Beth E. Jörgensen – författare

Elena Poniatowska is one of Latin America's most distinguished and innovative living writers. Advocacy of women and the poor in their struggle for social and economic justice, denunciation of the repression of that struggle, and a tendency to blur the boundaries between conventional literary forms characterize her writing practice.Asserting that Poniatowska's writing has been uniquely shaped by her experience as a journalist and interviewer, Beth JÖrgensen addresses four important texts: Palabras cruzadas (interviews), Hasta no verte JesÚs mÍo (testimonial novel), La noche de Tlatelolco (oral history), and La "Flor de Lis" (novel of development). She also treats related pieces, including Lilus Kikus (short fiction), De noche vienes (short stories), Fuerte es el silencio (chronicles), and several of Poniatowska's essays. Her readings incorporate a variety of critical approaches within a feminist framework.

Diverse perspectives on the "chronicle"as a literary genre and socio-cultural practice.The crónica, or chronicle, which crosses the boundaries between fiction and nonfiction, literature and journalism, is a highly polemical and widely read form of writing in Mexico and throughout Latin America, where it plays an influential cultural, social, and historical role. For the first time, this book addresses the theory and practice of the chronicle in twentieth-century Mexico. Contributions by Mexican writers such as Carlos Monsiváis and Elena Poniatowska and essays on a wide range of texts and authors provide diverse perspectives on the chronicle as a literary genre and as a cultural and social practice.

Diverse perspectives on the "chronicle"as a literary genre and socio-cultural practice.The crónica, or chronicle, which crosses the boundaries between fiction and nonfiction, literature and journalism, is a highly polemical and widely read form of writing in Mexico and throughout Latin America, where it plays an influential cultural, social, and historical role. For the first time, this book addresses the theory and practice of the chronicle in twentieth-century Mexico. Contributions by Mexican writers such as Carlos Monsiváis and Elena Poniatowska and essays on a wide range of texts and authors provide diverse perspectives on the chronicle as a literary genre and as a cultural and social practice.

Examines the theory and practice of nonfiction narrative literature in twentieth-century Mexico.Winner of the 2012 Best Book in the Humanities presented by the Mexico Section of the Latin American Studies Association In the turbulent twentieth century, large numbers of Mexicans of all social classes faced crisis and catastrophe on a seemingly continuous basis. Revolution, earthquakes, industrial disasters, political and labor unrest, as well as indigenous insurgency placed extraordinary pressures on collective and individual identity. In contemporary literary studies, nonfiction literatures have received scant attention compared to the more supposedly "creative" practices of fictional narrative, poetry, and drama. In Documents in Crisis, Beth E. Jörgensen examines a selection of both canonical and lesser-known examples of narrative nonfiction that were written in response to these crises, including the autobiography, memoir, historical essay, testimony, chronicle, and ethnographic life narrative. She addresses the relative neglect of Mexican nonfiction in criticism and theory and demonstrates its continuing relevance for writers and readers who, in spite of the contemporary blurring of boundaries between fiction and nonfiction, remain fascinated by literatures of fact.

Examines the theory and practice of nonfiction narrative literature in twentieth-century Mexico.Winner of the 2012 Best Book in the Humanities presented by the Mexico Section of the Latin American Studies Association In the turbulent twentieth century, large numbers of Mexicans of all social classes faced crisis and catastrophe on a seemingly continuous basis. Revolution, earthquakes, industrial disasters, political and labor unrest, as well as indigenous insurgency placed extraordinary pressures on collective and individual identity. In contemporary literary studies, nonfiction literatures have received scant attention compared to the more supposedly "creative" practices of fictional narrative, poetry, and drama. In Documents in Crisis, Beth E. Jörgensen examines a selection of both canonical and lesser-known examples of narrative nonfiction that were written in response to these crises, including the autobiography, memoir, historical essay, testimony, chronicle, and ethnographic life narrative. She addresses the relative neglect of Mexican nonfiction in criticism and theory and demonstrates its continuing relevance for writers and readers who, in spite of the contemporary blurring of boundaries between fiction and nonfiction, remain fascinated by literatures of fact.

Analyzes the diverse roles and pervasive presence of disability in Latin American literature and film.Libre Acceso stages an innovative encounter between disciplines that have remained quite separate: Latin American literary, film, and cultural studies and disability studies. It offers a much-needed framework to engage the representation, construction, embodiment, and contestation of human differences, and provides tools for the urgent resignification of a robust and diverse Latin American literary and filmic tradition. The contributors discuss such topics as impairment, trauma, illness and the body, performance, queer theory, subaltern studies, and human rights, while analyzing literature and film from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, and Peru. They explore these issues through the work of canonical figures Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel García Márquez, João Guimarães Rosa, and others, as well as less well-known figures, including Mario Bellatin and Miriam Alves.