Ecopoéticas transatlánticas: del texto a la acción social

273 Pages·2016·7.05 MB·Spanish

University of Iowa
Iowa Research Online
Theses and Dissertations
Spring 2013
Ecopoéticas transatlánticas: del texto a la acción
social
Tania Perez-Cano
University of Iowa
Copyright 2013 Tania Perez-Cano
This dissertation is available at Iowa Research Online: https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/2606
Recommended Citation
Perez-Cano, Tania. "Ecopoéticas transatlánticas: del texto a la acción social." PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) thesis, University of Iowa,
2013.
https://doi.org/10.17077/etd.zevlfsa8
Follow this and additional works at:https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd
Part of theSpanish and Portuguese Language and Literature Commons
ECOPOÉTICAS TRANSATLÁNTICAS: DEL TEXTO A LA ACCIÓN SOCIAL
by
Tania Pérez-Cano
An Abstract
Of a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the Doctor of
Philosophy degree in Spanish
in the Graduate College of
The University of Iowa
May 2013

Thesis Supervisors: Associate Professor Ana Merino
Professor Thomas E. Lewis
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ABSTRACT
My dissertation explores the ways in which writers and artists from Spain and
Latin America create works of art in which the environment plays a central role. My
purpose is to reflect the variety of perspectives and modes of expression that the ongoing
environmental crisis generates in these artists. I propose a more concrete approach to the
concept of ecopoetics, one that is not limited to literary works but is also concerned with
a more ample spectrum of cultural imagination and reflection, as well as on how artists
can impact their communities through their work.
I formulate a more precise notion of the concept of ecopoetics, one which is based
on the particular genre or art form creators use to express themselves. This approach
combines both the traditional notion of poetics as the variety of elections made by an
author in terms of subject, composition, style, etc.; and the perception of a new type of
sensibility that centers on the relationships between human beings and the environment. I
argue that this concept of ecopoetics, as it is integrally related to the choices made by
artists in terms of genre, mediums used, vision of the world and modes of expression,
allows me to explore the diversity of viewpoints and artistic possibilities produced in the
Luso-Hispanic area. The broad area I chose to work in also allows me to explore the

connections among these texts and works of art in order to look for shared images and
motives that all show a growing awareness of the ecological crisis. This kind of analysis
is integrated with social, cultural, racial and gender perspectives.
My research also explores how the ethical commitment to the environment
assumes a variety of perspectives. That is the reason I include works from poetry,
narrative, comics, documentary, installations and sculptures. I center my analysis on
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authors such as Jaime Quezada (Chile), Jorge Riechmann and José María Merino (both
from Spain), Julio Ramón Ribeyro (Peru) and Rubem Fonseca (Brazil). I also work with
comic artists Miguelanxo Prado and Francesc Capdevila (Max) from Spain, as well as
Mexican comic artists Jis and Trino and Edgar Clément. I analyze the documentary
Waste Land (2010), by Lucy Walker, which follows the work of Vik Muniz in Jardim
Gramacho, the biggest dump in the world; and the Cuban artist Héctor Gallo, who builds
his sculptures and installations in a marginal neighborhood in Havana.

Abstract Approved: ____________________________________
Thesis Supervisor
____________________________________
Title and Department
____________________________________
Date
____________________________________
Thesis Supervisor
____________________________________
Title and Department
____________________________________
Date
ECOPOÉTICAS TRANSATLÁNTICAS: DEL TEXTO A LA ACCIÓN SOCIAL
by
Tania Pérez-Cano
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the Doctor of
Philosophy degree in Spanish
in the Graduate College of
The University of Iowa
May 2013

Thesis Supervisors: Associate Professor Ana Merino
Professor Thomas E. Lewis
Copyright by
TANIA PÉREZ-CANO
2013
All Rights Reserved
Graduate College
The University of Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa
CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL
_______________________
PH.D. THESIS
_______________
This is to certify that the Ph.D. thesis of
Tania Pérez-Cano
has been approved by the Examining Committee
for the thesis requirement for the Doctor of Philosophy
degree in Spanish at the May 2013 graduation.
Thesis Committee: __________________________________
Ana Merino, Thesis Supervisor
___________________________________
Thomas E. Lewis, Thesis Supervisor
___________________________________
Adriana Méndez-Rodenas
___________________________________
Luis Martín-Estudillo
___________________________________
Ana M. Rodríguez-Rodríguez
To Arturo and Pilar

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This dissertation is the result of two years of work and the collaboration of many
friends and colleagues. First of all, I want to thank the Graduate College of the University
of Iowa for its generosity in granting me a Presidential Fellowship, which allowed me to
finish my work. I am also grateful for the T. Anne Cleary International Research
Fellowship that made it possible for me to interview writers Jorge Riechmann and José
María Merino. I would like to thank Kathy Klein and Paul Meintel of the Graduate
College for all their support throughout all my years at the University of Iowa. I also
thank my thesis supervisor Ana Merino for her support and hard work. She was not only
my hardest critic but my biggest fan and an excellent reader. I thank her for all the great
comic books I have read following her advice. Luis Martín-Estudillo was the first person
who talked to me about ecocriticism and who introduced me to the poetry of Jorge
Riechmann. He has always been a terrific reader, an insightful editor, and he remains one
of my favorite professors ever. Thank you Luis! Thanks to Tom Lewis for his patience
and understanding during our first meetings, when I did not have any idea of where I was
going. I thank him for his sense of humor and support and for providing me with some of
the most important books in ecocritical theory. Marsha Forys made my search for sources
and books easier. A special thanks to my friends Arturo Matute Castro, Pilar Marcé,
Ozzie Díaz Duque, Kirk Jackson, Tania Carrasquillo Hernández, Damaris Puñales and

Cristián Gómez. Without their encouragement, friendship and support, this dissertation
would not have been finished. Arturo Matute Castro and Cristián Gómez provided me
with books, ideas and comments that were critical to my work. Kirk Jackson edited my
English writing. To Arturo and Pilar: I am very lucky to have you as my friends.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... vi
INTRODUCCIÓN ...............................................................................................................1

CAPÍTULO

I ENTRE EL APOCALIPSIS CRISTIANO Y EL ACTIVISMO
SOCIAL: DOS MODELOS DE ECO-POESÍA EN HUERFANÍAS,
DE JAIME QUEZADA Y CUADERNO DE BERLÍN, DE JORGE
RIECHMANN ................................................................................................13

Para llenar los espacios en blanco: el discurso eco-poético en
tiempos de dictadura ..................................................................................17
Poesía en un mundo vulnerable: el discurso ecosocial de Jorge
Riechmann .................................................................................................32

II ECO-NARRATIVAS DE LO URBANO Y LO AGRARIO, ENTRE
EL REALISMO Y LA ALEGORÍA: “LOS GALLINAZOS SIN
PLUMAS”, DE JULIO RAMÓN RIBEYRO, “INTESTINO
GROSSO”, DE RUBEM FONSECA Y EL LUGAR SIN CULPA, DE
JOSÉ MARÍA MERINO ................................................................................56

Los autores: entre el espacio habitado y el espacio literario ......................63
Entre dos orillas: de la transformación urbana a la reserva natural ...........77
Entre el realismo y la alegoría: modos de narrar la crisis ecológica........108

III ECO-SECUENCIALIDADES GRÁFICAS DE LO URBANO Y LO
AGRARIO, ENTRE LO UTÓPICO Y LO APOCALÍPTICO:
GUSTAVO, DE MAX, TRAZO DE TIZA, DE MIGUELANXO
PRADO, EL SANTOS, DE JIS Y TRINO Y OPERACIÓN BOLIVAR,
DE EDGAR CLÉMENT .............................................................................116

Del modelo subversivo a lo fantástico: el discurso urbano y
contracultural en Gustavo frente al lirismo intimista de lo insular en
Trazo de tiza .............................................................................................121
De la desintegración social al futurismo gótico: dos visiones de la
Ciudad de México en El Santos y Operación Bolívar .............................162

IV ECOCREATIVIDADES COMUNITARIAS: LA REFORMULACIÓN
DEL CANON DESDE LO MARGINAL EN LA OBRA DE VIK
MUNIZ Y HÉCTOR GALLO ......................................................................197

Vik Muniz y los catadores de Jardim Gramacho: del basurero al
museo de arte ...........................................................................................209
Héctor Gallo y su “Museo de los afectos o de los tarecos” .....................219

CONCLUSIONES ...........................................................................................................237
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