Tolkien’s Transformative Women: Art in Triptych

Annie Brust, Kent State University

J.R. R. Tolkien has been revered as the father of twentieth-century fantasy; however, many initially criticized him for his handling of the textual matter as male-centric magical lands that did not feature prominent female roles or significant female characters. This book will highlight the vast community of powerful female figures that Tolkien cr... eated in his fantasy writing, stemming from the distinct and dominant female forces he created in his academic translation and poetry. These fierce women serve as a culmination of the powerful forces of women and female character that originated in Medieval, Norse, and Celtic traditions. They help to create the framework from which Tolkien shaped his female community, not merely as singular figures, as previously featured, but as a dynamic network of figures who shape Tolkien's creative art. For the first time, this discussion looks at the entire community of women, featuring previously excluded figures from his academic works and highlighting translation bias in modern manuscripts of the extant medieval works that influenced these women. It also seeks to create a comprehensive guide and detailed appendices exploring the female characters and influences throughout his writing portfolio. This book seeks to uncover the hidden voices of the past to find their rightful home in the strong female voices of the present, rewriting history to regain a sense of the past.   Show more

Women’s Representations from Radical Naturalism to the New Woman Response

A Transatlantic Perspective of European, Latin American, and American Narratives

José F. Rojas-Viana, Louisiana State University

In this book, Rojas explores comparatively the representations of deviant and criminal women in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries from Transatlantic perspectives in literary productions of the first-wave feminist writers of the New Woman movement and writers of Radical Naturalism. This work addresses how the writers' sex is relevan... t in depictions of social constructions of female characters and how they established a dialogue based on gender through the themes of 'femme fatale', marginal spaces, eugenics, and social Darwinism in the novels of Emilia Pardo Bazán's 'La piedra angular' (1891), 'La gota de sangre' (1911), and "Tio Terrones" (1920); Refugio Barragán de Toscano's 'La hija del bandido o los subterráneos del nevado' (1887); Federico Gamboa's 'Santa' (1903); Kate Chopin's (Katherine O'Flaherty) 'The Awakening' (1899); Thomas Hardy's 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles' (1891); and 'Grand's Ideala' (1888). There is a good volume of research on different aspects of these novels, but this book addresses issues of the social constructions of deviant and criminal women from an interdisciplinary and metatheoretical perspective often missed from established criticism. This work is not only reachable for the non-expertise reader, graduate, or undergraduate students but also it is sufficiently elaborated for the expert reader in different fields. It provides a detailed analysis of the social, historical, philosophical, and scientific background that shows how the treatment of the female characters converges and diverges from male and female writers of the New Woman and Radical Naturalism points of view. It can be a good contribution for references or classes in Hispanic studies, gender studies, women's studies, sexuality studies, nineteenth-century studies, and in other fields.   Show more

Eros and Thanatos. Love across Civilizations

Alberto Castelli, Hainan University, China

'Eros and Thanatos' is about the deadly nature of love. It is remarkable that literary critics have paid so little attention to the combination between love and death in literature. This book seeks to address this significant scholarly lacuna by exploring key literary texts of the last two hundred years as exemplary of a consistent tendency toward...  love and death. Its emphasis on singular characters and close readings suggests the spectrum of an arbitrary dichotomy never fully resolved. The existential discussion triggered by each plot is so intense that the erotic and the merely sexual seem inappropriate. Indeed, each writer chose to reduce it to the setting and background of a story that takes place elsewhere. With this in mind, the author intends to reflect love’s paradoxical nature. If love is triggered by beauty, beauty can be immoral and love must die to preserve the illusion of beauty.   Show more

Psychedelic Modernism: Literature and Film

Raj Chandarlapaty

The primary purpose of 'Psychedelic Modernism: Literature and Film' is to trace the development of ideas and perspectives from the writing and private ambitions of 20th-century modernist writers, including Aldous Huxley. The purpose of the book is to offer a rough chronology during which ideas were first given a literary imagination, then transpos... ed onto discussions of science and psychology, and then theoretically democratized to bring fruit to a relatively de-centered process where images, text, and interviews could re-conceptualize the modern Being from an admixture of modernist, historical, and pop roots that could express a greater moment in the human action. The work includes discussions from scientists such as Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann, rock stars such as Jerry Garcia, and unconfirmed mystics such as Carlos Castaneda. The primary focus of this work isn’t literature per se, but the literary imagination as it may correspond to greater, wider, and more impactive goals than the writing of 20th-century fiction. While there is some outreach that favors de-centered models such as the Beat Generation, the author’s primary purpose is to assemble an anthology covering the study and quests for knowledge from as many sides as could power the relative 1960s countercultural movement.   Show more

The Wizard of Mecosta: Russell Kirk, Gothic Fiction, and the Moral Imagination

Camilo Peralta, Joliet Junior College

"The Wizard of Mecosta" offers an extended analysis of the fiction of Russell Amos Kirk (1918-1994), a central figure in modern American conservatism who is often referred to as “the father” of the same. Born and raised in Michigan, Kirk was also a prolific writer of fiction, who published almost two dozen short stories and three novels over the c... ourse of his long career. At the heart of everything Kirk wrote was what he referred to as the “moral imagination,” a phrase he borrowed from Edmund Burke and often used to describe the instructive and enlightening purposes of great literature. Despite his prominent reputation as a public man of letters and the respect of fellow authors including Ray Bradbury and Stephen King, Kirk’s fiction was never very popular, and has fallen into almost complete obscurity in the present. "The Wizard of Mecosta" is the first full-length study ever published about Kirk’s fiction, and the only work of any length to consider the entirety of his output, including all of the stories and novels he wrote. By emphasizing how Kirk’s fiction illuminates certain aspects of his social and political theory, "The Wizard of Mecosta" distinguishes itself from the half-dozen or more studies of the author’s life and work that have been published since his death in 1994. It should appeal to anyone with an interest in American conservatism, as well as fans and scholars of the sort of Gothic horror in which Kirk, unexpectedly, excelled. Through his stories of avenging ghosts and timeless journeys through the afterlife, he reminds us of the existence of “permanent things,” the core values and beliefs of Western society, which he strove all his life to preserve. It is high time that his fiction found a more appreciative, and larger, audience.   Show more

Carmen Boullosa: In Between Brooklyn and Coyoacan

Edited by María del Mar López-Cabrales, Colorado State University and María Rosario Matz, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Focusing on the works of Mexican writer Carmen Boullosa for the English reader, this volume provides access to a critical analysis of Boullosa’s writings. Her daily writing has produced an enormous and varied literary corpus that includes narrative, theater, and poetry, in addition to her work in television. This volume is divided into three diffe... rent segments. The initial part is composed of six essays that analyze Boullosa’s narrative and theatrical works. In these essays contributors evaluate and analyze Boullosa’s literary production, covering many of her novels, including 'Antes' (1989), 'Llanto: novelas imposibles' (1992), 'La Milagrosa' (1993) 'Cielos de la Tierra' (1997), 'La otra mano de Lepanto' (2005), 'La novela perfecta' (2006), 'El complot de los Románticos' (2009), 'Cuando me volví mortal' (2010), 'Las paredes hablan' (2012), 'Texas' (2014), and 'El libro de Ana' (2019) as well as her 'Teatro herético' (1987). By analyzing her literary corpus, contributors explore how she reshapes historical narratives and offers thought-provoking commentaries on our modern society and its problems. Boullosa’s writings invite an in-depth analysis due to their rich complexity and explorations of various themes, therefore this volume presents how her work has a significant social impact, prompting discussions on the topics of gender, power, history, social inequality, and cultural diversity while encouraging critical thinking and empathy. These critical essays are followed by an interview with the author. We decided to also include the Spanish version of this interview for those able to read it. Boullosa’s essay, 'Épica mía/ Mi épica (My Epic)' concludes this volume. When reading this essay, we suggest to the reader to keep in mind how often her works provide a voice to characters for whom History refused to grant one. This volume will provide its reader with a key to discovering the many layers present in Boullosa’s writing.   Show more

Silver Age and After: Repressed Russian Poets, Artists and Philosophers during the Soviet Period

Roberto Echavarren

The details of the Jewish Holocaust have become part of our history through the testimony of those who survived the death camps. The details of Lenin’s and Stalin’s reign of terror are far less known because they took place behind a wall of secrecy, and because survivors have been loath to speak about them for fear of retribution. This is an encom... passing volume presenting an intense display, as complete as can be, of poets, artists, musicians, and philosophers and intellectual actors implicated in different aspects of Russian life roughly through the period 1900-1960. They were people who had lived under the Soviet regime in times of peace and in times of war, from the Red Terror through the Great Terror. One must bear in mind the political and economic conditions in which those lives developed: the one-party rule placed above both the government and the citizens, the abashment of the division of powers, the suppression of private property and private economic initiative, the political police, and the GULAG. I deal with the poets in several chapters, then theater directors, then composers, then philosophers (these both in the introduction and in the play at the end of the book). Besides the Prologue and Introduction, the reader will find an Index of historical names, plus an extensive Bibliography. The work can be used for reference, for classroom adoption, for researchers/practitioners of Russian Literature, Political Studies, Slavic Studies, and Russian History.   Show more

Magical Feminism in the Americas: Resisting Female Marginalisation and Oppression through Magic

Abu Shahid Abdullah, East West University

The book aims to show the way magical feminism resists female marginalisation and oppression in the Americas. Dealing with multiple victimisation of women in the Americas who have suffered not only because of their gender but also their race, ethnicity, political ideology, social status, financial insecurity and such, magical feminism provides a v... oice to them so that they can speak about their marginalisation and victimisation. In other words, by using magical feminism, these female authors attempt to give a voice to the oppressed women, enabling them to resist and challenge the traditional female role and to raise their voices against various social and political issues. The subversive and transgressive power of magical feminism enables the oppressed women to break patriarchal constraints and to reverse the traditional power structure. By creating an imaginary realm through traditions, local beliefs and rituals, myth, magic and the spirits of the dead ancestors as guides, magical feminist technique functions as a survival strategy for women in traumatic and oppressive situations and provides them consolation. The project includes a total of eight novels from African American (Gloria Naylor’s 'Mama Day'), Latin American (Isabel Allende’s 'The House of the Spirits'), Native American (Louise Erdrich’s 'Tracks'), Chicana (Ana Castillo’s 'So Far from God'), North American (Gail Anderson-Dargatz’s 'The Cure for Death by Lightning'), Central American (Gioconda Belli’s 'The Inhabited Woman'), Hawaiian American (Kiana Davenport’s 'Shark Dialogues') and Cuban American (Cristina García’s 'Dreaming in Cuban') background.   Show more

Resilience and the Wandering Subject

Edited by Supriya Daniel, IIT Bombay, India and Anu Kuriakose, NIT, Trichy, India

What are the different contours of defining a subject? How does a subject form in the act of resilience? This multi-author book explores the concept of a wandering subject, especially in the context of resilience. The wandering subject can be understood as an ever-forming subject through different mobilities. This movement is not just the physica... l movement compelled by a certain agency but also the various mobilities of the selves of the subject, mobilities through spaces, the interconnections formed with other subjects, and the fluidity between the subject/object/spaces at most times compelled by the spirit of resilience. Each chapter of the book delves into the myriad modalities of movement in spaces that are imagined or real. The space is always one of contestation, be it emerging from gender conflict, or that of a nation or a trauma inflicted by war. In this mode of displacement, either physical, emotional or spiritual (and at times, a seepage of all), the subject evolves and defines itself beyond the boundaries of binaries. It questions available definitions of self, subjecthood and identity and prompts one to imagine ways of comprehending and elucidating the concept of subject. In this sense, the book not only illuminates multiple perspectives on the subject but also compels the reader to formulate their own mode of grappling with this complex idea of the subject. It renders itself as an aid to current and future scholars to re-imagine and re-configure the subject.   Show more

Shakespeare and Religion: Global Tapestry, Dramatic Perspectives

Edited by Margie Burns, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Twelve research articles deal with aspects of religion in the plays of William Shakespeare, from early in the dramatist’s career to the end. Ordered by chronology, two chapters focus on history plays; three chapters focus on comedies and three on tragedies; one deals with "Troilus and Cressida," and three chapters deal with the late romances. The ... anthology does not cover all of Shakespeare’s plays and collaborations or the lyric poems. The collection is ecumenical and transnational. While the contributors all recognize that Shakespeare wrote in a Renaissance Christian universe, Christianity is not the only world religion dealt with. Approaches involve history and philosophy as well as theology, and individual perspectives vary. One thing the collection makes clear is that religion, in some sense, operates in every Shakespearean work, and its large spectrum ranges through plot and character from shallow to deep, self-interested to elevated, bloody to harmonious. Religion and religious differences were also part of the fabric and history of the playwright’s world, manifesting in the plays in situation, language, and iconography. From various perspectives, a common denominator is that the authors approach aspects of religion as one element in an informed analysis of the works.   Show more

Modern Czech Literature: Writing in Times of Political Trauma

Edited by Andrew M. Drozd, University of Alabama

Modern Czech culture has experienced a series of political traumas starting in the 1930s. Despite the difficult, shifting conditions, Czech writers have not only managed to contend with the situation, but have produced many fine literary efforts. This volume consists of seven articles by an international team of authors who are specialists in Czec... h literature. The first four chapters treat very well-known writers. There is one chapter on Karel Čapek and his play "The White Plague." There are three chapters on Milan Kundera, the internationally best-known Czech writer, with one of these chapters covering both Kundera and Bohumil Hrabal. The last three chapters deal with more recent and/or lesser-known writers. One chapter treats the Brothers Topol and the music underground, one chapter treats Czech literary responses to the period of the Normalization, and the final chapter treats Eda Kriseová. This volume presents new perspectives on Czech literature and will be of interest to specialists in Czech literature and history, Central European literature and history, Nazism and Communism. For example, although much has been written about Kundera, the three articles provide further treatments of three different aspects of his work: his ties to Russian literature, his misogyny, and the philosophical content of his novels. Specialists interested in the period of the Normalization (and after) will find the last three chapters particularly useful. The chapters are suitable for classroom use in courses in both Czech literature and Czech (or Central European) history. All material from Czech-language sources presented in the chapters is given in English translation.   Show more

The Literary and Human Legacy of Clara Sereni

Edited by Giulia Po DeLisle, University of Massachusetts, Lowell and Susan Briziarelli, Adelphi University

Clara Sereni lived an extraordinary life in extraordinary times. Born in Rome in 1946, she grew up in a prominent family of Jewish intellectuals whose influential role in Italian politics and in the anti-fascist resistance could not but inform Sereni’s own future social and political engagement. Coming of age during the turbulent Sixties, Sereni e... mbraced the struggle for women’s rights, social justice, and political reform, championing Eduardo Galeano’s notion that utopia always stands at the horizon, and one must keep walking to reach it. Activist, journalist, writer, translator, but also musician, disability rights champion, home-maker, and wife; her multiple and often conflicting roles emerge in a rich and multifaceted writing, increasingly balanced between the public and the private, history with a capital “H”, and personal memoir. Her first major success, ‘Casalinghitudine (Keeping House)’, explores the juncture of the public and the personal as important historical moments merge with her workaday memories of cooking. Her remarkable historical novel ‘Il Gioco dei Regni (The Game of Kingdoms)’ traces her family history from the early 20th century through the post-war period, chronicling their personal lives and their involvement in Italian politics and Jewish intellectual life. Subsequent works such as ‘Taccuino di un’ultimista’ (‘Notebook of a Meek Woman’) and ‘Passami il sale’ (‘Pass me the Salt’) tackle the difficulties of negotiating life as a political figure, wife, and mother of a disabled son. In works such as ‘Eppure’ (‘And Yet’), ‘Le Merendanze’ (‘Afternoon Snacks’) and ‘Una storia chiusa’ (‘A Closed Story’), as well as ‘Il lupo mercante’ (‘The Mongering Wolf’) and ‘Via Ripetta 155’ (‘155 Ripetta Street’), she again intertwines private experiences and public circumstances, raising questions related to gender, class, disability, the elderly, and sustainability. This is the first volume that brings together the critical aspects of Clara Sereni’s work, providing a comprehensive view of the writer, the intellectual, the politician, and the woman. As we reflect on the 20th century, Sereni’s long-spanning writing career stands as an important document of its struggles, its conflicts, and, like Sereni herself, its enduring idealism.   Show more

Navigating Boundaries: A Comprehensive Study of Postcolonial Theory and Literature

Shuchi Agrawal

'Navigating Boundaries: A Comprehensive Study of Postcolonial Theory and Literature' delves into the intricate area of postcolonial discourse, amplifying the voices emerging from the margins, challenging dominant narratives while exploring the themes of identity, mimicry, hybridity, power and resistance. Drawing from key theorists such as Edward S... aid, Homi K. Bhabha, Frantz Fanon, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Philip G. Altbach, Deepesh Chakravarthy, Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Gauri Viswanathan etc., this book offers a deep investigation into the multiple aspects of theoretical frameworks that shape postcolonial discourse. The analysis moves seamlessly from theory to literature, investigating how postcolonial literary texts navigate critical issues such as hybridity, mimicry, identity and resistance. A vital resource for students, research scholars, teachers, and anyone curious about the dynamic field of postcolonial theory and literature, this book calls readers to reflect, question, and join the discourse on the complex narratives that continue to shape our world. Generally, most of the postcolonial critiques explore linguistic imperialism, but this book makes a groundbreaking contribution by foregrounding the use of vernacular languages in literary texts and critical theory, positing that this is not just an aesthetic choice but a form of resistance and identity reclamation. In doing so, it echoes Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s call for linguistic decolonization and applies it in a broader, more diverse context, examining how the act of writing in local languages disrupts colonial power dynamics and fosters cultural preservation. While much of postcolonial criticism tends to centre on broad historical and political analysis, 'Navigating Boundaries' emphasizes the multiple voices coming from Africa, Caribbean and South Asia, offering a more intimate look at identity formation in postcolonial settings. Moreover, the book’s interdisciplinary approach strengthens its position in the field. By weaving in cultural studies, sociology, and psychological perspectives on gender, trauma, ethnicity and memory, it opens up fresh pathways, making the work relevant not just for literary scholars, but for those interested in a wider discourse on postcolonial theory.   Show more

The Real Aftermath: How COVID-19 Changed the Way Science Fiction is Conceived, Read, and Interpreted

Edited by Riccardo Retez

'The Real Aftermath: How COVID-19 Changed the Way Science Fiction is Conceived, Read, and Interpreted' offers a profound exploration of how the COVID-19 pandemic has redefined the boundaries of speculative fiction. Through contributions from scholars in literature, media, and cultural studies, this volume examines the pandemic's deep impact on sci... ence fiction as a genre and cultural phenomenon. The book navigates the thematic, stylistic, and ideological shifts that have emerged in response to the global health crisis, revealing how science fiction has become a mirror of contemporary societal anxieties, from isolation and contagion to resilience and dystopia. Drawing from a rich array of media, including literature, film, and video games, 'The Real Aftermath' delves into the portrayal of existential threats and explores how speculative narratives provide frameworks for imagining future crises and solutions. By addressing both cultural and technological disruptions, the book positions itself within the growing body of critical literature on the intersection between global crises and fiction, offering original insights into the transformative power of science fiction in post-pandemic society. This volume is an essential resource for scholars and students in literature, science fiction studies, media, and cultural analysis. It can serve as a reference for academic research, a methodological aid in classroom discussions, and a guide for practitioners interested in the role of fiction in interpreting and responding to global crises.   Show more

A Vain Talent? The Question of Female Artistry in the Life and Work of Anne Brontë

Edited by Taten Shirley, Faulkner University

The main goal of this anthology is to aid Brontë scholars, along with undergraduate and graduate students alike, in their research of Anne Brontë, specifically in regards to the question of her artistry in her own life and the theme of artistry in her novel, 'The Tenant of Wildfell Hall', and her poetry. While there have been numerous publications...  on the Brontë sisters, there is the least amount of scholarship on Anne. Literary criticism of Anne is usually included within commentary on her sisters as a whole, and Anne is always discussed the least in the works. There are few, if any, anthologies on Anne’s writing, especially not one that focuses on artistry specifically. This anthology seeks to reduce the disparity of scholarship on Anne compared to her sisters. The chapters all focus on artistry in some aspect of her life or her writing. The first chapter focuses on Anne’s poetry and how it can be viewed as a therapeutic for her homesickness while at Thorp Green. Chapter two examines the ways in which Anne Brontë demonstrates that Agnes Grey’s pedagogic craft is one steeped in virtue but punctuated by limited authority, thus stressing the inherently artistic nature of education as aesthetic expression that ultimately remains subordinate to the power of individual autonomy. The third chapter examines Helen Huntingdon through the medieval lens of chivalric domestic violence. Chapter four discusses how Anne’s artistry impacted the characters she wrote, illustrating how Helen’s career as an artist relies on the commercial prospects that painting permits to investigate the problems and disagreements that occur when a woman endeavors to construct “a room of one’s own” outside the conventional societal circumstances. The fifth chapter explores how Brontë traces Helen Huntingdon’s moral and emotional development through her art and how characters of both genders interact with that art and how the acts of production and interpretation serve as an important dimension of her social critique and refusal to conform to gendered expectations of her own art. Then the sixth chapter examines Victorian women’s artistic skills and their modest craft of sketching imaginary kingdoms and painting realistic landscapes and (self-)portraits in Anne Brontë’s 'The Tenant of Wildfell Hall' (1848) and in Charlotte Brontë’s 'Jane Eyre' (1847), as the equivalents of unprofessional female writings expected in the nineteenth century. The seventh chapter explores the use of art as a means of escape from an unvirtuous marriage in 'The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.' Lastly, the eighth chapter takes a closer look at why exactly Anne is the least-known sister by contrasting the supernatural in Charlotte’s 'Jane Eyre' to the realism in Anne’s 'The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.'   Show more

Margins Speaking to Margins: Multinational Perspectives on African-American Literature

Edited by Rafael Miguel Montes and Ajit Kumar

African-American scholars in the United States and Western Europe continue to concentrate on African-American literary studies. The expanding interest in Caribbean publishing, which focuses on the intersection of Afro-Caribbean and African-American communities, indicates that there is an expanding academic readership for African-American narrative...  studies and other intellectual outputs from other countries. This collection features writers from underrepresented countries, including India, Tunisia, Romania, Morocco, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, and South Africa, discussing their perspectives on African-American narratives. The collection is rich in pedagogical vibrancy, as many academics teach African-American literature to national students. It explores how non-American contributors teach African-American narratives to a global audience, aiming to help academics envision teaching narratives outside their comfortability and understanding a culture they may not have contact with. This collection aims to provide meaningful re-readings of these works, recognizing the potential for change and promoting inclusivity in Women's Writings and Marginal Literature.   Show more

Casas Tomadas: Monsters and Metaphors on the Periphery of Latin American Literature and Media

Edited by Carlos A. González, Harvard University

'Casas Tomadas: Monsters and Metaphors on the Periphery of Latin American Literature and Media' examines how Latin American writers, filmmakers, and artists use monstrosity to reflect on marginalization, identity, and social trauma. This volume brings together close analyses of literature, film, and visual art from across Latin America, exploring ... how the monstrous symbolizes resistance to cultural, political, and historical oppression. Organized into four sections—Night Lights, In the Grip of Monsters, Echoes in the Darkness, and Sinister Spaces—the book offers case studies on works by Mariana Enríquez, Samanta Schweblin, Issa López, and others. Each chapter reveals how monsters, from mythic figures to supernatural landscapes, serve as potent metaphors for issues like queer and feminist activism, postcolonial haunting, and socio-political violence. Contributors engage with genres from horror and the Gothic to speculative fiction, situating monstrosity within Latin American experiences of violence, trauma, and resilience. Distinct for its interdisciplinary approach, 'Casas Tomadas' will serve as a key resource for students and researchers in Latin American Studies, Cultural Studies, and Gothic and Horror Studies. Its focused structure makes it ideal for classroom adoption, while its fresh perspectives on Latin American Gothic and the politics of monstrosity offer new insights for scholars in queer and postcolonial theory.   Show more

Liberation through destruction / Liberación a través de la destrucción

From fantastic creatures to marginalized social groups / De criaturas fantásticas a grupos sociales marginados

Edited by Ekaterina Kagan, Russell Sage College, New York and Gabriela Schiappacasse, University of Pittsburgh

In the literature of Spain, Latin America, and the Caribbean, countless acts of redefinition emerge through destruction, a powerful symbol of breaking free from oppressive forces and embracing independence. Within these narratives, characters undergo a process of redefinition, enabling them to assert themselves and advocate for their own rights, u... ltimately generating a sense of empowerment. But this transformation isn’t confined to human beings alone, it also extends to magical creatures, demonstrating that all entities, human or otherwise, have the power to reshape their destinies through the redefinition of their identities. 'Liberation through destruction: From fantastic creatures to marginalized social groups' portrays literary worlds in which a rich tapestry unfolds, where witches, sorcerers, demons, and other fantastical beings coexist within contemporary, modern, and even colonial settings. These characters breathe life into these narratives, giving voice to those marginalized, alienated, or rejected by society. However, the presence of these diverse and extraordinary characters challenges the established hierarchies. When women are seen as witches or portrayed as autonomous figures, fear often follows. The dissident woman becomes a target simply for refusing to conform. Her defiance against masculine subjugation, and her pursuit of feminine liberation and economic autonomy, forces her into a liminal space between what is accepted and what is repudiated, between what is considered “normal” and what is “terrifying.” This “woman,” who breaks the rules and challenges societal norms, who evokes the heroines who took action, like Antigone and La Llorona, heroines who act decisively to navigate the blurred line between what is “fair” and what is “unfair,” between what is “right” and what is “wrong.” In doing so, they enter a space where they are both feared and revered, they embody a liminality that gives them the ability to rewrite the stories they occupy and enter a realm where they are both feared and revered. En la literatura española, latinoamericana y caribeña, son frecuentes los actos de redefinición que, a través de la destrucción, se presentan como un poderoso símbolo de liberación de las fuerzas opresivas y de la adopción de la independencia. Dentro de estas narrativas, los personajes a menudo atraviesan un proceso de redefinición que les permite afirmarse y abogar por sus propios derechos, acompañado de un proceso de empoderamiento. Sin embargo, esta transformación no se limita solo a los seres humanos, sino que también se extiende a criaturas mágicas, demostrando que todas las entidades, sean humanas o no, tienen el poder de redefinir su identidad y, por tanto, transformar su destino. 'Liberación a través de la destrucción: De criaturas fantásticas a grupos sociales marginados', despliega un rico tapiz de mundos literarios donde brujas, hechiceros, demonios y otros seres fantásticos coexisten en escenarios contemporáneos, modernos y coloniales. A través de estos personajes, se consigue dar voz a aquellos que han sido marginados, alienados o rechazados por la sociedad. Sin embargo, la presencia de estos personajes no pasa de largo, sino que desafía el status quo. La aparición en estas obras de mujeres que son (o son vistas) como brujas o figuras autónomas suele causar miedo a su paso. La mujer disidente no pasa de largo, sino que se convierte en objetivo simplemente por no conformarse con lo que le viene impuesto. Su búsqueda de la liberación femenina y la autonomía económica la obliga a ocupar un espacio ambiguo entre lo aceptado y lo repudiado, entre lo que se considera “normal” y lo que se considera “terrorífico”. Esta “mujer” que rompe las reglas y desafía las normas sociales, evoca a heroínas como Antígona y La Llorona; heroínas que actúan de manera autónoma, fijando sus propias normas y situándose en una línea difusa entre lo “justo” y lo “injusto”, entre lo “correcto” y lo “incorrecto”. Al hacerlo, entran en un espacio donde son tanto temidas como veneradas, un espacio donde tienen la capacidad de reescribir sus propias historias.   Show more

Simply to Be Americans? Literary Radicals Confront Monopoly Capitalism, 1885-1938

Joel Wendland-Liu, Grand Valley State University

'Simply to Be Americans?' delves into the transformative power of radical U.S. literature from the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries, uncovering how writers boldly confronted the intertwined forces of Americanism, capitalism, racism, imperialism, and patriarchy. Through the works of visionaries like Lucy Parsons, Albert Parsons, and Sut... ton Griggs, this book reveals how early literary radicals challenged the foundations of monopoly capitalism and white supremacy, planting the seeds for a culture of resistance that would flourish in the decades to come. Exploring the speculative genius of Mark Twain, Jack London, Gertrude Nafe, and W.E.B. Du Bois, 'Simply to Be Americans?' showcases how allegory and satire became powerful tools to dismantle nationalism, imperialism, and racial hierarchies. While these pioneers often grappled with the complexity of these systems, a study of their work illuminated both the possibilities and limitations of early radical thought. As the twentieth century unfolded, U.S. writers embraced revolutionary internationalism, forging connections between domestic struggles and global anti-imperialist movements. Figures like John Reed and Hubert Harrison championed solidarity across borders, while the Russian Revolution and worldwide labor uprisings inspired a new wave of politically charged art. Writers like Genevieve Taggard and W.E.B. Du Bois called for literature that expresses urgent struggles against systemic oppression. In the 1920s and 1930s, luminaries like Mary Burrill, Jean Toomer, Langston Hughes, H.T. Tsiang, Josefina Niggli, Lola Ridge, and Dorothy West rejected assimilation, exposing American society’s capitalist and imperialist core. Their works vividly exposed the intersections of race, class, and gender, advocating for unity among the oppressed. 'Simply to Be Americans?' redefines the legacy of U.S. radical literature, tracing its evolution and celebrating its enduring impact. This groundbreaking study reveals how these writers critiqued their world and laid the foundation for future movements against exploitation and injustice, offering timeless insights into today’s struggles.   Show more

Emerging from the Rubble: Asian American Writings on Disasters

Edited by Yasuko Kase, University of the Ryukyus, Japan and Eliko Kosaka, Hosei University, Japan

With a focus on the transpacific and transnational relationship between North America and Asia, 'Emerging from the Rubble: Asian/American Writings on Disasters' explores Asian/Americans’ complex and nuanced involvement in disastrous events. Included in this purview of disaster are not only the damages and threats of current ongoing climate change ... but also the long-lasting ruining effects inflicted by imperialism, neo/colonialism, wars, and these historical components’ entanglement with global capitalism that have generated both spontaneous and slow and/or prolonged violent effects. Moreover, disasters can be acknowledged as manifestations of the Anthropocene — an epoch shaped by human activity — or what scholars like Jason W. Moore and Donna J. Harraway term the ‘Capitalocene,’ a paradigm where nature and capitalist society are deeply intertwined, co-creating an intricate web of life. Asian/American involvement in such a web has never been simple but convoluted: some of them have experienced tremendous losses, whereas others have perpetuated obfuscation of the truth and/or induced violence, often contingently with or without acknowledging the facts. When considering Asian migrants including refugees from Southeast Asia who had little option but to seek asylum in the U.S., and Asian Americans who have pursued their “happiness” under the U.S.’s capitalist premise of constant progress, protection of “human rights,” and freedom of “choice,” it is important to note that Asian migrants and Asian ‘Americans’ have become simultaneously active players and exploited individuals within the context of U.S. racial capitalism. Acknowledging the impossibility of clearly differentiating natural and human-made disasters, scholars who contribute to this volume note the reciprocal influences between nature and civilization. They examine how the entanglements of natural and human-made disasters lead to the acceleration and expansion of damage. This volume explores how Asian Americans’ connections with their ancestral origins along with their particular racial positions, social classes, and socio-historical backgrounds in North American societies force them to experience and witness disastrous events differently from the mainstream discourse on eco-crises.   Show more