The Poetics of Plants in Spanish American Literature / Lesley Wylie.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wylie, Lesley, author.

Series:

Illuminations (Pittsburgh, Pa.)

Illuminations Series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Spanish American literature--History and criticism.

Spanish American literature.

Plants in literature.

Human ecology in literature.

Human-plant relationships in literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource : illustrations

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Pittsburgh, PA : University of Pittsburgh Press, [2020]

Summary:

"The Poetics of Plants in Spanish American Literature examines the defining role of plants in cultural expression across Latin America, particularly in literature. From the colonial georgic to Pablo Neruda's Canto general, Lesley Wylie's close study of botanical imagery demonstrates the fundamental role of the natural world and the relationship between people and plants in the region. Plants are also central to literary forms originating in the Americas, such as the New World Baroque, described by Alejo Carpentier as "nacido de árboles." The book establishes how vegetal imaginaries are key to Spanish American attempts to renovate European forms and traditions as well as to the reconfiguration of the relationship between humans and nonhumans. Such a reconfiguration, which persistently draws on indigenous animist ontologies to blur the boundaries between people and plants, anticipates much contemporary ecological thinking about our responsibility towards nonhuman nature and shows how environmental thinking by way of plants has a long history in Latin American literature"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction: The poetics of plants in Spanish American literature

"¡Salve, fecunda zona!" : sugar, soy, and the limits of the Spanish American georgic

Plants and plantations : floriography, femininity, and the horticulture of hair in Sab and María

"Nacido de árboles" : Carpentier's vegetal baroque

What is it like to be a tree? Anthropomorphism, phytomorphism, and Spanish American culture

"No termino en mí mismo" : "Vegetal-thinking" in Pablo Neruda.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780822946250

0822946254

OCLC:

1204176130