Biographical Dictionary of Hispanic Literature in the United States: The Literature of Puerto Ricans, Cuban Americans, and Other Hispanic Writers [Hardcover]

Nicolas Kanellos (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 26, 1989 | ISBN-10: 0313244650 | ISBN-13: 978-0313244650

This dictionary provides an exhaustive reference guide to representative figures in Hispanic literature within the geographic, political, and cultural boundaries of the United States. While concentrating on contemporary writers who have made or promise to make a lasting contribution to multiethnic letters in this country, it is designed to make accessible to the English-language reader a literary world that has until now been articulated primarily in Spanish. Focusing mainly on Puerto Rican and Cuban writers, each entry summarizes the importance of the subject and indicates the literary genres and themes cultivated. There is a brief biography of each author, an analysis of major works and themes, and a survey of the criticism of the author's works. The first and most comprehensive volume on the subject, this extraordinarily detailed sourcebook is a compilation of bio-bibliographical essays on leading Hispanic novelists, poets, and dramatists, and includes secondary bibliographies for each entry as well as a general bibliography on Hispanic literature. Especially highlighted are such authors as Nuyorican Miguel Pinero, winner of the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best American Play; Chilean novelist, critic, and editor Fernando Alegria; the Cuban-American chronicler of life in Miami's exile community, Roberto Fernandez, and others. Kanellos' work answers a definite need for comprehensive biographical and critical information on these writers, and it will be a significant addition to academic and public libraries, and to research in Spanish, English, bilingual education, and ethnic studies.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

As the number of Hispanic immigrants to the United States rapidly increases, their literary production begins to be noticed by readers from diverse critical backgrounds. Kanellos provides the non-Hispanic scholar with a comprehensive survey of the most important of the Latin American writers who have made the States home permanently or temporarily. The dictionary includes an introduction that presents a short historical-literary review of the best known representative intellectuals of Puerto Rican, Chicano, and Cuban-American literatures. The articles are written by a variety of professors in Spanish literature and concentrate on biographical, thematic, critical, and bibliographical data. There are also analyses of the political and literary significance of the works for the authors' country of origin. Highly recommended for those libraries serving undergraduate programs on Hispanic literatures.
- Rafael Ocasio, Agnes Scott Coll., Decatur, Ga.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

“Like similar biobibliographic dictionaries from this publisher, for instance Fifty Caribbean Writers, ed. by D.C. Dance, this compilation by 36 US academics and a West German provides excellent information on the writers it includes: `Biography,' `Major Themes,' `Survey of Criticism,' and `Bibliography' (active and passive), totaling from 2 to 16 pages. . . . Kanellos's claim is to have concentrated on `contemporary writers who have made, or promise to make, a lasting contribution to multiethnic letters' in the US and Puerto Rico. `Contemporary' in the case of his 15 Cuban exiles means post-Castro, but his 16 Puerto Rican islanders include 3 who died over 30 years ago. There are also 16 Nuyoricans, 10 of whom write in English, a Costa Rican, a Peruvian, and a US-born Cuban American. The preface provides brief introductions titled `Puerto Rican Literature' and `Cuban American and Cuban Exile Literature.' A very useful source for any library with a concern for modern US Hispanic literature.”–Choice

“This book promises to be a very useful reference work, covering material that has heretofore been hard to find.”–Reference Books Bulletin

“. . . Kanellos provides the non-Hispanic scholar with a comprehensive survey of the most important of the Latin American writers who have made the States home or come temporarily to this country. . . Highly recommended for those libraries serving undergraduate programs on Hispanic literatures.”–Library Journal

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 374 pages
• Publisher: Greenwood Press (September 26, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0313244650
• ISBN-13: 978-0313244650
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,241,988 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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