▼ In the following reading of Manuel Zapata Olivella´s literary work, I illustrate the ways testimonial rhetorical elements make a remarkable presence in the literary evolution of this Colombian writer (1920-2004). To determinate what I call testimonial rhetorical elements, I explore the works on testimonio written by researchers such as John Beverley, Elzbieta Sklodowska and Hugo Achugar. By means of Hugo Achugar and Elzbieta Sklodowska´s studies, and the parallel these researchers make between Latin American testimonio and previous narratives, I study the influences some literary movements, such as the novel of the social realism, the autobiography, the modernist Chronicle and the American new journalism, have in Manuel Zapata Olivella´s works. I present Zapata’s first works: Pasión vagabunda (1949), He visto la noche (1953), China 6, a. m and La calle 10 (1960) as the kind of texts that attempt to produce clear testimonial effects. I also illustrate how, in later publications, Detrás del rostro (1963) and El fusilamiento del diablo (1986), the author incorporates testimonio to prove, first, that the search of reality is a failed and impossible project. Second, that testimonial discourses are the foundations of his fictional work. This dissertation contributes to both the study of testimonial discourses present in the evolution of Latin American literature, as well as the study of the narrative structure of Manuel Zapata Olivella´s literary work. Being a writer whose work has been mainly studied from the fields of Afro-Hispanic blackness, this study sheds light into the essence of Manuel Zapata Olivella´s literary richness, its internal structures, the social and literary value of his works, and its relationship to genre and race. Advisors/Committee Members: Urbina, Nicasio.

▼ This dissertation examines the Vida de Santa María Egipcíaca (VSME) by utilizing Carl G. Jung's theory of the process of individuation and its corresponding alchemical symbolism in order to provide a new critical observation from a psychological and an archetypal point of view. The basic reason for undertaking this study is neither to refute other studies nor to argue against other opinions, but to contribute to the expanding field of psychological criticism on this work. Though it is customarily viewed as a Spanish medieval hagiographic poem, VSME is, in a more profound sense, a poem which reflects the archetypal alchemical patterns which aided Jung in identifying a psychological process which he termed "individuation". In order to illustrate the stages of this search for authentic psychic wholeness, this dissertation examines the VSME by utilizing Jung's theories. Chapter 1 describes the legend of Saint Mary of Egypt as a hagiographic work and its similarity to secular medieval romance narratives. This correlation is offered in order to demonstrate that divergent interpretations and influences may be brought to bear upon a hagiographic work. Chapter 2 first provides a brief historical background of the alchemical tradition and then discusses Jung's inner experiences and scholarly interests, of which alchemy was only one of many. These eventually led to the formulation of his theories which are pertinent to the present study. Chapter 3 examines the VSME as it illustrates the individuation process through an alchemical interpretation. Chapter 4 provides a summary and several implications concerning the value in the study of Jungian insights. Advisors/Committee Members: Giordano, Erique A.

▼ This dissertation examines how otherness and marginality are articulated in three literary works: Reinaldo Arenas’ Antes que anochezca (1992), Fernando Vallejo#8217;s La virgen de los sicarios (1994) and Paulo Lins’ Cidade de Deus (1997). Furthermore, this study investigates whether the representation of subjects historically viewed as peripheral, both inside and outside the borders of the nation, perpetuates or undermines the conceptualization of the Latin American continental identity as “Other” in relation to dominant Eurocentric and North American perspectives. The choice of the texts of Arenas, Vallejo and Lins as paradigms of representation in the Latin American context is not fortuitous. Antes, La virgen and Cidade de Deus are works that underscore renewed perspectives on the significance of the nation inasmuch as they challenge the conventionality of historical discourses through the articulation of marginal subjectivities as prevailing accounts of reality. Arenas’ autobiography constitutes a narrative in which the exilic Self subverts the hegemony of the Cuban socialist state by contesting history and its truth through the account of a homosexual and political dissident who witnesses and personally contributes to one of the most defining moments of the nation’s past; Vallejo’s representation of the formerly exiled intellectual in La virgen, in complicity with the sicariato class with which he associates himself, inscribes the marginal elements of Colombian society onto the present narrative of the nation; and Lins’ re-imagination of the favelado space in Cidade de Deus dismantles the conventional perception of Brazil as a racial paradise by denouncing the poverty found in the slums of Rio de Janeiro as a social condition intrinsically tied to the country’s racial “invisibility.” Advisors/Committee Members: Picanço, Luciano.

▼ One means which communities have of preserving and legitimizing their national identity is by creating a cultural space defined by the existence of a literature which provides individuals with a shared imagined community. This study analyzes how the authors of early modern Basque texts, beginning with the first print text by Etxepare, articulate and preserve a space for Basque national identity. Chapter one provides a synopsis of the history of the Basque Country. Although a Basque nation state has never existed, on two occasions a semi-political unification was achieved. Basque was not enforced as a national language resulting in dialectical diversity nevertheless, certain uniformity was achieved due to religious texts written in the vernacular. With the formation of the Spanish modern state in the fiftieth century, the Basque provinces became a marginal space within Castilian hegemonic space. Chapter two analyzes definitions of nation and nationalism, emphasizing Anderson’s and Bhabha’s theories of the role of language during community formation. Among the variables of geography, history and tradition, language is essential in order for individuals to share an imagined community. Chapter three evaluates the works of Etxepare, Leizarraga, y De Axular, among others, who have advocated the speaking and preservation of Basque. Most writers develop strategies to work through their marginalized position; only a few use their position within the hegemonic sphere to support the subordinate language. The last chapter examines the circumstances that prompted the creation of the modern Basque nationalist movement. I affirm that centuries before the ideology formulated by Arana Goiri, a distinct Basque ideology already existed. I analyze how this modern national ideology is not parallel with the ideology of early modern Basque texts. The study concludes that early pro-Basque authors relied frequently on using the text’s marginal spaces such as prologues and introductions in order to advocate for the creation of cultural space. Although this approach transgresses the hegemonic space, it is not reactionary or contestatary, but defends the coexistence of national identities. For them Basque is a complete language, entitled to its own imaginary community. Advisors/Committee Members: Scaborough, Connie.

▼ The play element in Alfredo Bryce Echenique’s narrative work has provoked a radical change to Peruvian literature, both at the narrative as well as at the discourse level, breaking all patterns imposed by the traditional realism that characterized the Peruvian literature until the 60’s. This dissertation studies the play element in three main narrative works of the Peruvian writer Alfredo Bryce Echenique: Un mundo para Julius, and the diptych Cuadernos de navegación en un sillón Voltaire, which includes two novels La vida exagerada de Martín Romaña y El hombre que hablaba de Octavia de Cádiz. As the theory of play is profuse, diverse and in some instances exceeds the literary world, in this dissertation I include those theories that are applicable to Bryce Echenique’s work. Thus, on chapter one I analyze Johan Huizinga’s approach on the nature and significance of play presented in Homo Ludens; Susan Stewart and the concepts of “common sense” and “nonsense”; as well as Jacques Derrida’s theoretical work on play in literature. In the second chapter I present a panoramic view of Latin American literature through the perspective of play. This comprehensive assessment provides a profile of Latin American literature, that in my opinion is fundamental to the study of play. It also details the role that Bryce Echenique’s narrative work has within the world of play in Latin American literature. Further, I examine the literary evolution of Alfredo Bryce Echenique’s narrative work and I highlight the factors that significantly influenced the course of his literary production. In the third chapter I analyze the three novels mentioned previously through the perspective of the play elements presented by Huizinga. In addition, I apply and penetrate the concepts of “common sense” and “non-sense” introduced by Susan Stewart, to determine the way in which Bryce Echenique’s work responds to this theory. In the fourth chapter I study Bryce Echenique’s novels from the perspective of Derrida’s work on play: “transgression of structures.” I examine as well, the rupture of the language and the narrative structure of each novel. I conclude that in the works of Alfredo Bryce Echenique the rupture of the common sense and the transgression of structures are constant, therefore the discourse abandons its linear, organized and logical tendencies that are seen in the traditional literature. As a result, the language is liberated and numerous voices appear in the discourse expressing simultaneously different intentions. Humor, irony, parody and the game between reality and fiction break the solemnity of the narration, creating a unique way of writing. Advisors/Committee Members: Giordano, Dr. Enrique.