This dissertation examines the intersections between honor, violence and social change in the construction of masculine identities among the poor free inhabitants of the semiarid sertao (or backlands) of the Brazilian Northeastern province of Ceara between 1845 and 1889. Calling into question the enduring representation of the sertanejos (or backlanders) as conditioned by a timeless culture to violently defend their honor, this study demonstrates that backlands' notions of honorable manhood and a violent type of masculinity during this period were defined through a complex interaction between social, economic and political transformations, exacerbation of violence as well as cultural concepts of honor. Between 1845 and the mid 1860s, changes in landholding patterns allowed many sertanejos access to land and the ability to participate in the expanding agricultural and cattle-ranching economies of the province. As small farmers and ranchers, sertanejos articulated a notion of masculine honor that was linked to their autonomy in their economic activities, ability to provide for their families, and patriarchal control of women at home. Beginning in the mid 1860s, a new series of social-economic transformations disrupted the small farmers' and ranchers' fragile survival system, exercised great pressure on social relations, and exacerbated masculine violence. Indeed, violence became the primary means through which increasingly dislocated sertanejos attempted to solve a variety of conflicts ranging from defending resources to earning a livelihood. In this context, masculine honor became more closely linked with violence. Poor young men who were unable to establish their honor through other means turned to violence as a way to assert their manhood. Men cast their acts of aggression against an increasingly visible group of autonomous women who lived outside of male control as an attempt to reestablish a patriarchal order and, thereby, secure their honor. The process of Imperial State formation in the backlands was another significant factor in the normalization of a notion of honor that was contingent on a capacity for violence. Between 1850 and 1889, the expansion of institutions of social control that relied on armed sertanejos as agents of the State intensified violent conflict and contributed to the incitement of violent masculinities among the poor.

This dissertation provides an institutional history of the Mexican Congress, exploring the origins of single-party rule in Mexico. The investigation offers a revised interpretation of the evolution of Mexico's Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI, originally known as the National Revolutionary Party, or PNR), the development of executive power over the legislative branch, and the emergence of a new political elite. The research demonstrates that, contrary to conventional explanations, the official revolutionary party did not result from a momentary crisis provoked by the 1928 assassination of President-Elect Alvaro Obregon. Instead, it evolved over the previous decade through a process of development occurring within and around the Congress. Alliances between political parties and congressional blocs negotiated during the formative era of the 1920s created the foundation for the later emergence of the official revolutionary party. The rapid spread of the PNR, and its overwhelming success in the 1930 elections, occurred because the party was built upon these pre-existing structures. The study also demonstrates that Presidential dominance of the Congress, or "Presidentialism," did not derive entirely from law or the structure of the republican system of government, as has often been argued, but rather developed incrementally in conjunction with the evolution of party organization. In effect, the party became the mechanism for executive dominance. The investigation concludes with an examination of the role of honour and extra-legal privilege in the creation and definition of a new political elite.

The Porfirian press in Mexico City (1876-1911) presents an ideal case study for late nineteenth-century Mexican society. This particular epoch in Mexican history represented a time of fundamental change as the country emerged from nearly a half century of chaos and internecine strife into a modern, prosperous and orderly county. For the historian of this important and transforming era, newspapers serve as cultural mirrors, providing images that allow us to see, interpret and understand this society. In this role as cultural actors, the Porfirian press served five defining roles: it was a power resource with the potential to influence, shape and control society; it was the arena where the social, economic and political events of society were publicly acted out; it was the source of the definitions and images that comprised the shared reality; it designated fame and celebrity status to individuals in that society; and it set the parameters of what was normal and abnormal in that society. This study of Porfirian newspapers in Mexico City reveals three fundamental aspects: capital society was highly diverse and contentious, Mexico City residents faced divergent social and political problems and these newspapers mirrored a changing and modernizing nation--they not only chronicled this transformation, they were directly part of it.

The academic interest of this study is to determine the functions and uses of space in the detective novels of the Chilean author Ramon Diaz Eterovic. Diaz Eterovic's novels belong to the category of contemporary detective fiction in Latin America called novela negra or neopolicial, a literary form that borrows conventions from its predecessors but that modifies them according to the needs of the social context in which they are written. Little study has been done on the use of space in this type of narrative in spite of the fact that contrary to common practice among writers of classical detective fiction, authors of contemporary detective novels in Latin America privilege the development of space over other components of the text. In the detective novels of Diaz Eterovic space functions as an index of abstract categories of meaning. I apply principally structuralist theories and theories on space and the role of memory, as well as some urban theory, to look at the mechanisms used by the narrator to convey an ideological message through the representation of his physical and social surroundings. Space functions critically, pointing to the period of the Pinochet military dictatorship (1973-1989) as the cause of social, economic, and environmental problems that plague the country both during the military regime and well into the post-dictatorial years. I also look at how the representation of space evolves as the series progresses and the content of the novels moves away from the referent of the dictatorship which informs them. Diaz Eterovic modifies the function of the detective novel to encompass not only a critical agenda but also as a means of preserving the collective memory of the recent past which is quickly being forgotten.

This dissertation presents an analysis in both literary and cultural terms. Although, Cuentos del Desierto by Emma Dolujanoff presents the interaction between indigenous and non-indigenous aspects, the purpose of this dissertation is not more the cultural contact of both cultures as the literary fashion in which Dolujanoff manipulates those indigenous aspects. This process of writing literature is called heterogeneous literature, because the sociocultural rules of writing Cuentos del Desierto are different to those rules which govern that culture about it is written. To cope this situation, it was necessary to bring about some concepts from cultural anthropology and literary criticism. On the one hand, the concepts of Social Drama and Stage Drama were used to explain the dramatic status of the interaction of both indigenous and non-indigenous aspects. On the other hand, the concept of Ethnofiction presents a possibility to analyze Cuentos del Desierto in literary terms. Nevertheless, both cultural and literary concepts have cultural and literary consequences, respectively. Both Social Drama and Stage Drama offer literary aspects in the plot and characters level. The concept of ethnofiction, in turn, places the sociocultural context of the voices of cultures in contact.

Esta disertacion pretende poner en evidencia la base filosofica existencialista de la narrativa de Juan Carlos Onetti. Su objeto de estudio especifico es el personaje onettiano en cuanto existente ante si y ante el mundo. Una serie de conceptos extraidos de las obras capitales de Heidegger, Jaspers y Sartre son enpleadas para dar fundamento a la interpretacion de las inquietudes y conflictos que problematizan la existencia de los personajes centrales de El pozo, La vida breve, Juntacadaveres y El astillero. El Ser-en-el-mundo, la existencia autentica el Ser-con-otros, el tedio profundo, el estado de caida, la conciencia y sus fases, la mala fe y el proyecto original o proyecto de ser son algunos de los elementos de la doctrina existencialista que son definidos e ilustrados a traves del analisis interpretativo de los protagonistas de las mencionadas novelas. El estudio que se hace en esta disertacion ofrece una forma de acercamiento al personaje onettiano orientada hacia su interioridad y en busca de su verdad subjetiva. Esta inquisicion dejara al descubierto a un grupo de individuos que, con la mirada fija en su existencia, bregan dia a dia con un mundo ordinario por no ceder en su aspiracion a una forma de existencia fiel ante todo a la voz de su conciencia.

The discourse of the last military regime in Argentina (1976-1983) emphasized the importance of protecting the family unit. The official rhetoric of the dictatorship assigned a formative, character building function to the institution of the family and idealized the concept of the traditional, nuclear family. According to the military leaders, the peace and security of the nation depended on the stability of the family. In spite of this rhetoric of family values, the tactics employed by the Military Junta transformed the family into an object of repression. The kidnappings and disappearances fragmented many families; parents and children suffered due to the state sponsored violence. As a consequence, there emerged a clear distinction between the official discourse of the dictatorship and the reality of the Argentine citizenship. The objective of our study is to examine how this contradiction between the discourse and the reality manifested itself in the literature of the moment. The literature appropriated the symbol of the family and subverted the official image in order to deconstruct and denounce the entire authoritarian system. In the first chapter we will present the historical background of the military regimes in Argentina. Special attention will be paid to the Junta Militar of 1976-1983 and its sociopolitical consequences. In the following chapters we will analyze the texts of three Argentine authors: La penultima version de la Colorada Villanueva (1978) by Marta Lynch, Ganarse la muerte (1976) by Griselda Gambaro and Cambio de armas (1982) by Luisa Valenzuela. As we explore the different representations of the family and the home in these works, we will be able to show the connection between the fragmentation of the family unit and the disintegration of the society at large. We will also demonstrate how the distorted personal relations reflect the social conditions under authoritarianism. We will consider the formation of the narrative voice as well, being that it represents the critical aspect of the texts on a structural level.

Cristina Peri Rossi (Uruguay, 1941) highly privileges sexual and erotic themes in her writing. Although literary critics have tended to eschew this facet of the author's work in favor of her irreverent social critiques, this study proposes to show how the author's erotic representations act both directly and indirectly to articulate such arguments. In this regard, my objectives are twofold: First, I examine how Peri Rossi inscribes her erotic writing into a male-dominated tradition of erotic literature. To this end, I discuss her revision of canonical works which govern/reflect social norms of gender and sexuality, particularly traditional psychoanalytical theory and classic mythology. I then explore how the author's erotic representations relate to the various social concerns she addresses in her writing, specifically issues of sex/gender, sexuality and authoritarian government. Regarding sex/gender, I focus on Peri Rossi's deconstruction of the binary engendering system, resulting in the possibility of change in and/or ambiguity of both sex and sexuality; the author's literary transgressions of social gender roles are also considered. With respect to sexuality, I discuss how Peri Rossi challenges social norms of sexuality through representations of homosexuality, children's sexuality and incest. Finally, I address the author's allegorical indictment of military abuses though sexual and/or erotic depictions. In each of these cases, Peri Rossi transforms eroticism, a traditionally private matter, into a public vehicle capable of opposing and subverting social oppression.

The literature of Ernesto Sabato is by its very nature revolutionary, but does not promote or attempt to describe a particular point of view but instead to change or destroy our complacent view of reality and inspire social change. This dissertation involves the analysis of Sabatos first three major novels, El tunel, Sobre heroes y tumbas, and Abaddon el exterminador, studying the main conflicts of Ernesto Sabato with society and the ghosts of the past, present and future which continue to haunt him, through the experiences of the problematic hero and his experiences with the socio-political climate of Argentina of which he is an integral part but at the same time feels has contributed to his marginalization and self-marginalization. This study also includes many of the primary essays of Ernesto Sabato and two "memoirs" entitled Antes del fin and La resistencia which reveal him also as a problematic hero ever-present in his narratives. The basis of the interpretation stems from the Theory of the Novel (1916) of Georgy Lukacs which treats the protagonist as a reflection of man in 20th Century society. The action of the protagonist, is a crime of absolute heroism, the insanity of a wisdom capable of dominating life and shifting boundaries, purely psychological even when the end, reached with terrible clarity of deviation without hope becomes self-evident. The realistic writer, according to both Lukacs and Sabato, expresses a vision of the possible totality which embraces these contradictions, a totality acquired upon giving a body to what is typical of historic movements (a character can protect as a relic a complex body of historical forces). What really matters is the personal and internal experience of the protagonist evident in the structure of the novel itself, given the object which is summarized, the subjective expression and objective reality because the relationship of the protagonist with society poses nothing spontaneously harmonious. It is necessary to incorporate all of the faults and failures and all of the abysses that the historical situation consists of and which cannot and should not be recovered but by artifices of composition.

The purpose of this dissertation is to study the depictions of women through certain genres of oral tradition, specifically as found in myth, legend and song (corrido), and covering the pre-Columbian period through colonial Nicaragua. I propose to characterize and explain the elements that shed light on the development of womanhood during that specific era. Additionally, this work will explore the way in which the conqueror, the chronicler, and the friar manipulated the oral genre until it conformed to their own vision of the world. In Nicaragua, there is a body or oral tradition ripe for study that portrays the function and role of women. Studies that address the theme of women in Nicaraguan oral tradition are scarce, and those that do exist may provide only a social registry. The need for a literary-feminist study is imperative. Without claiming to fill that void in its entirety, this dissertation will examine more closely the depiction of women in myth, legend, and song. As part of this analysis, I will explain the manner in which the conqueror configured the original traditional oral genres. For example, the myth "La diosa del volcan Masaya" was changed to "La vieja del volcan", and the legend "La Mocuana" was changed to "El relato mitologico de la Mocuana". Finally, I will analyze the patriarchal version the historians reported regarding Rafaela Herrera's courage in defending her country in contrast with the song (corrido), which in fact recognized her valor. In order to proceed, I will initially address the pre-Columbian period to describe the state of the Indian and their sacred stories before the arrival of the Spaniards. I will then move on the chronicler Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo's arrival on Nicaraguan soil. Lastly, during the colonial period, we will learn about the era of English attacks on the Fort of the Immaculate Conception on the San Juan River. In recounting the historical background, I will refer to various texts written or compiled by Nicaraguan historians such as Jaime Incer Barquero, Antonio Esgueva, Eduardo Arellano, Tomas Ayon, Jose D. Gomez, and Carmen Collado whose works mark the milestones of the Nicaraguan historical process.