Narratives of astonishment: Miscegenation in New World literaturePosted in Dissertations, Literary/Artistic Criticism, Media Archive on 2011-11-15 03:52Z by Steven |
Narratives of astonishment: Miscegenation in New World literature
Rice University
1994
235 pages
John Wesley Buass
A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Through readings of a variety of literary and historical narratives from throughout the Americas dating from the 16th century to the present, I show that miscegenation, its sudden and disrupting revelation in these narratives serving as the catalyst for utopian and/or apocalyptic rhetoric, becomes a trope for New World cultural identity (Utopia and Apocalypse themselves being crucial ideas for this hemisphere). I call by the name “Astonishment” the resulting space created by the sudden revelation of miscegenation in these narratives.
Table of Contents
- Abstract
- Acknowledgements
- Prologue. Re-reading Columbus’s (Dis)Course: Toward a Reading of New World Literature
- “Delta Autumn” and Tenda dos milagres: Toward a Theory of Astonishment
- “Regions beyond right knowing”: Cabeza de Vaca’s Search for a Language
- ¿Quienes somos?: Labyrinths of Blood in de la Vega, Faulkner, and Paz
- Gonzalo Guerrero’s Children: A Survey of Narratives of Astonishment
- Conclusion
- Works Cited and Consulted
Read the first 30 pages here.