At the dawn of the 20th century, there was a burgeoning social awakening of playwrights in the Spanish-speaking world who make creative use of the platform of the stage to denounce injustice and disparity. In Puerto Rico and Spain, playwrights' denunciation through theatrical performance shed light on the realities that affected society, the consequences of war, and the deleterious effects of the economic crisis. In the context of the home front, moral disintegration and challenged values experienced by a family's patriarchal figure were compromised by hunger and misery. This moral disintegration also created social impotence whereby the patriarchs struggled to protect their home and struggled in their role as providers, parents, and heads of household. As weakened characters, they became passive and stagnant, crippled by denial and delusion. This thesis analyzes two theatrical works, one from Puerto Rico and the other from Spain, respectively, Tiempo Muerto (1940) by Manuel Méndez Ballester and El tragaluz (1967) by Antonio Buero Vallejo. The analysis of these two plays examines, through the lens of masculinity studies, the male characters who exemplify the patriarchs and their connections to family and society. Further, it uncovers the socio-economic and cultural effects that triggered a moral disintegration and that turned their role as protector into a passive one, thereby jeopardizing their masculinity.

This work exposes the narrative silence as the main enunciator of the textual discourse in Juan Rulfo's novel, Pedro Paramo. Through a sociological reading, the literary silences comprised in the events are interpreted to access one of the multiple possible meanings of the story. The study inserts ideas, historical facts and human, social, psychological and material factors in the openings left by the author, thus producing a discourse that shapes the manifesto of contemporary life.

Social, political, and economic transformations contributed to redefine gender roles at the beginning of the twentieth century. In Latin America, Alfonsina Storni (1889-1938), Gabriela Mistral (1892-1957) and Silvina Ocampo (1906-1993) produced a hybrid narrative that challenged heteronormative conventions. In dialogue with a global realignment, they advocated for the rights of mestiza, indigenous, and working class subjects. This thesis proposes that the authors participated in a worldwide transformation that established women as historical agents. The research incorporates poems, essays, and short stories to map the emergence of independent, clever, and ambiguous models of femininity. They deployed traditional archetypes, such as the Virgin Mary, and modern subjectivities to contest the social norms that underpin patriarchy. Storni, Mistral, and Ocampo transgressed and redefined social hierarchies inherited from intellectual elites representing underprivileged populations. We observe a crosspollination of journalism and literature that includes corporeal and mystical elements. These authors actively fought for gender equality and became influential cultural producers. Mistral, for instance, was the first Latin American writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Their achievements inspire and encourage contemporary Latino women to challenge social norms and become cultural producers.

The epistolary, as a literary genre, obtains greater value when it surpasses personal limits to reach a collective dimension. Further, if this epistolary belongs to a personality of historical and literary projection, its transcendence is even greater, as it transmits ideas and principles that mark an epoch and a social, political and cultural community. When the message it transmits spreads and reaches many, influencing the consciousness of those who receive it, its impact is undeniable. Referring to Felix Varela Morales (1788-1853), Jose de la Luz y Caballero said "As long as we think about the land of Cuba, we will think about who taught us first to think," words that allow us to understand this person's importance and relevance. Varela Morales was a priest, philosopher, educator, journalist, and a Cuban writer; he was a promoter of the island's independence and of its national identity. His epistolary is a valuable and significant testimony from which it is possible to know and validate a long and prolific trajectory that goes through several years of the intellectual and political history of Cuba. This thesis will present, supported by the theories of Homi Bhabha about identity and the communicative action of Jorgen Habermas, how the correspondence and the literary works of Felix Varela reflect the seeds of the formation of a Cuban identity as a basis of true independence from Spanish colonialism without, paradoxically, rejecting its colonial heritage.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Dept. of Romance Languages and Literatures, June 1999. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Inaug.-diss.--Tübingen. / Lebenslauf. "Literaturverzeichnie": p. 81-84.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (University of Texas Digital Repository, viewed on July 30, 2009). Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Inaug.-diss.--Tübingen. / Lebenslauf. "Literaturverzeichnie": p. 81-84.

Thesis--Catholic University of America. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 202-214).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2007. / Title from title screen (site viewed Aug. 2, 2007). PDF text: 245 p. UMI publication number: AAT 3255459. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in microfilm and microfiche formats.