Review

Author(s): William Flores

Review by: William Flores
Source: Hispania, Vol. 95, No. 1 (March 2012), pp. 180-181
Published by: American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41440381
Accessed: 14-01-2016 07:36 UTC

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180 Hispania 95 March20 12

authorintroduces thatsamearticleagain,as ifforthefirst time:"JoyceTolliverhas written

an
article " Not is the article" but so aretheterms
insightful only phrase"insightful repeated,
"Romantic," "tendency," and"femalecharacters."
This typeof inattention
is disruptiveto thereadingprocessand tarnishes an otherwise
commendable These
analysis. flaws notwithstanding,however,with From theOutside Looking
in, SusanWalterendeavors, mostlysuccessfully,toadvanceourunderstanding ofPardoBazân's
shortfictionwithrespectto narratologicalframing and itsrolein thecommunication of and
on
commentary gender issues.
JoanHoffman
Western Washington USA
University,

Willingham,Elizabeth Moore, ed. Laura Esquivel's MexicanFictions: Like Waterfor

Chocolate,The Law ofLove, Swiftas Desire,Malinche:A Novel.Eastbourne:
Sussex,2010.
Pp. 282. ISBN 978-1-84519-410-9.

Laura Esquivel'sMexicanFictionsbringstogether insightful,

significant essayson Esquivel's
works.Thebook'spreliminary sectiondescribeseachof essays,enablingthereadertofocus
the
on thosethatpertainto his/her The workis trulya pleasureto readfrombeginning
interest. to
end;itavoidsan overlyspecializedjargonandprovidesa glossaryoftermsandabbreviations
related,forthemostpart,to vocabulary presentintheworksanalyzed.
Thefirst essayinthecollection, a forty-five
pagehistoriographicalpresentation ofrelevant
criticismofEsquivel'sworksbyElizabethWillingham, providesa wealthofreference material
forscholars.Equallyimportant, thesecondessay- Elena Poniatowska's - focuseson Como
agua para chocolate(1989) and highlights how theworkis based on familytraditions and
howthesetraditions areoftenintertwined withfood.Thenextessay,written byPatrickDuffey,
providesa readingofComoaguapara chocolateas a subversion ofdomination andtraditional
genderrolesin cinematicmelodramaproducedduringthe40s and 50s. Duffeysuccessfully
supports histhesisbyexposingthatonlyfemalecharacters aremainprotagonists ofthenovel
andthatthetextportrays a postmodern perspective ofthecharacter oftheprostitute.
Also analyzing Comoaguapara chocolate Oxfordtheorizes
, Jeffrey thattheactiverolesof
femalecharacters areconsistent representationsofthematriarchy thatis actuallypredominant
in Mexicansociety.Froma distinct analyticalapproach,StephenMurrayassertsthat,forthe
readerinterested in theologicalissues,Comoagua para chocolateportrays a family'slifein
theabsenceofGod andhowthepresenceofancestorsinthenovelfillsthevoid.
On theotherhand,Maria Christie'sessay differentiates itselffromotheressaysin this
collection,not onlyby providingphotosthatillustrate parallelsbetweenthe lives of real
womeninXochimilcoandthelivesofthefictitious charactersrepresented inthenovel,butalso
becauseofthevarietyof relatedsubjectsheressayexplores,whichincludegenderedspaces
andecology.ThelastanalysisofComoaguapara chocolateis providedbyDebraAndrist, who
examineshowAliciaOstriker 's modelconcerning women'swriting manifests itselfinthenovel.
ThenexttwoessaysanalyzeEsquivel'sLa leydel amor(1995). ElizabethMartinezreads
thisnovelas a continuation ofthesearchforunderstanding Mexicanidentity. Martinezhigh-
lightstheauthor'sinnovative techniques andcomparesherwithJulioCortâzarintermsofthe
originalityof herwriting;she goes as faras to describethenovelas thebeginning of a new
genre,one whichunitesancientindigenous cosmologywithmodernculture. Martinez'sessay
includesa variety ofcriticalapproachesthatrangefromgenretheory to an examination ofthe
representationsofnaturepresentinthetext.The paperis usefultotheresearcher interested in
Esquivel'sworksas itprovidesquestionsthatrequirefurther analysis,questionssuchas deter-
miningtheparticular philosophical viewsthatthetextsupports andinquiries relatedtonature.
WhileMartinezsuggeststhatLa leydelamoris thebeginning ofa newgenre,LydiaRodriguez

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 Reviews 181

classifiesthatworkas sciencefiction andprovidesa pragmatic andclearlystructured analysis

ofthework,utilizingRobertScholes'stheoryof structural fabulationand JeanBaudrillard's
Simulacraand Simulation to support herargument.
Examining Tan velozcomo el deseo(2001),ElizabethWillingham providesa readingofthat
workas a newallegoryofMexico.She successfully contendsthatthattextis a microcosm of
Mexico'ssociety, economy, and culture with the theme
underlying ofattempting tounderstand
thepresentthrough thepast.Willingham 's treatment
of Tanvelozcomoel deseo is theonly
essayinthecompendium thataddressesthatnovel.
Thenexttwoessaysfocuson therepresentation ofMalinalliinMalinche:Novela(2006).
The firstone- JeanneGillespie's- offersa readingof thatworkas a reexamination of the
violenceandservitude thatcausedMalinallitoobtainthenegativeconnotation hernamecarries
as Malinche,whilesuggesting thatthesearchfora "domestictranquility" is a predominant
themeinEsquivel'snovel.RyanLong's essay- perhapsthefinest inthiscollection- suggests
thatthenovelaffirms Malincheas a myth, whileatthesametimereflecting ontherevisions that
heridentity has undergonesincetheconquest.Whilethefirstessay portrays Malinallias a
victim,Long's essayevaluatesthenovelas a balancedportrait of Malinalli'sautonomy and
Malinche's predetermination thatutilizesnotonlyhistorical data,butalso makesconjectures
basedon Nahuaculture.
In theconcludingessay,AlbertoPérezcontendsthatEsquivel'snovelsprovideoriginal
feministperspectives thatnotonlyrepresent women'sdesiresbutthatseek to transgress the
established orderevenifthisestablished orderis managedbywomen.Although Pérez's argu-
mentis well supported, perhapsit could have been improvedby makingmorespecificand
cleardifferentiationsbetweenthe"standard" feminism
mentioned in hisessayandEsquivel's
feminism. Pérez'sfeminist approachreflects thegeneralorientationofthevolume.Overall,the
bookis a superbeclecticstudyofEsquivel'sworksthatincludesgendertheory, ecocriticism,
culturalstudies,and postmodern theory.The bookwill be of greatuse to thoseinterested in
Esquivel'sworks.
WilliamFlores
CaliforniaBaptistUniversity, USA

Linguistics, Language, and Media

Castilho,AtalibaT. de. Novagramâticadoportuguêsbrasileiro.Säo Paulo: Contexto,

2010.
Pp. 768. ISBN 978-85-7244-462-0.

Innovative.
The adjective,used in thepreface(25), accurately
describesthisgrammar, which
does notresembleanyotherthatI haveseen."Impressive" wouldbe anothergood descriptor
forthis768-pagevolume- notbecauseofthenumber ofpages,butbecauseofitsrichness and
itsdepth.Thisis a comprehensive volumededicatedexclusivelyto thegrammar ofBrazilian
Portuguese(henceforth BP). Here,"grammar" does notmeana bookor a disciplinethatdic-
tatesnorms,buta setofnaturalrulesfoundin spokenlanguage.Castilhosetsoutto describe
andexplaintheserules,based,ingreatpart,oncorporaofspokenBP.He doesitsuccessfully and
clearly(moreon thispointbelow),butnotbeforelayingout,in chapter1, whatlanguage
and grammar are,fromdifferent pointsof view.In thischapter,besidesexplainingdifferent
theoriesand viewsof grammar, theauthordiscusseslinguisticpoliciesforBP, notonlyas a
first
language,butalso as a foreign
language(callingfortheBraziliangovernment tocreatean
organizationthatcouldbe in chargeof implementing sucha policy,as Instituto
Carnoesdoes
forPortugalorInstitutoCervantesforSpain).

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