Bibliography
Hespelt, E. Herman, Irving A. Leonard, John T. Reid, John A. Crow, and John E. Englekirk, . 1946. An Anthology of Spanish American Literature. New York: Appleton-Century-Crosts, Inc.
This anthology contains many original works, and excerpts of original works. As the title implies, all the authors are Hispanic. One could argue that first portion authors are not American authors, but rather Spanish authors writing in the ‘new world.’ For example, some of the more interesting writings to me are up front. They include memoirs of several Spanish conquistadors, contemporaneously written by members of their teams with specific assignment to capture events. These were generally also religious representatives intending to convert indigenous people to Christianity. As a reader of history, one has to take these accounts for what they are. The saying goes that history is written by the victor. Reading these sorts of historical memoirs, I tend to assume they are only loosely true, but they do show a great deal about the perspectives of the author if not the subjects.
I think my favorite section includes gaucho stories. These are mostly poems and remind me of comedic cowboy poetry of the American ‘wild west’. I found the most entertaining to be Fausto written in 1866 by Estanisao del Campo. In the poem, Anastasio el Pollo relates to his gaucho buddy Laguna the story of Faust. He stumbles into an opera house while visiting the city. He sees the play and believes he is watching actual events happening in front of him. He has never been to a play and did not understand the idea of fiction. The whole thing reminds me a bit of some of the work done by Andy Griffith when he would recount Shakespearian plays using ‘down home’ or ‘red neck’ expressions and a southern accent to tell the story.
As one might guess, this anthology contains a wide range of prose and poetry, some comedic, others patriotic, historical, or emotional. Their is a short exposition in English at the beginning section of each writer's works giving a short bio of the author and some descriptions of their writing style and focus. The actual works are in the original Spanish. Since the writings range from the 1500s through the mid-1900s, and includes authors from many countries, the Spanish language used differs from piece to piece. I was comfortable with most of it, but kept an online dictionary close at hand.
Hespelt, E. Herman, Irving A. Leonard, John T. Reid, John A. Crow, and John E. Englekirk, . 1946. An Anthology of Spanish American Literature. New York: Appleton-Century-Crosts, Inc.
This anthology contains many original works, and excerpts of original works. As the title implies, all the authors are Hispanic. One could argue that first portion authors are not American authors, but rather Spanish authors writing in the ‘new world.’ For example, some of the more interesting writings to me are up front. They include memoirs of several Spanish conquistadors, contemporaneously written by members of their teams with specific assignment to capture events. These were generally also religious representatives intending to convert indigenous people to Christianity. As a reader of history, one has to take these accounts for what they are. The saying goes that history is written by the victor. Reading these sorts of historical memoirs, I tend to assume they are only loosely true, but they do show a great deal about the perspectives of the author if not the subjects.
I think my favorite section includes gaucho stories. These are mostly poems and remind me of comedic cowboy poetry of the American ‘wild west’. I found the most entertaining to be Fausto written in 1866 by Estanisao del Campo. In the poem, Anastasio el Pollo relates to his gaucho buddy Laguna the story of Faust. He stumbles into an opera house while visiting the city. He sees the play and believes he is watching actual events happening in front of him. He has never been to a play and did not understand the idea of fiction. The whole thing reminds me a bit of some of the work done by Andy Griffith when he would recount Shakespearian plays using ‘down home’ or ‘red neck’ expressions and a southern accent to tell the story.
As one might guess, this anthology contains a wide range of prose and poetry, some comedic, others patriotic, historical, or emotional. Their is a short exposition in English at the beginning section of each writer's works giving a short bio of the author and some descriptions of their writing style and focus. The actual works are in the original Spanish. Since the writings range from the 1500s through the mid-1900s, and includes authors from many countries, the Spanish language used differs from piece to piece. I was comfortable with most of it, but kept an online dictionary close at hand.
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