First Encounters: Spanish Explorations in the Caribbean and the United States, 1492-1570 ed. by Jerald T. Milanich and Susan Milbrath, Univ. of Florida Press, Gainesville & Florida Museum of Natural History, 1989, 222 pp., $44.95 (cloth), $16.95 (paper).
Over 150 photographs of rare artifacts from the early period of Spanish penetration into the “New World” make this book a collector’s item. The accessible text describes in detail the slow process of deculturation among the Indian societies of the Caribbean and the Southeast United States.
Ambivalent Conquests: Maya and Spaniard in Yucatan, 1517-1570 by Inga Clendinnen, Cambridge University Press, 1987, 243 pp., $34.50 (cloth), $12.95 (paper).
A 1562 mystery of blood-crimes, devil-worship and Christian retribution is at the heart of this moving account of spiritual confusions. Did the Mayas revert to idolatry and human sacrifice, in bloody parodies of Christian ritual, as the head of the Yucatecan Franciscans, Fr. Diego de Landa, insisted? Or were the stories the inventions of terrified Indians, trying to satisfy their torturers, as the new bishop believed?
Clendinnen first takes us into the minds of the Spanish soldiers, settlers and friars to understand their very different behaviors. Then, drawing on Spanish records, fragmentary Indian records and Maya life today she reconstructs the Mayan response to physical and spiritual invasion, and their understanding of their own actions. Her solution to the mystery is elegant and persuasive, clarifying the intricacies of domination and resistance.
In the Shadows of the Sun: Caribbean Development Alternatives and U.S. Policy ed. by Carmen Diana Deere, PACCA/Westview Press, 1990, $38.50 (cloth), $12.85 (paper).
A collaborative research project among Caribbean and U.S. scholars, In the Shadows of the Sun is a comprehensive introduction to the political economy of the region and its relationship to the United States. The authors examine the legacy of U.S. policies on the daily lives of the people of the Caribbean, especially women, and offer concrete proposals for a more equitable development focused on basic needs and democratic participation.
Drawing the Line: Art and Cultural Identity in Contemporary Latin America by Oriana Baddeley and Valerie Fraser, Verso, 1989, 164 pp., $60.00 (cloth), $19.95 (paper).
In their search for a unique identity not linked to Paris or New York, Latin American artists have mapped out new territory, breaking down the boundaries between “high” and “low” art, between art and craft, between art and propaganda. Latin American artists have “reclaimed their own landscape and the varied cultural traditions of its inhabitants.” This scholarly work examines the development of Latin American art from its indigenous and colonial heritage, through its contemporary relationship to the cultural politics of Europe and the United States, and challenges the continent’s marginalization within art criticism. Gorgeously illustrated.
Debt and Democracy in Latin America ed. by Barbara Stallings and Robert Kaufman, Westview Press, 1989, 232 pp., $42.95 (cloth), $15.95 (paper).
A thorough look at the origins of the debt crisis, the internal and international actors involved, and the formulas applied to mitigate the crisis. A series of essays establishes a two-way relationship between debt and democracy in the 1980s, examining how the nature of Latin American regimes contributed to economic policy, and how debt problems have affected the transition to political democracy in several countries. Case studies of Mexico, Brazil, Costa Rica, Peru and Chile.
Partners in Conflict: The United States and Latin America in the 1990s by Abraham Lowenthal, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1990, 263 pp., $35.00 (cloth), $12.95 (paper).
An influential liberal thinker on U.S. policy in Latin America argues that realities have shifted much faster than U.S. concepts and perceptions. He recommends less of a focus on shortsighted “psychopolitical” interests (ie. Central America) and more on areas where long-term interests are at stake (Mexico, Brazil, the Caribbean Basin). A survey of recent Latin American history, particularly the “lost decade” of the 1980s, Partners in Conflict outlines liberal thinking on trade and finance, migration, drug trafficking, and the environment. Includes a useful bibliography.
A Hemisphere to Itself: A History of U.S.-Latin American Relations by Frank Niess, Zed Books, 1990, 229 pp., $55.00 (cloth), $15.95 (paper).
No sooner had Latin America broken free of Spain, than the United States was poised to extend its influence over the continent. This book details nearly 200 years of ideological tutelage, political intrigue, covert intelligence operations, economic reprisals, and military intervention on the part of the “colossus of the North.”
The Carnival of Images: Brazilian Television Fiction by Michele and Armand Mattelart, Bergin and Garvey, 1990, 192 pp., $39.95 (cloth).
The Brazilian television industry has mushroomed in the last 15 years, and its creation, the telenovela (an hour-long dramatic serial), has come to challenge U.S. hegemony in the media market throughout Latin America and even Europe. In this insightful and enjoyable study, the authors explore the development of the industry and its impact on Brazilian society, explaining the genre’s immense popularity and the social function it fulfills. They also make a convincing case for wider theoretical debate on television as a subject of research.
Chile From Within by Chilean photographers, ed. by Susan Meiselas, texts by Marco de la Parra and Ariel Dorfman, W.W. Norton, 1991, 53 pp., $39.95 (cloth), $19.95 (paper).
“In a sense, these are photos from our most secret family album…part of the history of how Chile was changed forever.” More than a dozen Chilean photographers have produced a stunning pictorial record of the Pinochet years, and of the growing opposition movement that culminated in the 1988 plebiscite. Chronicled here are “the ghosts, the shadows…and that daily calm, fragile, volatile, just barely sustained. ” Accompanied by a beautifully written text.
