The Paraguay Reader

The Paraguay Reader

History, Culture, Politics

  • Autor: Lambert, Peter; Nickson, Andrew
  • Editor: Duke University Press
  • Col·lecció: The Latin America Readers
  • ISBN: 9780822352495
  • eISBN Pdf: 9780822395393
  • Lloc de publicació:  Durham , United States
  • Any de publicació digital: 2012
  • Mes: Desembre
  • Pàgines: 488
  • DDC: 989.2
  • Idioma: Anglés
Hemmed in by the vast, arid Chaco to the west and, for most of its history, impenetrable jungles to the east, Paraguay has been defined largely by its isolation. Partly as a result, there has been a dearth of serious scholarship or journalism about the country. Going a long way toward redressing this lack of information and analysis, The Paraguay Reader is a lively compilation of testimonies, journalism, scholarship, political tracts, literature, and illustrations, including maps, photographs, paintings, drawings, and advertisements. Taken together, the anthology's many selections convey the country's extraordinarily rich history and cultural heritage, as well as the realities of its struggles against underdevelopment, foreign intervention, poverty, inequality, and authoritarianism.

Most of the Reader is arranged chronologically. Weighted toward the twentieth century and early twenty-first, it nevertheless gives due attention to major events in Paraguay's history, such as the Triple Alliance War (1864–70) and the Chaco War (1932–35). The Reader's final section, focused on national identity and culture, addresses matters including ethnicity, language, and gender. Most of the selections are by Paraguayans, and many of the pieces appear in English for the first time. Helpful introductions by the editors precede each of the book's sections and all of the selected texts.

  • Contents
  • List of Illustrations
  • Acknowledgments
  • Introduction
  • Part I: The Birth of Paraguay
    • The Foundation of Human Speech, León Cadogan
    • Contact, Servitude, and Resistance, Branislava Susnik
    • Spanish-Guaraní Relations in Early Colonial Paraguay, Elman R. Service
    • The Land-without-Evil, Hélène Clastres
    • The Republic of Plato and the Guaraní, José Manuel Peramás
    • A Vanished Arcadia, R. B. Cunninghame Graham
    • The Revolt of the Comuneros, Adalberto López
  • Part II: The Nationalist Experiment
    • A Report on Paraguay in the London Press of 1824, Anonymous
    • A Nation Held Hostage, Justo Prieto
    • In Defense of Doctor Francia, Richard Alan White
    • Autonomy, Authoritarianism, and Development, Thomas Whigham
    • The Treaty of the Triple Alliance
    • “I Die with My Country!,” Thomas Whigham
    • A Chronicle of War, Leandro Pineda
    • The Lomas Valentinas Note, Francisco Solano López
    • Memoirs of the Paraguayan War, Gaspar Centurión
    • The Women of Piribebuy, Juan O’Leary
    • The Death of López at Cerro Corá, Silvestre Aveiro
    • Sufferings of a French Lady in Paraguay, Dorotea Duprat de Lasserre
    • Declaration and Protest, Eliza Lynch
    • The Psychology of López, William Stewart
  • Part III: A Slow Recovery
    • Paraguayan Society in the Postwar Decade, Harris Gaylord Warren
    • The “Lincolnshire Farmers” in Paraguay, Annie Elizabeth Kennett
    • My Pilgrimage to Caacupé, Norman O. Brown
    • What It Is Like to Work in the Yerba Plantations, Rafael Barrett
    • The Treatment of Tree Fellers and Timber Workers, Reinaldo López Fretes
    • The Golden Age (Without a Nickel), Helio Vera
    • The Causes of Poverty in Paraguay, Teodosio González
    • The Mennonites Arrive in the Chaco, Walter Quiring
    • The Paraguayan Character, Juan Sinforiano Bogarín
    • The Paraguayan People and Their Natural Tendencies, Natalicio González
    • Cultural Exile, Agustín Barrios
    • Profession of Faith, Agustín Barrios
    • A New National Ideology, Oscar Creydt, Obdulio Barthe, Anibal Codas, and others
  • Part IV: From the Chaco War to the Civil War
    • Capturing Volunteers, Carlos Federico Reyes
    • The Battle of Boquerón, Alfredo Seiferheld
    • Memoirs of a Man from Concepción, Carlos María Sienra Bonzi, as told to Roberto Sienra Zavala
    • A Visit to Villa Hayes Military Hospital Number 16, Reginald Thompson
    • Scenes of Thirst, Hugo Rodríguez Alcalá
    • A Handful of Earth, Hérib Campos Cervera
    • Proclamation of the Febrerista Revolution, F. W. Smithand Camilo Recalde
    • How Beautiful Is Your Voice, Ernesto Unruh and Hannes Kalisch
    • The Revolution of 1947, Carlos María Sienra Bonzi, as toldto Roberto Sienra Zavala
    • A Half Hour in My Childhood, Eva Bichsel
  • Part V: Dictatorship and Resistance
    • Toward a Weberian Characterization of the Stroessner Regime, Marcial Riquelme
    • The Revolutionary Spirit of the Colorado Party, Luís María Argaña
    • The Tragedy of Fram, Jorge Rubiani
    • Be Careful, Dictator, Elvio Romero
    • The Worm inside the Lotus Blossom, Graham Greene
    • A Short History of the Northern Ache People, Kim Hill
    • The Testimony of Saturnina Almada
    • An Interview with Corsino Coronel
    • Apocalypse, Alfredo Boccia
    • My Farewell Speech, Carmen de Lara Castro
    • The Death of Somoza, Claribel Alegría and Darwin Flakoll
    • My Vote Is for the People, Alcibiades González Delvalle
    • Paraguay’s Terror Archive, Andrew Nickson
    • “A Hundred and Eight” and a Burned Body, Anselmo Ramos
    • The Final Report of the Truth and Justice Commission, Andrés D. Ramírez
    • Alfredo Stroessner: Revisiting the General, Isabel Hilton
  • Part VI: A Transition in Search of Democracy
    • We Have Left Our Barracks, Andrés Rodríguez
    • Reestablishing the Status Quo, Andrew Nickson
    • My Deepest Respects to the Colorado Party, Helio Vera
    • The Characteristics of Oviedismo, Milda Rivarola
    • In Homage to the Victims of Ycuá Bolaños, Luis Irala
    • Where Are They?, Alberto Rodas
    • The Ayoreo People, Mateo Sobode Chiquenoi
    • So Much Exoticism Can Be Deceptive, Alfredo Boccia
    • Inaugural Presidential Speech, Fernando Lugo Méndez
    • First Person: Margarita Mbywangi, Margarita Mbywangi, as told to Jude Webber
    • Lessons on Paternity from Lugo, Clyde Soto
    • Itaipú: A Historic Achievement That Will Need to Be CloselyMonitored, Ricardo Canese
    • A Fine Woman, Andrés Colmán Gutiérrez
    • Ciudad del Este’s Deadly Trade Route, Jude Webber
    • The Challenge of Conserving a Natural Chaco Habitat in the Face of Severe Deforestation Pressure and Human Development Needs, Alberto Yanosky
  • Part VII: What Does It Mean to Be Paraguayan?
    • History, Identity, and Paraguayidad, Peter Lambert
    • Change and Continuity in Paraguayan History—1811, 1911, 2011, Andrew Nickson
    • The Arcadian Tragedy, George Pendle
    • The Bicentenary of Paraguayan Independence and the Guaraní Language, Miguel Ángel Verón Gómez
    • People of African Descent in Paraguay, Ignacio Telesca
    • Authoritarian Ideology: Final Comments, Guido Rodríguez Alcalá
    • With the Help of Doña Petrona We Make an Incursion into Folk Cuisine, Helio Vera
    • Enough of the Triple Alliance!, Jorge Rubiani
    • Tereré as a Social Bond, Derlis Benítez Alvarenga
    • The Status of Women, Riordan Roett and Richard Scott Sacks
    • Self-Portrait, Bernarda
    • María and the Serpent, Pepa Kostianovsky
    • Erico, Jorge Barraza
    • Recipe for Chipa Guazú, Doña Aída
    • The National Anthem in Guaraní, Félix de Guarania
  • Epilogue: The Impeachment of President Fernando Lugo
  • Suggestions for Further Reading
  • Acknowledgment of Copyright and Sources
  • Index