Showing papers in "Hispania in 2014"

Phonetics and Technology in the Classroom: A Practical Approach to Using Speech Analysis Software in Second-language Pronunciation Instruction

Abstract: While speech analysis technology has become an integral part of phonetic research, and to some degree is used in language instruction at the most advanced levels, it appears to be mostly absent from the beginning levels of language instruction. In part, the lack of incorporation into the language classroom can be attributed to both the lack of practical pedagogical methods for implementation, as well as objections to the complex design of the software itself. The present study first seeks to create a brief picture of phonetic instruction at lower levels of language instruction. The second, and main aim, is to address the dearth of practical implementations by presenting one possible pedagogical application of speech analysis software called Praat with attention given to key considerations to facilitate student self-analysis. Lastly, to assess the previous objections to such software, this study provides empirical, student-driven pilot data for the usability of speech analysis software in the classroom. In addition to confirming that speech-analysis software is largely absent at the lowest levels of language instruction, the findings demonstrate that, with a carefully designed approach to self-analysis, students indicate that the program is both beneficial and highly usable.

The Power of Belief: Spanish Teachers' Sense of Efficacy and Student Performance on the National Spanish Examinations

Abstract: In this study, the researcher investigated Spanish teachers’ sense of efficacy as it relates to their students’ achievement on the AATSP National Spanish Examinations. Results suggest that there is a link between Spanish teacher efficacy and students’ scores on the exams. That is, the higher one’s belief about his or her abilities to teach Spanish, the higher the students’ scores on the exams. Teacher efficacy also was found to be related to participants’ future vocational plans: whether they remain teaching or leave the profession. This research has implications for teacher preparation and professional development highlighting the importance of building a strong sense of efficacy in teaching Spanish.

La valoración del habla bilingüe en los Estados Unidos: Fundamentos sociolingüísticos y pedagógicos en Hablando bien se entiende la gente

Abstract: Para muchas personas e instituciones, la Academia de la Lengua Espanola se considera una maxima autoridad en materia de lengua espanola y ejerce una fuerte influencia en la percepcion y apreciacion linguisticas a traves del mundo hispanico. La Academia Norteamericana de la Lengua Espanola (ANLE), la mas nueva de las 22 academias que conforman la Asociacion de Academias de la Lengua Espanola, puede jugar un papel fundamental en la normalizacion del espanol en los Estados Unidos en anos venideros, especialmente en los terrenos politico e institucional. En este articulo examinamos desde un punto de vista critico el libro Hablando bien se entiende la gente, una guia escrita por el director y varios miembros de la ANLE como un "esfuerzo de servicio comunitario realizado en aras del buen decir", segun los autores, con el proposito de "despejar dudas ortograficas y gramaticales". Senalamos la problematica conceptualizacion sociolinguistica del libro y argumentamos que la voz pedagogica que se manifiesta en sus paginas podria ser contraproducente para lo que debe ser la principal funcion de la ANLE: promover el uso del espanol en los Estados Unidos.

Literary Discussions and Advanced-Superior Speaking Functions in the Undergraduate Language Program

Abstract: During the last decade, researchers of foreign language pedagogy have become increasingly interested in the “language-literature divide” (Donato and Brooks 2004). The purpose of the current study is to contribute to this growing body of research by investigating the extent to which whole class discussions in three third-year undergraduate Spanish literature/culture courses provided opportunities for learners to engage in the communicative functions corresponding to the advanced and superior levels of the “ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines—Speaking.” The analysis included teacher questions, quantity of learner versus teacher speech, and distribution of teacher and learner verb forms. The results showed that, although there were some opportunities for learners to converse at the advanced and superior levels, the majority of learner discourse occurred below the advanced level. Recommendations for further research and pedagogy are provided.

Teaching Sociolinguistic Variation in the Intermediate Language Classroom: Voseo in Latin America

Abstract: The acquisition of sociolinguistic variation by second language learners has gained increased attention. Some research highlights the value of naturalistic exposure through study abroad while other studies point out that classroom input can facilitate the acquisition of particular features of variation. Nevertheless, said attention to the intersection of sociolinguistic variation and second language acquisition is not always reflected in curricular content and pedagogy. As one example, Spanish language classrooms often do not cover voseo, which is defined as the use of the pronoun vos or the corresponding verbal morphology, even though learners are typically presented with other types of variation in personal forms of address. This article discusses reasons why voseo is typically excluded in the language classroom, offers a rationale for its inclusion at the intermediate level that connects with the objectives of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) in Communication, Cultures, Comparisons, and Communities, and articulates a series of activities designed to help language learners recognize and respond appropriately to conversational voseo usage. The suggested learning units are framed within the interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational modes of communication and thus promote general language learning while specifically enhancing intermediate learners' sociolinguistic awareness of this particular dialectal feature.

Students' Motivations for Choosing (or Not) to Study Portuguese: A Survey of Beginning-level University Classes

Abstract: Although previous literature has discussed ways of promoting the study of Portuguese, to our knowledge no study has ever directly surveyed students to ascertain why they chose to learn the language. This study reports on a survey of the motivations of first- and second-year Portuguese students to study the language, and contrasts their motivations with those of students of French, German, Italian, and Spanish. In addition, the study reports on students’ opinions as to the usefulness of Portuguese in comparison with these other European languages. Results showed that Portuguese students consisted of two separate groups, Spanish speakers and non-Spanish speakers, each with distinct motivations for language learning, which differed from those of students of other European languages. Based on the findings, we offer recommendations for the recruitment and instruction of Portuguese students at the post-secondary level, with particular emphasis on Portuguese for Spanish speakers.

Meaning-based Scoring: A Systemic Functional Linguistics Model for Automated Test Tasks

Abstract: Communicative approaches to language teaching that emphasize the importance of speaking (e.g., task-based language teaching) require innovative and evidence-based means of assessing oral language. Nonetheless, research has yet to produce an adequate assessment model for oral language (Chun 2006; Downey et al. 2008). Limited by automatic speech recognition (ASR) technology, which compares non- native speaker discourse to native-like discourse, most tests exclusively focus on accuracy while ignoring how examinees use language to make meaning. In order to offer stakeholders more trustworthy evidence of how examinees might use language in target language domains, a model anchored in systemic functional linguistics (SFL) is put forth. Specific examples are given of how SFL might be used to evaluate test task types, such as the story retell. Three examinees' responses are contrasted using genre analysis (Derewianka 1990) and transitivity analysis (Ravelli 2000) in order to demonstrate elements in their linguistic profiles that ASR-based assessment would overlook. In so doing, implications are drawn regarding the potential of SFL models for enhancing automated scoring procedures by focusing on the meaning-form relations in the linguistic construction of narrative.

La imagen del «moro» en la formulación e instrumentalización del africanismo franquista

Abstract: This article attempts to analyze the ideological discourse in which Franco regime’s colonial policy in Morocco was based on, and specially the recovery and manipulation of «Moro» conceptualization in order to get the survival of Dictatorship and its consolidation which gave place to the «sentimental protectorate”. From its consideration we can infer the basis of Franco’s propaganda machinery and its use in Spanish foreign policy, but it also shows the contradictions and double game played by Franco regarding to Morocco and the Arabic countries.

Peer Response with Process-oriented, Standards-based Writing for Beginning-level, Second Language Learners of Spanish

Abstract: In an attempt to increase second language (L2) learners' understanding of the benefits associated with the process approach to writing and, more specifically, to gain their appreciation of how their peers might contribute to the quality of their writing, in this study peer revision was modified between two groups of lower-level proficiency L2 students. The modification to peer revision was predicated on an attempt to more closely align L2 writing instructional practice with the spirit of the National Standards for Foreign Language Education (2006). Identical surveys were administered to separate groups of learners before and after the alteration. They revealed a positive shift in learners' attitude in regard to the writing process in general and, more specifically, in how they viewed assistance offered by their peers.

First-year Hybrid Spanish Courses: How Instructors Manage Their Time

Abstract: This study examines how instructors managed their time when teaching a first-year hybrid Spanish course. The hybrid course differed from the traditional one in that 50% of the face-to-face teaching was replaced with online activities. Another marked difference between the traditional and the hybrid courses was that the latter enrolled 60 students per section, twice the number of students in traditional ones. The results indicate that instructors may not need to work significantly more time than they would in a traditional course, but the course coordinators’ tasks will increase, as they will have to set-up virtual master courses. The perception reported by instructors that they seem to work longer to manage a hybrid course may be a consequence of the increased frequency of certain tasks and how they are managed. In other words, more effort may be needed to manage a hybrid class while allocating the same amount of time as in a traditional class.

The Tuteo of Rocha, Uruguay: A Study of Pride and Language Maintenance

Abstract: This paper examines the tuteo in Rocha, Uruguay, a unique situation in a country that is mostly voseante. The study draws on speakers' attitudes toward tu and vos in Rocha, taken from informal interviews and from a linguistic attitude survey. The survey was conducted with 58 informants, most of whom were teenagers. The results point to a strong sense of pride in the local dialect, a more positive attitude toward tu over vos, and a rejection of the Montevidean standard as a national norm. Given the role of young speakers in initiating linguistic change, positive attitudes among them in Rocha contribute to maintaining the stable tuteo of that region.

¡Qué divertido es divorciarse!: La desentimentalización del divorcio en el teatro madrileño antes y después de la Segunda República

Abstract: En 1932 se aprueba la ley del divorcio en Espana impulsada por el gobierno de la Segunda Republica. La prensa de la epoca recogia las posturas divorcistas y antidivorcistas de intelectuales, escritores y politicos, mientras los escritores del teatro comico explotaban un tema tan actual como controvertido para una sociedad arraigada en la tradicion catolica. Lo que realmente explotaron fue el melodrama como recurso dramatico para restaurar un orden que se veia amenazado y que formaba parte del horizonte de expectativas del publico del teatro comercial. Asi ocurrio con Anacleto se divorcia de Pedro Munoz Seca en 1933, como seis anos antes Enrique Jardiel Poncela habia hecho en Una noche de primavera sin sueno pero en este caso, bajo la ley del divorcio del Codigo Civil de 1889. En ambas obras, el acto preformativo del divorcio se desentimentaliza quedando asi anulado. En este ensayo se analiza la conexion entre la moral oculta del melodrama estudiada por Peter Brooks y Linda Williams y la funcionalidad del discurso comico de las obras citadas siguiendo la teoria sobre el humor de Henri Bergson para entablar un dialogo con el contexto de produccion teatral.

“A la más virtuossa de las mujeres”. La reina María de Aragón (1420-1445) como impulsora de las letras en la Corona de Castilla

Abstract: In the Castilian fifteenth century, it is achieved a high cultural development, thanks to the dialectical effort of the literary movement known as the Women’s Quarrel. This literary development is turned into the production of books of high quality about the relationship of men and women in the court of Juan II of Castile and his first wife, Maria of Aragon. The dedication of the books of Diego de Valera and Juan Rodriguez del Padron to the Castilian queen, guides our analysis to the knowledge of the personal and political characteristics of the queen: the model of the rest of the women of the kingdom. Also, we will propose a pluralistic conception to the term “author”, trough the investigation of these treatises, because the queen is the figure that inspires the creation of these literary works and, by this, she become in the cause of the book, in her author, too.

Defense Language Institute: Foreign Language Center (review)

Abstract: variety of activities to engage the students as they read the text, providing ample opportunities to discuss and write about related topics as well as improve their knowledge of vocabulary and key grammar points. The readings themselves are very diverse. Some are common in other collections, such as Nicolás Guillén’s “Balada de los dos abuelos” or Alfonsina Storni’s “Voy a dormir.” Others come from lesser known female authors, such as Meira Delmar’s “Regresos” and Gioconda Belli’s “Dios me hizo mujer.” The appendices in the back of the book also contain grammar explanations for the verb tenses (preterite, imperfect, present subjunctive, imperfect subjunctive) and verb contrasts (ser/estar, saber/conocer) covered in the text. The topics addressed are also suitable for upper-level high school courses (fourth year or AP), especially as instructors address the learning objectives of interpersonal, interpretative, and presentational communication, as outlined by The College Board. The variety of activities included in the text allows language instructors to pick and choose the exercises that best fit the needs of each class. The exercises that follow the literary text are particularly suitable for facilitating class discussion and could be modified for use as pre-reading, as well as duringand post-reading activities. Many of the readings themselves are conducive to generating class discussion as they touch on topics and themes that may differ from the cultural norms of the learners’ native language. That being said, the variety of activities could also be a hindrance. There are so many options that the text appears to be more of a potpourri than a text with a clear focus. Furthermore, some activities may require modification. For example, some of the pictures provided at the beginning of each unit do not activate the students’ prior knowledge about the topic as much as other questions found later in the unit might, such as those found in the section Más allá del texto or Para discutir. Additionally, the inconsistent use of Spanish and English in the glosses found throughout the text may be confusing for some learners. Finally, the expository essays included in each unit correspond to the topic under study, but do not focus directly on how the topic relates to the literary readings that follow. Despite the variety of activities provided, it is possible that language instructors and coordinators will need to supplement this text with additional materials to generate interest and personalize the topics under study. This text would be ideal as a supplement to another text; however, as a stand-alone text, it does not seem to provide enough grammar or vocabulary activities to facilitate ample practice outside of the class discussion. Marda Rose Indiana University–Purdue University, Indianapolis

AfroReggae: Antropofagia, Sublimation, and Intimate Revolt in the Favela

Abstract: The documentary Favela Rising (2005) and its companion narrative, Culture is Our Weapon (2010), depict the AfroReggae cultural movement as a break with the past, a means of creating citizenship for Brazilian favelas. A leitmotif of the film is struggling to end the communities' "paralysis" caused by the domination of drug lords and corrupt, brutal police. Many residents and viewers feel that the favela lies outside the Brazilian nation. However, this essay shows that AfroReggae is part of a Brazilian artistic tradition that begins with Oswald de Andrade's "Manifesto antropofago" (1928). Andrade focuses on sublimation, translating emotions into art. But Andrade's ideas, while sometimes inspired by the favelas, did not reach most of their residents until later movements, such as Freire's pedagogy of the oppressed, Boal's theater of the oppressed, and Quilombhoje's Cadernos Negros. This history explains why AfroReggae stands out among today's literatura marginal, most of which is a continuation of the determinist Naturalist tradition. Andrade's essay and AfroReggae's performances predate and confirm Kelly Oliver's argument that the oppressed need a sublimation space to combat oppression. AfroReggae and the Brazilian tradition they represent have much to teach about how art can transform communities around world.

El proyecto general para las fortificaciones de Alicante en 1721

Abstract: The boom in activity at the Port of Alicante and events in the city during the War of Succession sparked interest in modernising its obsolete walled enclosure. This article describes the general project for the city’s fortifi- technical quality. It was undoubtedly the finest project of those undertaken in the 18th century to modernise Alicante’s fortifications. No record exists of the report that must have been produced, but there is a surviving map from 1721 kept at the Army’s Geographic Service that until recently had been considered anonymous. The fact that General Engineer Jorge Prospero de Verboom visited Alicante at this time, together with other technical considerations, means the report can be attributed to him. Other contemporary projects by military engineers produced by order of Verboom are also described.

El linaje se transforma en casas: de los Fajardo a los marqueses de los Vélez y de Espinardo

Abstract: This article attempts to explain the change in the form of family and social organization of Hispanic aristocracy from the late Middle Age to theEighteenth century. It is observed that some lineages have enough power for them arise several houses settled in aristocratic group, from the foundingof primogeniture, advantageous marriages and royal favor. The study about lineage Fajardo refers much of ‘grandeza’ families that do not create second lines as expansion strategy. It was real grace that allowed the existence of two branches: the house of los Velez, elderly relatives, and Espinardo, second son house. The military services and courtiers will give an important position until the Seventeenth century, but at the end of the century the lack of marriage between the two lines will be that there is no alternative means of inheritance and diluted in other houses. The commitment to the birthright of the house of los Velez and the loss of the male line of the house of Espinardo involve the disappearance of the lineage. The surname Fajardo survived into other main houses just like a record of ancient glories.

Tolerar la costumbre: Ferias y romerías en el siglo XVIII

Abstract: Since the middle of the 18th Century, the Bourbon governments became obsessed with the public order vigilance, because of Esquilache´s riot caused fear of the crowd. In the meantime the episcopal authorities close to Jansenism, and adversaries of the popular base, attempted to banish the superstitious, and inmoral popular religious acts that Tridentine discipline had not got to eradicate. Even though the changes and the repressions applied during the 18th Centurie had the hoped outcomes. The Church attitude was cautious and limited to reassert the image of its power, and to eradicate what were considered that the governmental reforms desecrated a lot. This attitude was similar to the civil Government. If the activated repression caused tensions and complaints, it would have be better to go on tolerating the Custom. From the large documentary signs about fairs, and local religious festivities, this paper examine a socio-cultural daily life related to transgressions, resistances, and established negotiations when the rulers tried to accomplish the discipline Tridentine Project.

Embodied Cognition and Empathy in Miguel de Cervantes's El celoso extremeño

Abstract: This article examines the portrayal of cognitive experience in the published version of Miguel de Cervantes's short story El celoso extremeno (1613), drawing both on recent studies of empathy and current debates about the inseparability of cognition and emotion. It considers how cognitive experience is marked by particular bodily sensations and shaped by internal representations (i.e., mental images) that are closely tied to emotions such as fear, jealousy, joy, and sorrow. Paying particular attention to the ways in which the narrative underscores the characters' limited sensory experiences and their defective understanding of each other's positions, the article argues that this provides the reader with the opportunity to simulate mentally his or her own challenging situations, faulty judgments, and injudicious actions. While being invited to use his or her imagination and judgment to enjoy being placed in a position of greater power and knowledge than the characters, Cervantes's reader is also encouraged to consider the possibility of not knowing and to accept the limits of empathy.

Confronting the Urban Nightmare: La pared transparente by Ernestina de Champourcin

Abstract: After thirty-three years of exile in Mexico, Ernestina de Champourcin returned to Madrid in 1972, in time to witness the profound political changes in Spain prompted by the death of Franco and by the cultural revolution originating in the capital known as the "movida madrilena". Between 1979 and 1980, she responded to the explosion of mass media products and subculture activities by writing La pared transparente (1984), a series of poems that portray the postmodern city as an alienating and dehumanized place symbolized primarily as a wall of obstructions. The poet employs multiple synonyms for "wall", along with allusions to the emptiness of the hole, the blankness of the color white, and the estrangement provoked by silence to complete her depictions of the modern big city. She especially laments the incapacity for calm, verbal communication within this crowded and animated, yet lonely and impersonal, environment. After expressing her anxiety, in the second half of the collection, Champourcin discovers that the wall erected between human beings can be mitigated or traversed through memory, love, and looking to the reality within the self and ultimately beyond. After thirty-three years of exile in Mexico, Ernestina de Champourcin returned to Madrid in 1972, in time to witness the profound political changes in Spain prompted by the death of Franco and by the cultural revolution originating in the capital known as the �movida madrilena.� Between 1979 and 1980, she responded to the explosion of mass media products and subculture activities by writing La pared transparente (1984), a series of poems that portray the postmodern city as an alienating and dehumanized place symbolized primarily as a wall of obstructions. The poet employs multiple synonyms for �wall,� along with allusions to the emptiness of the hole, the blankness of the color white, and the estrangement provoked by silence to complete her depictions of the modern big city. She especially laments the incapacity for calm, verbal communication within this crowded and animated, yet lonely and impersonal, environment. After expressing her anxiety, in the second half of the collection, Champourcin discovers that the wall erected between human beings can be mitigated or traversed through memory, love, and looking to the reality within the self and ultimately beyond.

A Cognitive Account of Mood in Complements of Causative Predicates in Spanish

Abstract: Complements of causative predicates such as hacer in Spanish present a problem for analyses of mood that are based on semantic or pragmatic notions of assertion. The problem results from the fact that information expressed by these complements is presented both as true and new, and yet the complement verb appears in the subjunctive mood. This makes these clauses a counterexample to analyses that claim that asserted propositions appear in the indicative. This study proposes an account of the use of mood in these complements that combines the Cognitive Grammar notion of clausal grounding (Langacker 1987, 1991, 2009) with Cristofaro's study of subordination (2003). It will be argued that the complement of causative predicates in Spanish is not independently grounded; that is, its temporal relation to the speech situation is established via the matrix predicate. Not being independently grounded, it does not have an autonomous profile (Langacker 1991, 2009). Following Langacker (1991) and Cristofaro (2003), the current study claims that for a clause to be asserted, it must have an autonomous profile. This necessary condition is not met in complements of causative predicates and consequently they cannot be asserted.

English-Spanish Code-switching in Literary Texts: Is It Still Spanglish as We Know It?

Abstract: Encouraged by the success of the session on “Spanglish” organized by the AATSP last year at the MLA Convention in Boston (see the 2013 MLA Convention Feature in Hispania 96.3), the AATSP organized a follow-up session this year in Chicago, this time focusing on the use of code-switching between English and Spanish in literary writings rather than in oral interaction among bilinguals. Its title (which preserves the popular name of code-switching as “Spanglish,” to facilitate understanding) was “English-Spanish Code-switching in Literary Texts: Is It Still Spanglish as We Know It?” One reason for focusing on this particular aspect of the US literature written by Hispanics is that, as Aparicio (1994) pointed out:

Actos peatonales, actos de consumo: La queerificación del espacio en La estrategia de Chochueca de Rita Indiana Hernández

Abstract: Este estudio examina la creacion de espacios queer en La estrategia de Chochueca (2003) de la escritora dominicana Rita Indiana Hernandez. En mi analisis arguyo que Silvia, la protagonista de la novela, traza la transformacion de ciertos espacios con sus movimientos de paseante y demuestra el papel primordial que tienen sus actividades de consumo. Ademas, planteo que la transformacion urbana, lejos de ser un esfuerzo colectivo organizado y definido, proviene de los intereses individuales e individualistas de los miembros del grupo al cual pertenece Silvia: estos, libres de una postura politica, se rigen por un movil hedonista el cual no cancela la necesidad de un espacio propio, fisico y social, de las minorias sexuales dominicanas presentes en la novela.

Los maestros del colegio del arte mayor de la seda de Valencia en una fase de crecimiento manufacturero (1686-1755)

Abstract: This paper studies the 2.077 new masters who entered in the «colegio del arte mayor de la seda de Valencia» between 1686 and 1755, and reveals the complexity of the evolution experienced by the corporation. Its closure in favor of the craft collective that occurred in response to the difficulties of the seventeenth century was not definitive, since the manufacturing growth at the end of the century favored the admission of candidates from more diverse origin. The increase of fiscal pressure and the influence of mercantilist policy adopted by the monarchy after the end of the War of the Spanish Succession contributed to a new closure of the corporation as to the stricter enforcement of the productive regulation, producing difficulties in the modernization of the Valencian silk industry.

Hybrid Spanish Programs: A Challenging and Successful Endeavor.

Abstract: Several types of hybrid Spanish programs have been developed in US colleges and universities for more than ten years, but the most common structure consists of a course in which the instruction combines face-to-face time with an instructor and the use of an online platform. Studies have demonstrated that a well-developed hybrid Spanish program can be very successful in creating the opportunities for the students to become producers of their own learning outcome. In addition to cultivating a sense of autonomy in the students for their learning, there lies the challenge for the instructors to relinquish their complete instructional control in the classroom to allow students to develop or strengthen autonomy over their own learning process. Moreover, in addition to the intensive and extensive logistical work necessary to make the program run smoothly, the coordinating individual (or team) needs to continually create the most effective strategies to provide instructors with the best training plan.

Pluralismo médico y medicina de la conversión: Fray Agustín Farfán y los agustinos en Nueva España, 1533-1610 *

Abstract: This article proposes an interpretation of the medical work of Fray Agus- tin Farfan (ca.1531-1604) which falls on the one hand, in the develop- ment of the conversion medicine in the hands of the Augustinians and, on the other, in a New Spain medical culture characterized by plural healing practices and medical knowledge, in continuous negotiation with the re- ligious aspects and therefore in constant dialectical tension between friars and healers in the field of health and disease.

Brave New Digital Classroom: Technology and Foreign Language Learning by Robert J. Blake (review)

Abstract: Para concluir, el libro de Socolowsky recoge reflexiones de corte decididamente postcolonial, que abarcan cuestiones de carácter interdisciplinar de sumo interés no solamente para literatos, sino para estudiosos de cualquier ámbito de los estudios culturales. Además, la referencia directa a sucesos de la actualidad en la introducción y en el epílogo invitan a leer la escritura creativa de las autoras estudiadas como una propuesta alternativa ante la retórica anti-inmigratoria que en años recientes se ha ido haciendo cada vez más agresiva. De esta manera, el análisis de Socolovsky, al desentrañar el vínculo entre creación y compromiso social, permite aprovechar estas obras para enriquecer el debate sobre los derechos de ciudadanía de las latinas y de los latinos y extenderlo, más allá de los círculos académicos, a la sociedad civil. Elena Errico Università di Sassari

Views and Voices of the Working Class: Aída and Rosario.

Abstract: In 2005, Spanish television audiences saw the debut of the nation's first spinoff, the sitcom Aida. The show featured the tribulations of its title character and her working-class family in their struggle to "llegar a fin de mes". It seemed to promise a sensibility enacted in the US series Roseanne, where another eponymous heroine faced similar conditions with wit and verve. Aida became a tremendous hit for its network, Telecinco, but unlike Roseanne, its approach to the working class did not break new ground. Such a distinction belongs to another cultural product also appearing in 2005, Elvira Lindo's novel, Una palabra tuya. Consisting of a first-person narration by Rosario, a municipal street sweeper, the novel delivers working-class credentials through an insider's view and focuses on the physical conditions and labor of work, nonaestheticization and nonidealization of working-class life, and the consciousness of a multiple we voiced through the narrator's I.

Illusory Liberalism in Atlas de geografía humana

Abstract: Atlas de Geografia Humana constitutes a critique of the much vaunted notion of a progressive Spain that has rectified the gender inequalities of the Francoist era, as one of the highly educated and successful protagonists, Fran, unwittingly adopts her mother's alignment with patriarchal norms. This novel elucidates the incompatibility of the private and public sphere in Spain, for it is only with the protagonist's renewal of her commitment to the private sphere that she will save her marriage, despite its negative consequences for her career. Fran's ambiguous decision to have a child sustains the view that a traditional mentality governs the Spanish private sphere, and that the demands of the public and private spheres are frequently irreconcilable. In this article, I explore the current situation of women in Spain, and I then proceed to examine the motifs of the mother-daughter relationship and childfreedom in this novel.