vik Muniz in Jardim Gramacho, the biggest dump in the world; and the Cuban artist Héctor Gallo, who builds his sculptures and installations in a marginal neighborhood in Havana.

Jorge Asís's narrative voices are transformed from on text to another. The Arab-Argentine author creates multiple narrators that interact with one another to further develop their textual identities. Discussions of authorial and narrative voices often coalesce into broad statements of alter-egos and pseudonyms that do not fully consider the nexus between them with writing practices. This study analyzes the author-narrator and narrator-narrator bonds in Argentine Orientalist, Mahyar, Costumbrista, and Testimonial writing practices.

This dissertation, Emancipated Peripheries. Politics of Spatial Representation in the Re-imagined Iberia, explores how the emergence of Basque, Galician and Asturian literatures has changed the web of relations between these literatures and the other consolidated Iberian literatures (Castilian, Portuguese, and Catalan), and how the coexistence of these literatures in the Iberian Peninsula forces us to re-conceptualize Iberian space as the place where the identity of a certain linguistic community is performed, understanding space in a performative way. This dissertation questions two predominant assumptions: first, that peripheral literatures are nothing but small imitations of national literatures, and that they follow the same paradigm at a minor scale, with minor achievements which are significant only in their own context. Second, that there is a centripetal center towards which every cultural movement tends to refer. I argue that peripheral Iberian literatures establish themselves as new interconnected centers of cultural production that are no longer dependent, but rather are inter-dependent, transforming the periphery into a privileged place for renovation and the formulation of new cultural proposals and tendencies. This reading of the Iberian context also invites a new reading of the Castilian canon, unearthing hidden masterpieces and alternative readings of the tradition. A post-colonial, ecocritical and biopolitical approach to these issues allows an in-depth understanding of what has been hidden: alternative conceptions of modernity, dissimilar readings of the literary canon, and the strong and concealed voices of the peripheral, the women, or the rural. This dissertation examines how peripheral literatures (and among these I include a certain reading of the Castilian tradition) redefine the relation between the human and non-human, masculine and feminine, nature and culture (focusing on the poetry of the Galician poet Olga Novo); how they draw new symbolic maps of the Iberian literatures and their traditions (as the Asturian writer Xuan Bello does); how they recover the lost memory of certain communities (studying novels by Basque writer Iñigo Aranbarri and the Castilian novelist Julio Llamazares, as well as video installations by artists like Barbara Fluxá or Iván Cortázar); and how certain literary works propose a new web of relations between peripheries (analyzing the novels by the Portuguese writer Valter Hugo Mãe).

The purpose of the present study is to show that the metaphor, flor, of Pre-Conquest Nahuatl literature means much more than the most widely accepted rendering of that metaphor that classic scholars such as Miguel Le6n-Portilla and Angel M. Garibay have attributed to it. Typically flor is referred to as meaning poetry. It is explored in this study as a metaphor that refers to entheogenic plants, their use and the divine words or songs, or poetry, that resulted from their use. As evidence for the theory presented, I examine and discuss various religious practices and important archeological treasures in order to help us understand a broader concept of flor. I then present my findings in a purely literary context. Gordon Wasson's study of pertinent archeological evidences is important to the foundation of this study, especially his studies of mushroom stones, figures of ecstacy and more importantly his study of the statue of Xochipilli, which can be viewed as a three-dimensional chart of the entheogenic substances used by the nobility to create their true or divine words. The rhetoric the nobility used in their meditations was richly poetic, imaginative and filled with metaphors that are elusive to those not wellversed in their noble dialect. As the noble underwent an entheogenic experience, he was transported from the real world via magical flight to the ethereal world of mystical time, space and knowledge. It was there on a search for truth that he would gain wisdom from the divine and be able to express this wisdom through true or divine words in xochitl in cuicatl. Some of the more important themes common to many of the poems studied are the mystery of life, philosophical questions and the importance of friendship. It was found that the additional meaning that we have attributed to the metaphor flor in these poems is an adequate rendering of the metaphor.

Este informe es el resultado de datos conseguidos mediante investigaciones realizadas en México. Las visitas y los períodos de residencia en México en otros años despertaron mi primer interés en el sistema educativo de ese país. Durante el verano de 1964 me dediqué a examinar a fondo el sistema educativo de México y específicamente el de la capital de Jalisco. Para dar los primeros pasos hacia una comprensión del actual sistema educativo mexicano me fue necesario hacer investigaciones sobre sus antecedentes históricos, los cuales son esenciales a una comprensión clara de la situación actual. Así es que presentó primero un capítulo que trata del fondo histórico del desenvolvimiento de la educación mexicana, y más detalladamente la de Jalisco. En lo tocante al sistema educativo de Jalisco me limito a informaciones sobre los siguientes aspectos: el desarrollo del actual sistema jalisciense de educación secundaria y normal; los planes de estudios de las escuelas secundarias y normales de Jalisco, con énfasis sobre los de la enseñanza de la lengua y literatura castellanas; y la capacitación del magisterio con condiciones profesionales actuales. En cuanto a la información de estos aspectos del sistema educativo jalisciense la saque de varias fuentes. Constituyeron interesantes e informativas las entrevistas que sostuve con maestros y administradores en todos los sectores educativos de Guadalajara. Las visitas de observación que hice a la Normal de Jalisco durante su Curso Intensivo de Verano para la capacitación de magisterio me proveían de oportunidades magníficas para “experimentar” el verdadero funcionamiento del actual sistema educativo. Hice las demás investigaciones en las bibliotecas universitaria y municipal de Jalisco.

La competencia lexico-cultural del lector constituira los cirnientos para que este perciba o no la fuente de inspiraci6n de Isabel Allende en La casa de las espiritus. No cabe duda que ciertos lectores coincidiran con el aseverarniento de la propia autora: "que se ha basado su obra en Chile." Es un hecho que esta obra comprende una variedad de manifestaciones alusivas a este pafs: dialecto16gicas, socio-polfticas, e hist6ricas. Este estudio prueba que la competencia lexico-cultural de lector es vital para una comprensi6n mas fiel de la obra. La esencia de la obra literaria se manifiesta y complementa por medio de y gracias a la imaginaci6n y asimilaci6n de cada lector en particular; por ello, la validez interpretativa en La casa de las espfritus dependera del flujo participativo que la lectura individual presente. Por lo tanto, no se podrfa afirmar que el lector no conocedor ni farniliarizado con la vida socio-polf tica de Chile y que interprete simplemente la obra como una sucesi6n de acontecimientos matizados con las diversas vivencias y facetas de una farnilia y un paf s --que supuestamente pudiesen situarse en cualquier pun to de la America Meridional-, este equivocado sino que, por el contrario, merece credito de manera integral, ya que la obra alcanza su apogeo cuando logra que el lector se haga partfcipe e integrante de ell a de man era subconsciente y sutil. Asf, se podrfa afirmar que la obra yace Ilana y dormitativa sin el suministro vital que le proporciona el lector. Empero, si no se lograra vislumbrar ciertas nociones hermeneuticas, el lector no podra percibir la intenci6n original que tenfa la autora al memento de escribir su obra. La hermeneutica nos brinda el acercamiento integral entre autora y lector: en donde se envfa un estfmulo y este se hace recfproco debido a que existe un mismo nivel o similar grado de entendimiento y/o competencia literaria/cultural.

Orientadora: Karin Adriane Henschel Pobbe Ramos / Banca: Sergio Fabiano Annibal / Banca: Lívia Maria Turra Bassetto / Resumo: A presente pesquisa tem como tema o trabalho com os memes em aulas de língua portuguesa para o Ensino Fundamental, a partir de uma perspectiva do gênero discursivo. O objetivo geral foi o de propor um trabalho a partir do gênero meme em aulas de Língua Portuguesa, com foco em análise linguística/semiótica. Como objetivos específicos elencamos, definir o que é meme, analisar memes sob uma perspectiva dialógica, multimodal e multissemiótica. A aplicação da proposta de trabalho ocorreu em uma escola da Rede Estadual de Ensino de São Paulo, localizada no município de Mogi das Cruzes, na zona periférica. A turma escolhida para a aplicação é do 9º ano do Ensino Fundamental. Abordamos, além do meme, outros gêneros textuais para abarcar a intertextualidade presente neste tipo de texto. Como metodologia realizamos 8 aulas com foco em uma exposição final de curadoria. Como referencial teórico, propomos criar uma definição formal de "Meme de Internet" que pode ser usada para caracterizar e estudar mensagens instantâneas em contextos acadêmicos, como ciências sociais, comunicação e humanidades. Para isso realizamos um estudo a partir das pesquisas sobre memes de Dawkins (1993), Blackmore (1999) e Sperber (1996). Para o estudo do meme da perspectiva do gênero discursivo, nos apoiamos nos estudos teóricos de Miller (2009), Bakhtin (1997), Bazerman (2005) e Kristeva (2005). Para a análise da prática, nos embasamos em Marcuschi (2002, 2008), Rojo (2008), e Kleiman (2007). Nossa escolha... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The present research has as its theme the work of memes in Portuguese language classes for Elementary School, from a discursive genre perspective. The general objective was to propose a work from the meme genre in Portuguese Language classes, focusing on linguistic / semiotic analysis. As specific objectives, we define meme, analyze memes from a dialogic perspective, multimodal and multisemiotic. The application of the work proposal occurred in a school of the State Educational Network of São Paulo, located in the municipality of Mogi das Cruzes, in the peripheral zone. The class chosen for the application is the 9th grade of Elementary School. We address, in addition to meme, other textual genres to encompass the intertextuality present in this type of text. As a methodology, we conducted 8 classes focusing on a final curatorial presentation. As a theoretical reference, we propose to create a formal definition of "Internet Meme" that can be used to characterize and study instant messages in academic contexts such as social sciences, communication and the humanities. For this, we performed a study based on the research on memes by Dawkins (1993), Blackmore (1999) and Sperber (1996). For the study of meme from the perspective of the discursive genre, we rely on the theoretical studies of Miller (2009), Bakhtin (1997), Bazerman (2005) and Kristeva (2005). For the analysis of the practice, we rely on Marcuschi (2002, 2008), Rojo (2008), and Kleiman (2007). Our choice specificall... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

My dissertation "Género, clase, etnia y raza en la (re) presentación de la mujer inmigrante y extranjera en Argentina (1880 -1930)," studies the various ways in which the representation of immigrant and foreign women, who arrived to Argentina between 1880 and 1930, were shaped by the modalities of gender, race, ethnicity, and class in literary and visual texts. I approach this study with an understanding that the before-mentioned politics of difference are social constructions that reflect and perpetuate the prevailing distribution of power and privilege in a society. I look at novels, plays, travel literature and photography, re-envisioning canonical texts from a different critical direction. Thus, my dissertation casts new light on the representation of immigrant and foreign women by expanding the range of readings and exposing a patriarchal attitude towards the changing role of women in an unstable social structure. Drawing from theories such as gender, performance, ethnic studies, and visual culture, I emphasize the link that exists between the way the immigrant and foreign female bodies are seeing, and ways of structuring desire according to the logic of commodity capitalism. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2006. / April 28, 2006. / Clase, Raza, Performance, Teatro, Eugenesia, Argentina, Inmigración, Género, Etnia / Includes bibliographical references. / Jean Graham-Jones, Professor Directing Dissertation; Brenda Cappuccio, Professor Directing Dissertation; María Morales, Outside Committee Member; Santa Arias, Committee Member.

The purpose of this investigation is to examine formal and informal resources available for teaching Spanish to health care professionals mainly in the Portland, Oregon area. Seventeen different Spanish-for-health-care-professionals texts are commented on by the author, some of which are the texts used in medical Spanish language classes. The majority of the texts contain little if any instruction on cultural aspects which affect the Latino patient population's health care behaviors and decision making. With the recent growth in the Latino population there is a greater demand for health care services by Spanish-speaking persons of the Latino community. The author discusses at length current information about the health status of this population, factors affecting access to health care, and language barrier. There is a lack of bicultural and bilingual health care professionals to provide needed health care services to Latinos. One factor is that the percentage of Latino medical and allied health providers is a small fraction of the percentage of Spanish-speaking patients in the U.S. Therefore, Spanish language instruction must be provided to medical personnel who do not have the cultural and language background to provide culturally relevant and efficient health care to Latinos. This language training must incorporate instruction on cultural issues that affect Latino patients' health care. At present very few Spanish-forhealth- care-providers texts and courses have this type of focus. Exemplary clinical programs specializing in the medical treatment of the Latino population, both inside and outside of the Portland Oregon area, are noted to highlight that effective and culturally relevant medical treatment is possible with adequate training of personnel. Outstanding courses integrating the instruction of both the Spanish language and culture are discussed. Often these courses are not offered as permanent parts of the curriculum. The author gives examples of some of the cultural issues that need to be addressed in language instruction, and makes suggestions for adapting this focus into Medical Spanish instruction.

Orientador: Letícia Marcondes Rezende / Banca: Márcia Cristina Romero Lopes / Banca: Alessandra Del Ré / Resumo: O presente trabalho propõe uma reflexão sobre o uso da preposição "para" tomando-a como parâmetro para obter respostas em um contexto mais amplo, o das "preposições". Conduzimos a investigação com base em exemplos extraídos de um corpus composto por jornais do estado de São Paulo. Nossa perspectiva teórica tem como objeto o enunciado (Teoria das Operações Predicativas e Enunciativas) e o fenômeno referencial; de acordo com tal perspectiva, os sujeitos constroem, por meio de práticas enunciativas e cognitivas, as versões públicas do mundo. Assim, na nossa concepção, a marca não se reduz apenas às relações previstas no léxico e na gramática tradicional, mas é tributária do enunciado, que envolve a dimensão cognitivointeracional. O enunciado que contém tal "preposição" foi estudado como um processo de construção de significação, ou seja, de valores referenciais por meio de operações. Tendo como objetivo central analisar as funções dessa marca em diferentes contextos e as implicações de seu uso, buscamos contribuir para a elaboração de uma gramática enunciativa da língua portuguesa. Trata-se de um trabalho relevante, porque a marcação das relações gramaticais constitui um fenômeno de linguagem responsável por um conjunto de operações que viabilizam a presença de marcas que antecedem os termos, tais como a "preposição". Construímos glosas que colocaram os enunciados em famílias parafrásticas, com posterior análise das construções com a marca concluindo-se que ela representa atos enunciativos dentro da enunciação central e estes atos são enunciações reportadas para a enunciação atual e projetadas para uma outra enunciação. / Abstract: The aim of this work is to provide an insight into the use of the preposition "para" as if it were a parameter in order to achieve blueprints in a broader context, that is, the context from the "prepositions". We carried out the analysis based on examples extracted from a corpus from the São Paulo State newspapers. Our theoretical perspective aimed at the utterance (Theory of Enunciative and Predicative Operations) and the reference phenomenon; According to such perspective, the subjects build up public versions of the world based on cognitive and enunciative practices. Therefore, in our conception, this mark not only refers to the expected lexical relations and to the traditional grammar, but also it is utterance dependent, which involves the cognitiveinteractive dimension. The utterance that contains such preposition was studied as the construction of meaning, i. e., of reference values by means of operations. Our struggle for providing the elaboration of an enunciative grammar in the Portuguese language had as the main goal the analysis of the mark functions in different contexts and the implication of its use. This is a relevant work since the setting of grammar relations deals with a language phenomenon responsible for a set of operations which make possible the presence of marks before terms, such as a "preposition". We glossed the utterances in order to put them into families of paraphrase and the resulting constructions with the mark were analyzed thereafter. Our conclusion is that the mark represents enunciative events within the central enunciation and these events are enunciation reported to the current one and projected into another enunciation. / Mestre