Káñina

Marx, Durkheim y Weber in Three Argentine Novels: Autobiografía médica (2007), Besar a la muerta (2014) and Cataratas (2015)

Hernán Maltz — 2025-01-01

In this article I investigate the ways in which Marx, Durkheim and Weber (the three referents usually recognized as «founding fathers» of sociology) are introduced in three novels: Autobiografía médica (2007), by Damián Tabarovsky, Besar a la muerta (2014), by Horacio González, and Cataratas (2015), by Hernán Vanoli. Different strategies of incorporation are identified: paraphrases, explicit allusions in conversations and in character stream-of-consciousness, references to essential concepts or, in the extreme, the inclusion of a founding father as a fictional character. It is observed that literature can function as a means to remove solemnity from one of the core identities of sociology: the so-called founding fathers, their works and their theoretical legacies. The fictional treatment, at least in the three novels researched, enables an irreverent approach to the discipline, generally endowed with humorous and/or ironic resources. The question remains open as to whether these humorous modes are not a kind of signal about the exhaustion of sociology (and the social sciences in general).

Myth and the Position of the Hero in the Early Stories of Salarrué

Brian Davisson — 2025-02-14

The works of Salarrué emerge partially from the costumbrista tradition in El Salvador, and partially from the avant-garde movements that appeared in the first half of the twentieth century. Within this framework, figures from popular myth, and in particular the Ziguanaba and the Cipitío, appear in his short stories, much the same as they do in the works of his contemporaries, such as Miguel Ángel Espino and Arturo Ambrogi. Salarrué’s works are unique in this respect, however, as he is careful to resist identifying these figures as extant within the lived world of the protagonists of these stories. While other authors utilized myth to help build a collective national consciousness, this article proposes that Salarrué instead uses myth as a means of framing issues of social and cultural importance, such as gender and social class, by inverting the position of the stories’ heroes as being not the central mythic figures, but rather their everyday human protagonists.

Creative and Cultural Industries: Innovation and Territorial Development

Andrés Badilla Agüero — 2025-02-20

This article presents an analysis of the Creative and Cultural Industries in relation to the potential for territorial development and innovation in the case of visual arts and design in Costa Rica. The qualitative research approach involved the review of literature and reports on creative and cultural industries in order to contextualize the study. In addition, interviews were conducted with professionals, entrepreneurs, teachers and key actors in the field to obtain first-hand information; an online questionnaire was applied to obtain information from several key actors, and observations were made of individual arts and design entrepreneurship initiatives and fair events. Subsequently, the Iceberg Model was used to analyze thedata, categorizing events, patterns, systemic structures and mental models. As main results, systemic structures related to centralization, previous deficiencies and needs related to training spaces and their articulation are identified. Likewise, mental models concerning self-perception and perception from decision makers are identified. Finally, opportunities for improvement in these areas are discussed in depth.

Between vertical and horizontal lines. Symbolic death and suicidal self-destruction in La vida inútil by Pito Pérez

Diana Hernández Castillo — 2025-03-27

ABSTRACT

In this article we analyze the suicidal self-destruction of the protagonist of the novel La vida inútil de Pito Pérez by the mexican writer José Rubén Romero (1890-1952). To do so, we resort to an interdisciplinary cross between literary studies and philosophy. Using as a theoretical reference the work of Adriana Cavarero Inclinations and taking up two frequent postures in the human being (upright and inclined) we will determine how “Humanity” (the post-revolutionary Michoacan society) stands as a great upright and verticalized entity that, with its false morals, customs and beliefs, leads and inclines Pito Perez to live (or prefer) situations that culminated in harmful and/or destructive events towards his person. Romero, being part of that “Humanity”, with his verticality further instigates Perez to opt for suicidal behavior through a “past-present” by manipulating his memories to (re)direct, and bend, his memories towards vices and corruption. In this way, it is possible to understand Pérez’s life as a long process of suicidal self-destruction provoked by various political-social agents and processes.

Stolen spaces, stolen generations: Space-time reclamation by Twin-spirit Kumeyaay activist, (LaHunt) Karen Vigneault

Monica Bradley Harvey — 2025-03-25

This paper explores Indigenous understandings of space and time, as represented through Kumeyaay spirituality/cosmology, which contradict the philosophical and ideological meanings in Western ontologies. It offers a non-modern telling of (LaHunt) Karen Vigneault’s life (1958-2019), a Kumeyaay Two-Spirit historian and activist, through Indigenous philosophy, feminist, queer and decolonial theory, historical documents, interviews, and online resources. It tells different “stories” stemming from Vigneault’s life scaling the space of her lived body to the sacredness of the Kuuchamaa mountain and Kumeyaay lands (stolen spaces), her activism for spiritual and cultural reclamation, such as Two-Spirit identity, and the reunification of forcibly separated Indigenous families internationally (stolen generations). This paper analyzes how settler colonization in the United States has affected space-time realties and disrespected the localities, environment, sacred lands, spirits, and bodies of the Kumeyaay people who have inhabited the San Diego region of Southern California for over 10,000 years. It explores how individuals like Vigneault have dedicated their lives to healing the fissures and spirits of local people and lands reuniting space and time through the reclamation of places, histories, languages, traditions, identities, and separated peoples.

Everyday Life in the Interior of Uruguay During the Dictatorship. On La Balada de Johnny Sosa by Mario Delgado Aparaín and Ojos de caballo by Henry Trujillo

Shubert Silveira — 2025-04-22

This article focuses on two emblematic novels in Uruguayan literature: La balada de Johnny Sosa, by Mario Delgado Aparaín, and Ojos de caballo, by Henry Trujillo. These works explore everyday life in the interior of Uruguay during the dictatorship. Through their protagonists, Johnny Sosa and Daniel Acosta, differences in the representation of daily life amid the political context are examined. Delgado Aparaín introduces Johnny Sosa, an Afro-descendant musician whose cultural identity is challenged by the dictatorship. The narrative highlights Johnny's struggle to maintain his authenticity in a repressive environment. On the other hand, Trujillo takes on a darker tone, exploring violence and despair in his portrayal of the Uruguayan interior. His characters face moral dilemmas amid pressing circumstances, revealing daily life marked by political violence. Both novels demonstrate how daily life is influenced by the dictatorship, either through small heroic acts of resistance or immersed in an undercurrent of violence. This analysis draws on Michel de Certeau's theory of everyday life, emphasizing how individuals unconsciously navigate a political and social context.