Representing the Other

"Representing the Other" completes a trilogy of critical works by Paul Julian Smith, whose common aim is to effect a major change in the interpretation of contemporary (mainly French) cultural theory. "Writing in the Margin" and "The Body Hispanic" (Clarendon Press, 1988, 1989) were concerned with post-structuralism and sexual difference respectively. "Representing the Other" extends this critique to include "race" and nationality - perhaps the quintessential problem in Hispanic Studies. The book makes clear that the theme of race is not a self-contained issue but one aspect of a collection of problems associated with "representing the other". Paul Julian Smith examines this theme in a wide-ranging series of chapters on the representation of the Indian in Castellanos, the Afro-American in Puig, and the Arab in Goytisolo. He also explores the possibility of a Jewish discourse in the "Celestina" and a feminine discourse in St Teresa, alongside Gracian's "El criticon" which serves as a test case for the inextricability of the narratives of nationality and of allegory.Table of ContentIntroduction: 'Race', Text, Gender; I. Early Narrative and Poststructuralism: La Celestina, Castro, and the Conversos; El Criticon, Allegory, and Nationality; II. Women's Narrative and Alterity: Visions of Teresa: Lacan, Irigary, Kristeva; Rosario Castellanos and Helen Cixous; III. Postmodernism and Contemporary Male Narrative: Manuel Puig and Gianni Vattimo; Juan Goytisolo and Jean Baudrillard; Conclusion: Representing the Other; Bibliography; Index