Bøger om Sydamerika

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2024 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR TRANSLATED LITERATUREWinner of the Rómulo Gallego Prize, The Abyss is a caustic masterwork of incredible power and force, an unforgettable autobiographical work of queer fiction. The novel tells about the demise of a crumbling house in Medellín, Colombia. Fernando, a writer, visits his brother Darío, who is dying of AIDS. Recounting their wild philandering and trying to come to terms with his beloved brother's inevitable death, Fernando rants against the political forces that cause so much suffering. Vallejo is the heir to Céline, Thomas Paine, and Machado de Assis. He hurls vitriolic, savagely funny insults at his country ("I wipe my ass with the new Constitution of Colombia") and at his mother ("the Crazy Bitch") who has given birth to him and his many siblings. Within this firestorm of pain, Fernando manages to get across much beauty and truth: that all love is painful and washed in pure sorrow. He loves his sick brother and the family's Santa Anita farm (the lost paradise of his childhood where azaleas bloomed); and he even loves his country, now torn to shreds. Always, in this savage masterpiece about loss-as if in the eye of Vallejo's hurricane of talent-we are in the curiously comforting workings of memory and of the writing process itself, as, recollecting time, it offers immortality.

In Festival, the genius postmodern sci-fi filmmaker Alec Steryx is the star guest of a film festival in an unnamed country. But he's brought a surprise: his nonagenarian mother. Everyone is baffled: Why? Half-blind and terminally cranky, she does nothing but complain, despite insisting on attending every screening and reception. As Steryx's mother gums up the works for the festival organizers, larger problems are in store ... A delightfully baroque comedy of errors, Festival, is, all at once, a loving parody of the institutions that support artists, a meditation on postmodern art, and a propulsive, lyrical, surreal adventure. In the far, far, future, a middle-aged father has fallen behind the times. Bemused and disturbed, he watches his children play the eponymous Game of the Worlds, a Total Reality war game that involves the annihilation of countless alien civilizations-which are at least as real as the narrator's own. As he debates the ethics of the game, struggles with his home's "intelligent system," and fumblingly manipulates his Discourse Corrector (a dead ringer for ChatGPT) on virtual beachside dates, an errant thought threatens to set a world-ending chain of logic into motion: the return of the Idea of God... Epic and domestic, madcap and musing by turns, this prescient novel reads like a message in a bottle from a bewitchingly strange yet all-too familiar future.

A taxidermied parrot, insulted by a stodgy uncle, comes violently alive and batters the poor fool to death with its beak. A terrible tyrant, Zar Palemón, presides over grotesque ritualized sex acts in his court-which is itself contained in a demonic gemstone the size of a fist. And deep in the Andes, in a hidden cave, an unremarkable house cat waits to trap its hapless victim with a Gorgon's gaze and engage him in a staring contest on which the fate of the cosmos just might depend.Such are a few of the bizarre adventures found within Juan Emar's mind-bending collection of short stories, Ten. Allegory? Parody? Horror? Surrealism? Yes to all, and none of the above: where lesser writers mark their end-point, the unclassifiable Juan Emar jumps off, straight into the deep end. Life is far from still in Emar's world, where statues come alive, gaseous vampires stalk, and our hopes and fears materialize in a web of shocking interconnections unified by twisted logic and crystalline prose.Now, Ten is available in English for the first time, deftly translated by Megan McDowell and with an introduction by César Aira, who writes: "Emar has neither precedents nor equals; his echoes and affinities-Lautréamont, Macedonio Fernández, Gombrowicz-flow from his readers' own inclinations." Byzantine and vivid, intricate and bizarre, this quiver of shorts by Chile's most idiosyncratic mad genius of literature will leave readers astounded for decades to come.

The definitive comprehensive photographic field guide to the larger mammals of continental South AmericaSouth America’s wide range of habitats support a tremendous diversity of plants and animals, including more than 400 species of larger mammals—those the size of a guinea pig or bigger. Many are truly iconic: Jaguar, Puma, Ocelot and numerous other beautiful cats; the fantastic Maned Wolf; the incomparable Giant Anteater; and an incredible variety of extraordinary primates. This groundbreaking guide provides detailed coverage of these and many other wonderful mammals, including porcupines and peccaries; squirrels, sloths, skunks and seals; opossums, olingos and otters; armadillos, agoutis and Andean Bear; and viscachas and Vicuña—not to mention tapirs and river and estuarine dolphins.The species accounts include a description of key features and information on subspecies, comparisons with similar species that overlap in range, details of the habitats in which the species occurs, a summary of its distribution in South America and information on its conservation status. Each species is illustrated with carefully selected photos, or artwork where suitable photos were not available.Detailed coverage of 420 speciesShowcases over 550 stunning photos, many of rarely photographed speciesFeatures specially commissioned artwork for almost 100 species, including comparative plates of all marmosets and titi monkeysIncludes up-to-date distribution maps

Lumen recupera una voz fundamental: una de las mejores cuentistas del siglo XX en español. «Un volumen de cuentos que revela a una autora «con un talento magnético, una mujer con un universo propio muy único, sumamente complejo, oscuro y luminoso a la vez» —Leila Guerriero «Una de las escritoras más talentosas y extrañas de la literatura en español.»—Mariana Enriquez Publicado por primera vez en 1948, Autobiografía de Irene cumple las promesas de la mejor literatura: una narración diáfana, un estilo de económica precisión, el vuelo de la imaginación a sus anchas. En estos cinco cuentos, que transcurren en escenarios tan diversos como la Roma antigua, una ciudad de China o el campo de la provincia de Buenos Aires, Silvina Ocampo explora la identidad, la mentira, el rencor, la muerte, la melancolía, los sueños, las certidumbres e incertidumbres acerca de lo que ocurrió o no ocurrió: a menudo, las líneas temáticas se confunden en la calma y un inusitado esplendor comparece con toda su violencia.   La fascinación que el más extenso de los relatos, «El impostor», ha despertado en guionistas y directores de cine no es casual: esta historia poblada de claves equívocas nos precipita en una ensoñación diurna donde la realidad y sus artificios establecen una fantasmagoría inolvidable. Esta nueva edición incluye el argumento inédito que la autora escribió para una versión cinematográfica, nunca realizada, de esa ambigua nouvelle.   En el 120.º aniversario de su nacimiento, Lumen recupera este volumen de cuentos imprescindible de una escritora única e inclasificable, admirada por Borges, Pizarnik y Cortázar, que se mantuvo como el gran secreto de la literatura latinoamericana. ENGLISH DESCRIPTIONIn this volume, Lumen rescues the voice of one of the twentieth century’s best storytellers in the Spanish language. The stories reveal an author with “a compelling talent, a woman who inhabits a complex world, dark and luminous at the same time” (Leila Guerriero). “One of the strangest and most talented writers in Spanish literature” (Mariana Enriquez). Published for the first time in 1948, Autobiography of Irene fulfills the promises of the best literature: a diaphanous narrative and precise style that give full flight to the imagination. In the five stories in this collection, set in locations as diverse as Ancient Rome, a city in China, and a rural Buenos Aires province, Silvina Ocampo explores identity, lies, rancor, death, melancholy, dreams, certainty and uncertainty. The storylines often blur until hitting home with an unexpected splendor.     The fascination that the longest story, The Impostor, has awakened in scriptwriters and filmmakers isn’t surprising: Scattered with false clues, the story plunges readers into a daydream where reality and its artifices create an unforgettable phantasmagoria. This new edition includes the never-before-published plot the author wrote for an unrealized film version of this ambiguous novella.   On the 120th anniversary of Ocampo’s birth, Lumen brings a new generation of readers the work of a unique and uncategorizable author who was admired by Borges, Pizarnik and Cortázar but remains one of the great secrets of Latin American literature.

Lumen recupera una voz fundamental: «Una de las escritoras más talentosas y extrañas de la literatura en español» (Mariana Enriquez). La novela que la autora consideró siempre su mejor obra. Una mujer se inclina sobre la baranda de un transatlántico para recoger un broche y cae accidentalmente por la borda. Mientras el barco se aleja, hace una promesa a Santa Rita, la «abogada de lo imposible»: si logra salvarse, escribirá la historia de su vida. Personas y lugares desfilan ante sus ojos formando un «diccionario de recuerdos» a menudo crueles o perturbadores, mientras el mar la rodea con toda su furia. Poco a poco, la imaginación de la náufraga empieza a jugar con esas imágenes del pasado como si quisiera distraerla de los peligros que la acechan, hasta que las fronteras entre lo vivido y lo soñado se desdibujan en una narración que va tornándose cada vez más exuberante, más poética, a medida que se vislumbra el final.   Escrita a comienzos de los sesenta y sometida a varias reescrituras durante las décadas siguientes, esta «novela fantasmagórica» permaneció inédita envida de su autora. Publicada por primera vez en 2011, La promesa deslumbra por su audacia formal, por las invenciones de su trama y por la prosa siempre inspirada de Silvina Ocampo.   En el 120.º aniversario de su nacimiento, Lumen recupera la última novela que escribió esta escritora única e inclasificable, admirada por Borges, Pizarnik y Cortázar, que se mantuvo como el gran secreto de la literatura latinoamericana.ENGLISH DESCRIPTIONOn the 120th anniversary of her birth, Lumen recovers the last novel written by this unique and unclassifiable writer who was admired by Borges, Pizarnik, and Cortázar, the great secret of Latin American literature. The novel the author considered her best work.   A dying woman's attempt to recount the story of her life reveals the fragility of memory and the illusion of identity.   A woman traveling on a transatlantic ship has fallen overboard. Adrift at sea, she makes a promise to Saint Rita, "arbiter of the impossible," that if she survives, she will write her life story. As she drifts, she wonders what she might include in the story of her life—a repertoire of miracles, threats, and people parade tumultuously through her mind. Little by little, her imagination begins to commandeer her memories, escaping the structures of realism.   Translated into English for the very first time, The Promise showcases Silvina Ocampo at her most feminist, idiosyncratic and subversive. Ocampo worked quietly to perfect this novella over the course of twenty-five years, nearly up until the time of her death in 1993.   Kirkus Reviews calls The Promise one of the Best Books of Fiction, and Literature in Translation of the year! Voted LitHub's Most Anticipated Books of 2019!

This book explores the built environments of the Bahian Reconcavo plantations and their historical significance in the African Diaspora. More than one million Africans were brought to work in the sugarcane plantations of the Reconcavo region. This massive influx of enslaved Africans had a profound impact on society, influencing various aspects of culture, demographics, and social structures. The plantations, which were vital to the Brazilian economy, became symbolic of the spatial systems of exploitation associated with slavery. However, despite the spatiality control exerted by plantation owners, the plantations also became spaces of resistance, where the enslaved population employed various strategies to circumvent the system.Framed by theories proposed by Michel Foucault, Pierre Bourdieu, and James Scott, this analysis delves into various sources?including archival materials and site visits?to provide a comprehensive understanding of how the spatiality of plantations influenced the behavior of their inhabitants. By examining the physical structures, spatial organization, and the lived experiences within the Reconcavo plantations, this study aims to expose the complex interplay between power, resistance, and the lasting influences on the built environment of the Brazilian cities. By uncovering these multifaceted connections, it becomes imperative to acknowledge the profound legacies embedded within the design of these plantations, and how they continue to shape Brazilian architecture and society. Understanding these ramifications is vital for fostering a more inclusive and equitable society, not only in Brazil but also in a broader context.