So: Sir Walter Scott, the European creator of historical novels saw history as a continuum on which they could trace the roots of their identity, but Latin American writers saw Independence as a break with history, and a moment in which a new identity must be forged This creates historiographical problems for the novel. In … More Lee Skinner 1999 on the historical novel
My error is giving classes that are too intellectually challenging, but I seem not to be able to correct it. My main error was Reeducation. Had I not made that call, I feel, everything would have been different. Maybe this is an illusion, there were other errors, but all of them had to do with … More Errors
Rush, press yourself, give yourself 15-25 minutes only. Write, don’t meditate; writing is thinking, so think by writing. These are instructions for people who have never written anything. Sure, you should start, and sure, something can be done in a short amount of time. But limiting yourself in this way is damaging, and pressing yourself … More Bad writing advice, and bad general advice
Read academic journals, feel excited to be off the terrible campus and back into reality; plan interesting weekends at research libraries, museums, beaches. Exult in being in off the terrible campus, take walks, plan interesting weekends in cultural venues and at beaches, read in field and new field, study. Then: Reeducation, and finally, three more … More What you did coming home in the evening from your assistant professor jobs
On biographical criticism and its effects: ¿qué relación hay entre arte y vida? But most importantly, he destroys conventional notions of identity, and we keep saying, who was this man? The creation of anthologies was about authority, and I intuit that authority is fundamentally what 19th century literature is about. What did I mean when … More Fragmentos vallejianos, decimonónicos, y míos
I might get rid of my copy of Vallejo, Espistolario general, the spine is so worn that I can’t see what it is on the shelf and it is available for download here, and used — although perhaps I should keep this after all, other copies are likely as bad. A History of Coca (Mortimer, … More Libros peruanos
I read large parts of the first volume of his book last night — skimming some of it — and it’s brilliant. I’d always wanted to buy/read it, as in when it came out in English, but didn’t have the time/money. It has to do with the present but I think it also has to … More Klaus Theweleit
One that is used by many people in Florida, and someone else’s individual one. They use good resources and are related to mine, but they do different things too, which is interesting. And there’s a picture of me. Florida. Catherine Ramírez at UCSC. All these people are related to me intellectually somehow, and make me … More Two LAS syllabi
1/ From Soto (I need his other book on choleaje, and I want to finish this one–and reread Clayton, and some of the people they both cite): Años después, Marco Martos y Elsa Villanueva harán un análisis exhaustivo de T I en su libro fundamental «Las palabras de Trilce» (1989). Pero fue Gonzalo Sobejano quien … More Library
Soto’s book costs s/40 but mailing costs are s/230 which is $68 today. I’ll wait to see how I’ll get it, and read his other book in the meantime. Axé.
