In her hometown of San Francisco de Macoris, Hilma Contreras, a dying 93-year-old Afro-Dominican female feminist bequeathed a lifelong literary legacy to the people of her native-land, the Dominican Republic. On January 15, 2006, Hilma Contreras lost her life. No one survived her. Contreras had opted not to marry, nor to have children. She is however, survived by her novels, countless short stories, and her everlasting impact on Latin American literature as a whole. Hilma Contreras was born in San Francisco de Marcoris on December 8, 1913 to parents Dario Contreras and Juana Maria Castillo. Her father, Dr. Dario Contreras maintained a legacy of his own. He was the first Dominican surgeon to specialize in orthopedics. Throughout his life, …show more content…
he was entangled in various Dominican political matters. In 1935, when Dr. Contreras refused to sign a document that would warrant the new name of the city of Santo Domingo to become “Ciudad Trujillo”, after the tyrant Rafael Trujillo. Upon Dr. Contreras’s refusal, he endured years of social isolation. Another unfortunate political debacle involving the doctor came years after in 1942 when the dictator Trujillo health was suffering due to an infection that almost cost him his life. None of the other physicians wished to operate on him, except Contreras who saved Trujillo’s from death. Years following, after Trujillo’s death, Dr. Contreras became known as the doctor who saved the life of a tyrant. In the Dominican Republic today, there stands a hospital named after Dr. Contreras. Subsequent to Hilma’s birth, she spent majority of her adolescence in France where she learned to read. It was also in France where studied French, literature, English, and archaeology. Throughout this time she made frequent trips between France and her native country. After two years of studying at the Institute of Archaeology in Paris, Contreras decided to abandon her studies and returned to the Dominican Republic permanently in 1933. Following her return, she made the acquaintance of a famous male writer, Juan Bosch. Contreras sent Bosch a letter under the alias, “Silivia Hilcon”. Contained within the letter was a story titled “The Good One’s Go”. Bosch responded to the letter on March 8 and by July 4, he published her story in the “Listin Dominical”. The publishing of this particular story ignited Contreras’s literary career. Hilma opted to resume her education and was subsequently awarded a bachelors degree in the study of philosophy.
She continued publishing short stories and was later deemed as the “master of the short story” in the Dominican Republic. She’d become well known for her Afro-Dominican context, which at the time was an uncharted territory within Dominican literature. Contreras’s writings exhibited issues that were of great concern to women. She explored single parenthood, violence, both physical a psychological against women, lesbianism, and growing old. On the contrary, she used her stories to depict the weakness of men. Her writings included sterility, jealousy, and homosexuality amongst the male sex. Her stories revealed a distinctive concern for emotions and psychological motivation. Emotions such as terror that many women are exposed to in their relations with men are prevalent in her literary works. Hilma Contreras’s most substantial honor occurred when she became the first female recipient of the 2002 “Premio Nacional de Literatura” (The National Literature Award) for lifetime work. Throughout her 93 years of life, Contreras published many literary works including, “Four Stories”, “The Bait”, “The Earth is Raging”, and many others. As previously mentioned, Contreras died alone in her hometown San Francisco de Macoris, leaving behind a life long legacy of
literature.
Sandra Benitez, birth name Sandy Ables, was born in Washington D.C. March 26, 1941. Due to her father’s job as a diplomat, she lived most of her childhood in Mexico and El Salvador. During Benitez teenage years, she lived with her family in the United States where she assimilated into American culture. In 1979 she decided to leave her job and began to attend a creative writing class. “Her first novel, a murder mystery set in Missouri, was never published. She brought the novel to a writer’s conference, where she was told it was terrible”. (“About”, Benitez) This led her to become the person she is now and focus on writing of her Latina heritage. In 1993 Benitez had published her first novel, A Place Where the Sea Remembers, where she received the Minnesota Book Award and the Barnes and Noble Discover Award.
Even today, she’s still considered “La Reina de Tejano” and her legacy still lives on. Works Cited 1) http://www.biography.com/people/selena-189149 2) http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20105524,00.html 3) http://www.selenaforever.com/
9Belayck Benibo, “Anglo- and Mexican American Attitudes Toward Selena’s Memorialization,” Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences February 1999: page 78 paragraph 5.
Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, born as Juana Ramirez de Azbaje, is a well-known extraordinary figure from the colonial period. Sor Juana had a desire for education at such a young age. In the seventeenth century, it was the intellectual midpoint of Spanish colonial America. During this time Mexico City was politically and religiously the center of New Spain; the terrains went from California to Central America. In Latin American history the church and state defined women’s roles, which eventually change over time. Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz articulated her experiences though writing, she broke silence about racial and gender inequality, and her legacy remains today.
Rosario Castellanos studied not only Sor Juana Ines de la Cruzs’ works, but her life as well. Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz was a powerful seventeenth century Latin American woman. Growing up Juana was a huge reader to the point where she would hide in chapels to read her grandfather’s books. At the mere age of eight years old, Juana composed her first poem. In her early teenage years she was already an expert on Greek logic, and was teaching Latin to young children. This is ironic because she was a young child as she was teaching young children. Juana went as far as attempting to disguise herself so she could go to a university to study, but her family forbade her to do so. Instead of disguising herself, she simply studied in silence until age sixteen, but the silence would not remain for long....
This novel is a story of a Chicano family. Sofi, her husband Domingo together with their four daughters – Esperanza, Fe, Caridad, and Loca live in the little town of Tome, New Mexico. The story focuses on the struggles of Sofi, the death of her daughters and the problems of their town. Sofi endures all the hardships and problems that come her way. Her marriage is deteriorating; her daughters are dying one by one. But, she endures it all and comes out stronger and more enlightened than ever. Sofi is a woman that never gives up no matter how poorly life treats her. The author- Ana Castillo mixes religion, super natural occurrences, sex, laughter and heartbreak in this novel. The novel is tragic, with no happy ending but at the same time funny and inspiring. It is full of the victory of the human spirit. The names of Sofi’s first three daughters denote the three major Christian ideals (Hope, Faith and Charity).
Growing up in two cultures, Sandra Cisneros witnessed the major impact of poverty and racism (Norton Anthology 1587). Using literature as an outlet, Cisneros wrote her first piece of literature at age ten (Norton Anthology 1587). The best lessons come to a person once the lesson is experienced. She often writes about the intricate dynamics between men and women. Cisneros displays colorful aspects of the Chicana culture. The Chicana culture is a unique combination of North American and Mexican American traditions. The skilled writer dominates her field by explicitly revealing the similarities and differences between the two societies.
This research paper talks about a very well know author known today as Isabel Allende. She is a very interesting person who has a really interesting life and background. She was born in Lima a city in Peru. Today she lives in San Francisco with her American husband and one daughter and one son. She is very well known for books that she had written in the past and for books she has written today.
Esquivel was born the third of four children, and when growing up storytelling was very important in childhood (Esquivel, Laura). She grew up in Mexico City with her father, Julio Caesar Esquivel, who worked as a telegraph operator, Her mom, and three other siblings (Esquivel, Laura). Esquivel and her father would make up stories together and record them with his reel-to-reel tape recorder (Esquivel, Laura). She grew up in a Catholic household, but she describes her religious background as “eclectic” (Esquivel, Laura). In addition, the feminist movement of the 1960s and 1970s greatly shaped Esquivel’s perspective on gender relations and artistic expression.
Many reviews have been written on Julia Alvarez since she is a Dominican Diaspora, a Jew who lived outside of Israel, who wrote in a Latina perspective in the country of Uni...
Gabriela Mistral was born on April 7, 1889 in Vicuña, Chile. When she was only three years old, her father abandoned her family. She attended a rural primary school and the Vicuña state secondary school. By the age of sixteen, she started to support herself and her mother by working as a teachers aide. Gabriela Mistral is only a pen name for Lucila Godoy Alcayaga. She took the name from her two favorite poets: Gabriele D’Annunzio and Frédéric Mistral. She was the first Latin American to receive the Nobel Prize for literature (1945). After the suicide of her lover, Romelio Ureta, she lived a life of self-described desolation. Although she wanted it, she never experienced motherhood. She did adopt a child but it later died. She taught at Colombia University, and Vassar College. In 1930, she was a visiting professor at Barnard College in New York City. She also became the principal of Santiago High School. Her first text was la Voz de Elqui and Diario Radical de Coquimbo in 1905. Her second work was called Desolación. Soon after she accepted her post at Santiago, she was invited to work in Mexico on a plan to reform the libraries and the schools. She lived primarily in France and Italy during 1925 to 1934. She also worked for the League for Intellectual Co-operation of the League of Nations between 1922 and 1938. She was the honorary consult for Brazil, Spain, Portugal and the U.S. In 1933 she entered the Chilean Foreign Service and was appointed by the government of Chile as a sort of ambassador-at-large for the Latin American Culture. During World War two, she became friends with Stefan Zweig and his wife. Later they committed suicide in Rio de Janeiro. Also her nephew, Juan Miguel killed himself. Because of poor health, she was forced to retire to her home in New York. She died on January 10, 1957, at the age of sixty-seven. She died of cancer.
...n of her wisdom and insight. Even though she succeeded in writing plays, prose, songs, and other noteworthy works, and because she took a stand against the institution of religion in the Catholic Church, she was eventually silenced and ostracized. No longer was she allowed to continue publication of her works. Moreover, her writings were no longer to be read in the convent with most being sold off or were removed. In conclusion, there are some works of Cruz’s that have surfaced and are in print today. These works alone are enough to keep her memory alive. Certainly, all women should be grateful for the sacrifice that Cruz made, her brave and humble contribution, and at the risk of losing her own life. After all, she single handedly forced open a door that had been closed for years; a door for a woman’s right to a well-rounded education (Paz 450-470).
Gabriela Mistral was born on April 7, 1889, in Vicuna, Chile.(Mistral - Facts) Petronila Alcayga, her mother, was a schoolteacher and her father, Jeronimo Godoy ALcayga Villanueva, was a poet. Mistral was raised with her sister in Monte Grand solely by her mother because her father abandoned them when Mistral was only 3 years old. She started attending school at 9 years old but only went for 3 years. Her short time in school opened the door for her oncoming poetry career. (Bois) At age 16, she and her family moved to La Cantera where she had to start working as a teachers assistant to support her mother and sister. (Biography) Mistral fell in love with a railroad worker. Unfortunately, the relationship took a turn for the worst and the boy committed suicide with only a postcard from Gabriela Mistral found on him. (Bois)
Triunfante quiero ver al que me mata; y mato a quien me quiere ver triunfante."- Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz. Algunas personas piensan que la mujer es menos capas que el hombre, cuando la realidad es que la mujer es más capas que el hombre. Frida Kahlo, una artista mexicana que inspiró al mundo con sus pinturas, su historia es muy reconocida y es digna de una persona para admirar. Dolores Jiménez y Muro, quien fue una revolucionaria que contribuyo a la historia de México, es de las mujeres Mexicanas que no les dan el crédito que merecen. Marta Lamas es una antropóloga mexicana que es reconocida en el ámbito de los Derechos Humanos por sus acciones como feminista. En este escrito se podrá observar que el tono será neutro, el objetivo principal de nuestro escrito es informar a la sociedad sobre las heroínas mexicanas que han luchado por la mujer y finalmente se usará un patrón de organización de los párrafos es el desarrollo de un tema.
...e was not being abused, she was still in great pain and going through a large amount of sorrow after the loss of her family. The author of this story relates to women being discriminated because she was born in the 40’s and came from chili. In her biography she wrote “I was not supposed to be in any way a liberated person. I was a female born in the ‘40s in a patriarchal family; I was supposed to marry and make everyone around me happy.” –Isabel Allende (pg 1224)