Colombian Gothic in Cinema and Literature

(Hardback)

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The Colombian Gothic in Cinema and Literature traces the aesthetic and political development of the Gothic genre in Colombia. Gabriel Eljaiek-Rodrguez shows how, in the hands of Colombian writers and filmmakers, Gothic tropes are taken to their extremes to reflect particularly Colombian issues, like the ongoing armed conflict in the country since the 1950s as various left wing guerillas, government factions and paramilitary groups escalated violence. In this context, collectives such as the Cali group challenge both the centrality of US and European Gothics as well as the centrality of Bogota-centered perspectives of Colombian politics and conflict. The book demonstrates how writers and filmmakers transform the European and American Gothic to show genealogical links between colonization, imperialism and domestic elites maintenance of social inequalities.

Reviews

Though long obscured by the critical preoccupation with magical realism, the Gothic strain in Latin American literature has become a topic of vibrant scholarly interest in recent years. Gabriel Eljaiek-Rodrguezs Colombian Gothic in Cinema and Literature is a welcome contribution to the field, charting, as it does, the emergence of a distinctive strain of Colombian Gothic in the nineteenth century and tracking its manifestations across literature and film of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. As Eljaiek-Rodrguezs pioneering study is at pains to show, the Colombian Gothic, while sharing certain affinities with the so-called Tropical Gothic, is as singular and distinctive as the culture and history that gave it form. For this reason alone, the book is crucial to understanding the global reach and significance of the Gothic in Central and South America, well beyond the more familiar Anglo-American frame. Dale Townshend, Professor of Gothic Literature, Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies, Manchester Metropolitan University.

Eljaiek-Rodrguezs short primer on the Colombian Gothic provides a helpful first point of contact for academics looking to understand the regions unique engagement with this artistic tradition. It is also a welcome addition to critical debates on the Gothics transnational cultural work. Dr Xavier Aldana Reyes, author of Spanish Gothic: National Identity, Collaboration and Cultural Adaptation (2017)

"This book is an innovative study of Colombian literature and film. It offers an in-depth focus on Colombian history as it looks at the ways in which the never ending (neo)colonization of the country creates new forms of monstrosity. An invaluable contribution to the growing field of Latin American and Caribbean Gothic studies." Sandra Casanova-Vizcano, Assistant Professor, Binghamton University, State University of New York, US

From the tropical hot lands to the foggy and cold Andean valleys, Eljaiek-Rodrguezs book is a groundbreaking revision of the presence of the Gothic in Colombia. It confirms the international appeal of this concept and, at the same time, explores its ability to adapt to particular geographical areas that highlight haunting social and political tensions in this South American country. Enrique Ajuria Ibarra, Senior Assistant Professor, Universidad de las Amricas Puebla, Mexico

Author Bio

Gabriel Eljaiek-Rodrguez is a Colombian writer and academic currently teaching in Atlanta, Georgia. He has written extensively on the Latin American Gothic, Horror cinema and cultural migration.