Entre milagros, prodigios, maravillas, portentos y favores: san Pedro Nolasco y el certamen poético mexicano de 1633

In this article, we study the notions of milagro, prodigio, maravilla, portento and favor (miracle, wonder, marvel, portent in its positive sense, and favor) in accordance with the use of these terms in the manuscript that contains the 1633 Mexican poetry contest in honor of St. Peter Nolasco. We study their use in the first seven competitions within the contest, as well as in the call for participants for the competitions and in the introductory and complementary texts written by friar Juan de Alavés, the secretary of the contest, and we relate the events that are poeticized in the competitions with their corresponding hagiographical and/or historical circumstances. We also include examples of the contest’s winning poetry and of the prose texts from the manuscript in which the five above-mentioned terms are included, in order to show how these terms serve to underscore the messages that are implicit throughout the manuscript, regarding Nolasco’s greatness, his enjoyment of divine grace, and the merits that had made him worthy of having been canonized, which had been achieved in 1628. This article represents a by-product of the project that consisted of editing, studying, analyzing and doing research on the contest in order to prepare the critical edition of the manuscript.

Samuel Beckett’s Translations of Latin American Poets for UNESCO

Samuel Beckett’s self-avowed slight acquaintance with the Spanish language did not prevent him from tackling the translation of a poem by the Chilean Gabriela Mistral, as well as a whole anthology of Mexican poetry. Little attention has been paid to this sideline in Beckett’s career. This paper contextualizes Beckett’s involvement in these two UNESCO projects and shows, with recourse to his translation manuscripts, the intensity of the author’s work despite his distaste for these commissions.

La poesía mexicana en la "Gazeta de México" a finales del siglo XVIII. Entre la herencia barroca y la Ilustración

RESUMENLa "Gazeta de México" no fue una revista literaria y solo en ciertas ocasiones publicó alguna poesía; sin embargo recogió mucha información sobre esa temática y actuó como propagandista de ediciones de obras, certámenes, censuras, etc. A través de esa información podemos acercarnos al panorama literario novohispano, en un momento de auge del Neoclasicismo. La publicación mostró un especial interés por la poesía laudatoria y épica relacionada con los acontecimientos de la monarquía; también por algunos autores clásicos como Virgilio y Horacio y sus traductores, así como por Tomas de Iriarte. Todo ello sin olvidar el importante papel de los jesuitas en el exilio. Los asuntos poéticos, por tanto, fueron más de información que de reproducción.PALABRAS CLAVE"Gazeta de México", Poesía, Fábulas, Tradición clásica, Nueva España, Siglo XVIII. TITLEThe classical tradition in the mexican poetry in the "Gazeta of Mexico" at the end of the 18th century. Between the Baroque heritage and the EnlightenmentABSTRACTThe "Gazeta de México" was not a literary magazine, nevertheless, it collected a lot of information on that subject, especially it announced publications of books, contests, censorships, etc. and only in certain occasions he published some poems. Through this information we can approach to the literary situation of New Spain, at a moment of Summit of neoclassicism. the publication showed a special interest in laudatory and epic poetry related to the events of the monarchy; also by some classic authors like Virgilio and Horacio and their translators, as well as by Tomas de Iriarte. All this without forgetting in important role of the exiled Jesuits. The poetical matters, therefore, were more information than reproduction.KEY WORDS"Gazeta de México", Poetry, Fables, Classical Tradition, New Spain, 18th century.

La Ciudad de México en la poesía mexicana del siglo XXI. Figuraciones poéticas del espacio urbano

This paper focuses on the study of some of the forms of representing Mexico City that are reflected in 21th Century Mexican Poetry. Taking as the starting point the heterogeneous and hybrid nature attributed to this City, and limiting the study to four of its characteristic features —namely extension, overcrowding, difficulties in movements and transportation, and the mixed feelings of its population—, it explores some of this urban space’s metaphorical figurations that can be found in texts. In line with the above mentioned hybridism, the City appears in many of them as an animate being with diverse characteristics —woman-animal-insect-machine-effigy— that symbolizes the City's monstrosity and explains the senses of threat and danger at the possibility (equally feared and desired) of its annihilation and destruction.