Contenu du sommaire : Insectes, bichos et autres « petites bêtes » dans les Amériques (XIXe-XXIe siècles)
Revue |
Amerika ![]() |
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Numéro | no 29, 2024 |
Titre du numéro | Insectes, bichos et autres « petites bêtes » dans les Amériques (XIXe-XXIe siècles) |
Texte intégral en ligne | Accessible sur l'internet |
- Palabras liminares a modo de introducción - Catherine Sablonnière, Comité de Rédaction d'Amerika
Dossier: Insectes, bichos et autres « petites bêtes » dans les Amériques (XIXe-XXIe siècles)
- Insectos en la literatura infantil y juvenil americana
- De la hormiguita viajera a las pulgas rebeldes : cinco facetas del insecto en la literatura infantil argentina del siglo XX - Maud Gaultier This article traces a path through 20th-century Argentine children's literature, focusing on works of fiction that, through the presence of insects, have shaped children's imagination and the history of children's books in the country. Different approaches to the portrayal of insects are identified: firstly, in La Hormiguita Viajera, Constancio C. Vigil presents insects as vehicles for values such as perseverance and respect for community norms. Secondly, Horacio Quiroga's tales depict insects as symbols of nature's capacity to assert itself against human arrogance and overconfidence. The third facet highlights the inclusion of insects in poetry, which moves away from both moralism and realism. The fourth tendency emerges in the aesthetic of nonsense, championed by authors such as María Elena Walsh, who employs humor and absurdity to subvert traditional representations, inviting readers to observe the small world from an irreverent and creative perspective. Finally, Gustavo Roldán uses insects, with their apparent smallness and vulnerability, as symbols of rebellion and resistance, giving voice to the marginalized and challenging power structures.
- Pequeñas criaturas, grandes lecciones: el papel ecológico de los insectos en la literatura infantil y juvenil latinoamericana - Víctor R. Rivas, Song No This article explores the representation of insects in Latin American children's literature, highlighting their complexity and the central role they play in these narratives, in contrast to European traditions, where they often hold secondary or negative roles. Influenced by Indigenous worldviews, these stories assign insects profound ecological, spiritual, and cultural significance, connecting the natural world with the human one. Through the analysis of works such as La Cochinilla Cloqui, El jardín de la abuela Lisa, Siete millones de escarabajos, and La Cucarachita Martina, the article demonstrates how insects become symbols of resilience, cooperation, and transformation, challenging traditional hierarchies in the natural world. The article examines how these stories educate readers on the importance of biodiversity and conservation, while also imparting social values such as self-acceptance, cooperation, and resilience. These narratives not only serve as tools for environmental education but also promote cultural understanding and social inclusion. Finally, the article nuances the relevance of these stories in modern education and their alignment with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), encouraging their broader integration into educational programs.
- Insectos de las tradiciones y cosmovisiones indígenas en la LIJ mexicana
- When the cricket sings & the nopal bleeds: (Re)interpreting insect commodification in Oaxaca through anthropological and environmental humanities frameworks - Anne E. Pfister, Andrea A. Gaytán Cuesta Oaxaca boasts the greatest cultural, linguistic, and biological diversity in Mexico, so insect and human relationships take many forms there. Various insect species are found in iconic specialty foods and the cochineal bug, exported from colonial Oaxaca to dye the world's textiles and other products, is among the most celebrated. Mexican literature, folklore, art and music celebrate insects, creating various imaginaries surrounding insect-human relationships. For example, Mixtec cosmogonies conceive of insects as spirits of creation and depict them as connections to the land. Today, tourists flock to Oaxaca to sample chapulines and gusanos de maguey or purchase textiles and fibers dyed with natural pigments, including those extracted from cochineal bugs. This paper pairs current ethnographic investigation and comparative literary analysis of contemporary children's stories, Mixtec cosmogonies, and other media, to examine human-insect imaginaries in Oaxaca, past and present. We use ecocritical frameworks to explore how insects and humans create dialogues that establish a unity of spirits and diversity of bodies, reversing the asymmetrical and exploitative nature of the commodification of insects. We ask how current political economies surrounding the commodification of insects mirror and contradict the political economies of colonial New Spain, and how Indigenous imaginaries dialogue with modern patterns of commodification and exploitation.
- Rescate de un insecto desconocido y casi extinto en Oaxaca - Claudia Roxana Juárez López, Catalina Yolanda López Márquez, Matthias Rös Oaxaca is known for being one of the regions with the greatest biological and cultural diversity in Mexico. Its orography and territory translate into a wide variety of climates and soils, creating a high diversity and endemism of different taxonomic groups, especially insects. Insects are valuable resources in Oaxacan culture; for example, grasshoppers, chicatana ants, maguey worms, jumiles, melipona honey, escamoles, and cochineal are consumed. They provide flavors, colors, nutrition, and income for the families who collect them. One of the insects with the greatest historical and cultural relevance is the grana cochineal. Cochineal was once Mexico's most valuable export product; however, it was replaced by synthetic dyes in the mid-19th century, disappearing for almost two hundred years. In the 1970s, a private initiative began the rescue of the cochineal and preserves this living insect for educational purposes. The importance of the insect lies in its intense carmine color, which has been a source of inspiration for scientists, novelists and poets. This work aims to explore the most relevant stories and legends about the grana cochineal.
- Escarabajos, hormigas y rebeldía: Complejidad ambiental y ontologías indígenas - Andrea A. Gaytán Cuesta The new year of 1994 in Chiapas, México welcomed the first indigenous revolution of the 21st century. This rebellion came from the jungle, facing extractivist policies derived from the NAFTA agreement and economic globalization. At the same time, a literary corpus directed to children and young adults emerged, in which an ant army and a beetle were the protagonists of the thought of the Sub comandante Marcos, leader of the movement. In this essay I analyze literary fragments of Don Durito de la Lacandona (1999), En algún lugar de la selva Lacandona (2008) y Aventuras y desventuras de Don Durito (2008), focusing on the concepts of environmental complexity and the Mayan ancient knowledge dialogue. I argue that, in his texts, Marcos uses the Zapatista pedagogy to reinforce the values of the human-non-human dialogue, the Amerindian perspectivism, and multinaturalism, to expand its thought to Zapatista teenagers and children. Using the Lacandon Jungle as the body of the conflict and the beetle and ants as protagonists of the Zapatista struggle, Marcos presents himself as a witness and agent, portraying a historical testimony of the jungle destruction and its consequences.
- Conocimiento de los insectos y experiencia del mundo:enseñanza y vulgarización
- De lagarta à borboleta: convergências entre literatura, biologia e práticas educativas - Renata Junqueira de Souza, Jessie Martins Gutierres This study explores the integration of children's literature and scientific communication through the theme of metamorphosis, highlighting how children's stories can promote scientific literacy from an early age. We analyze the books A primavera da lagarta by Ruth Rocha and A lagarta que tomou chá de sumiço by Milton Célio de Oliveira Filho, which use the life cycle of the caterpillar to adulthood to teach scientific concepts and spark interest in nature. Rocha's narrative (2011) emphasizes the caterpillar's voracity through poetic metaphors that address patience and empathy, while Oliveira Filho (2007) builds a suspenseful plot around the disappearance of the caterpillar, encouraging readers to unravel the mystery of metamorphosis. The study addresses psychological essentialism, a natural cognitive tendency in children to understand the "essence" of biological transformations like metamorphosis, which facilitates their intuitive grasp of complex processes. Using metacognitive strategies, we show how the use of generic language, such as "caterpillars transform into butterflies," consolidates metamorphosis as an essential characteristic and helps children generalize this process to other contexts. Thus, these books not only fulfill an aesthetic role but also prove to be effective tools for scientific literacy, helping young readers understand and appreciate biodiversity and the insect life cycle. By relating literary content to comprehension practices, this study demonstrates how children's literature can foster a solid scientific foundation and a respectful relationship with the environment.
- “Como un humito que vuela”: insectos y experiencia del mundo en La Naturaleza dominicana (1978-1989) de Félix Servio Ducoudray - Catherine Sablonnière The chronicles (1978-1989) written by Félix Servio Ducoudrau, edited in six volumes under the title La Naturaleza dominicana (2006), relate scientific and entomological excursions carried out by scientists. This article aims to initiate a study of these chronicles from cultural history and literacy studies, and some approaches of ecocriticism. The chronicles are part of a tradition of science popularisation assumed by the press, but they renew the genre by assuming a poetic language at the service of a desire to inform and awaken an ecological awareness in the reader. The insects, very present in its pages, appear as particularly effective vectors of this message, by summoning all the senses during the observation, and requestions the memory of childhood, of stories, while questioning the relationship between the human, societies and nature. Testimony of the rise of ecology in the 1970's and 1980', these chronicles invite to reflect on the form and the aims of texts about insects and nature that are published nowadays.
- Insectos en la literatura infantil y juvenil americana
Mélanges
- Hilar imágenes y palabras: Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz retratada por Elvira Gascón - Dina Comisarenco Mirkin The representations of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, created by the prominent visual artist Elvira Gascón, exemplify several of the rich relationships that exist between writing and painting. Born around three centuries apart, but united by the defense of women's rights to knowledge and artistic creation, the illustrations of Sor Juana's work and the portraits that Gascón made of the female poet denote the deep reading that the painter had of the writer. In the present paper, Gascón's works are interpreted from a gender perspective, highlighting her recognition of the importance of affects in Sor Juana's work.
- Narratives of migration, a reader of the foundations of identity - Rodrigo Pardo Fernández North America's migration (in the territory comprised between Mexico to the south and Canada to the north of the continent) is a living phenomenon that, beyond numbers, involves people and their circumstances. In this sense, different narrative expressions contribute to the understanding of this and other associated processes, through the construction of characters and the development of plots that reflect, from various perspectives, on identity. Beyond its facets and contradictions, identity is a set of choices that become relevant (emerge) in different social contexts. This work proposes a comparative analysis of different narrative proposals, within the framework of the migratory process and its parameters: vulnerability, adverse conditions at the origin, transit and destination, cultural clash, uprooting and assimilation, systemic violence, among others. In a review that ranges from testimonial novel to crime novel, through sequential art proposals, the aim is to reflect on how narratives recreate and question both migration in North America and its various social aspects, in terms of individuals and collectives.
- Las ceremonias del verano de Marta Traba: bajo el signo de la errancia - Néstor Ponce Le présent article se propose d'analyser le roman Las ceremonias del verano de Marta Traba, publié en 1966. L'auteure est connue pour son travail de recherche sur l'art latino-américain, mais encore moins pour son œuvre de fiction. Dans ce roman, qui se passe à Buenos Aires dans les années 1950, l'auteur recourt à l'humour et à l'ironie pour faire un portrait de la société argentine de l'époque. En ce sens, l'utilisation de ces ressources la rapproche de l'œuvre de Jorge Luis Borges, Adolfo Bioy Casares ou Julio Cortázar. Le concept d'errance est un instrument fondamental pour l'analyse, car il nous permet de dévoiler les contours d'une poétique à travers la thématique, le style et le caractère autobiographique du texte.This article analyzes the novel Las ceremonias del verano by Marta Traba, published in 1966. The author is known for her work as a researcher of Latin American art, but much less for her work of fiction. In this novel, set in Buenos Aires in the 1950s, the author uses humour and irony to paint a portrait of Argentine society at the time. In this sense, the use of these resources brings it closer to the work of Jorge Luis Borges, Adolfo Bioy Casares or Julio Cortázar. The concept of errance is a fundamental instrument for analysis, because it allows us to approach a poetics through the theme, style and autobiographical character of the text.
- Chaos, transculturation et hybridation dans la science-fiction des marges chez Chester Swann - José Riquelme Ortiz Chester Swann (1942-2012) était un musicien, caricaturiste, poète et écrivain paraguayen. Principalement connu pour être l'un des pionniers du rock au Paraguay dans les années 1970, il a publié ses nouvelles et romans au début du nouveau millénaire. Son œuvre principale de nouvelles est regroupée dans la collection intitulée Selección Indigesta de Histerias Breves, composée de quatre volumes : Cuentos para no dormir, Cuentos para no soñar, Cuentos para no despertar, et Cuentos inenarrables para psicóticos procaces e insaciables, écrits entre 1993 et 2000 et publiés en 2007 au format numérique sur son site web tetraskelion.org. Dans son œuvre, l'auteur reprend les codes de la science-fiction et les combine avec des éléments de la culture populaire paraguayenne et indigène, pour dénoncer l'aliénation humaine par la religion, le capitalisme et le nationalisme.Chester Swann (1942-2012) was a Paraguayan musician, cartoonist, poet and writer. Best known as one of the pioneers of rock music in Paraguay in the 1970s, he published his short stories and novels at the start of the new millennium. His main body of short fiction is contained in the collection Selección Indigesta de Histerias Breves, comprising four volumes: Cuentos para no dormir, Cuentos para no soñar, Cuentos para no despertar, and Cuentos inenarrables para psicóticos procaces e insaciables, written between 1993 and 2000 and published in 2007 in digital format on his website tetraskelion.org. In his work, the author takes up the codes of science fiction and combines them with elements of Paraguayan and indigenous popular culture, to denounce human alienation through religion, capitalism and nationalism.
- Un cuento redondo: un círculo virtuoso - Edith Silveira I propose to analyze the narrative procedures, intertextual connections, and the synthesis of Argentine literature as seen in "Arredondo, To Serve You" by Néstor Ponce. I believe this work enables a theoretical review of Argentine narrative and establishes a circular link with the theme of ubiquitous political violence, as well as the mise en abyme that exile represents. Through intertextuality, it challenges the gaping chasm in the way stories are told—by writing in a space divided by an unimaginable rupture—the text calls for a narrative of the impossible, resonating with a world of overlapping voices. It addresses horror while still connecting with the past and presenting a reality viewed from a place of exile, both peripheral and central to the language. This narrative evokes a world that synthesizes the best and worst of human experience, allowing us to appreciate the political work of literature.
- Balafon et marimba : deux patrimoines de l'humanité - Batjeni Kassoum Soro, Kouakou Laurent Lalekou Originaire d'Afrique, le balafon est connu sous diverses appellations selon la communauté détentrice ou l'aire de pratique : marimba, timbila, mendzang, djéguélé, yolon, etc. Il a émigré en Amérique latine à la faveur de la traite négrière, où il va acquérir une popularité inégalée. De toutes les variantes du xylophone, une seule parvient à s'imposer dans les Amériques : le marimba. Sur ce continent, plus qu'un simple instrument de musique, il devient un symbole d'identité, d'unité nationale et de fierté patriotique. Après la timbila des communautés chopi du Mozambique en 2008, le balafon des communautés sénoufo du Mali, du Burkina Faso et de Côte d'Ivoire en 2012, le marimba de la Colombie et de l'Équateur a été inscrit au patrimoine de l'humanité en 2015. L'objectif de ce travail est de montrer la place de l'élément au sein des communautés détentrices. Il s'appuie sur l'hypothèse du fort encrage socioculturel, voire identitaire de l'élément en Afrique comme dans les Amériques.Originating in Africa, the balafon is known by various names depending on the community that owns it or where it is played: marimba, timbila, mendzang, djéguélé, yolon, etc. It emigrated to Latin America during the slave trade, where it acquired unrivalled popularity. Of all the variants of the xylophone, only one succeeded in establishing itself in the Americas: the marimba. On this continent, more than just a musical instrument, it became a symbol of identity, national unity and patriotic pride. After the timbila of Mozambique's Chopi communities in 2008, and the balafon of the Sénoufo communities of Mali, Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire in 2012, the marimba of Colombia and Ecuador was declared Heritage of humanity in 2015. The aim of this work is to show the place of the element within the communities that own it. It is based on the hypothesis of the element's strong socio-cultural anchorage, and even identity, in Africa as in the Americas.
- Hilar imágenes y palabras: Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz retratada por Elvira Gascón - Dina Comisarenco Mirkin
Entretiens
- A Dialogue on Borges' Blindness: “Everything Near Becomes Far” - Ilan Stavans, Max Ubelaker Andrade
- A Dialogue on Borges' Blindness: “Everything Near Becomes Far” - Ilan Stavans, Max Ubelaker Andrade
Opinions/Varia
- Écologie occidentale et cosmovision andine - Claude Bourguignon Rougier Adoptant une démarche interculturelle, Alfredo Gomez-Muller nous invite à mieux comprendre les notions andines de Buen Vivir et de Pachamama qu'il met en regard de notre approche écologique occidentale. Il articule ces concepts indigènes comme les deux faces d'une relation respectueuse entre humain, non-humain et cosmos, à l'opposé de l'hubris de la démesure qui menace aujourd'hui la vie sous toutes ses formes.Retraçant certains moments de l'idée de nature et d'écologie dans notre histoire occidentale, l'auteur remonte à l'ethos qui anima la réflexion d'un romantique comme Thoreau au XIXe siècle, et s'intéresse à l'un des versants les plus radicaux de la pensée écologique contemporaine : l'écologie profonde du Norvégien Arne Naess, qui refusait la marchandisation de la « nature » et la réduction de la Vie Bonne à une vie confortable.Pachamama et Buen Vivir sont présentés dans leur lien à l'utopie andine, ce projet indigène de justice sociale inspiré de l'ancien empire inca et né dans la résistance à la domination espagnole. Nous pourrions y voir la manifestation d'une modernité latino-américaine alternative, dans laquelle les réalisations heureuses du passé sont repensées, devenant des réponses aux questionnements cruciaux du présent.Taking an intercultural approach, Alfredo Gomez-Muller invites us to gain a better understanding of the Andean notions of Buen Vivir and Pachamama, which he contrasts with our Western ecological approach. He articulates Buen Vivir and Pachamama as the two sides of a respectful relationship between humans, non-humans and the cosmos, as opposed to the hubris of excess that today threatens life in all its forms .Tracing certain moments in the history of the idea of nature and ecology in the West, the author goes back to the ethos that animated the thinking of a 19th-century Romantic like Thoreau, and notes one of the most radical versions of contemporary ecological thought : that of Arne Naess, who rejected the commodification of nature and the reduction of the good life to a comfortable life.Pachamama and Buen Vivir are shown in their connection with Andean utopia, an indigenous project for social justice inspired by the ancient Inca empire and born in resistance to Spanish domination. We might see this as the manifestation of an alternative Latin American modernity, in which the happy achievements of the past can be rethought as answers to the crucial questions of the present.
- El Noir casero: tres sospechosos bien conocidos - Gabriel Trujillo Muñoz
- O escaravelho do diabo : o livro dos mortos para ler a vida - Ana Beatriz Demarchi Barel O Escaravelho do Diabo (The Devil's Beetle), by Lúcia Machado de Almeida, was published in chapters in the magazine Cruzeiro in 1956, reissued in 1974, in book form, reaching twenty-six editions, and adapted to the cinema in 2016, due to its enormous success. In the story, Alberto is confronted with several murders, the first of which is that of his brother, Hugo. Over time, he and Inspector Pimentel discover that the killer chooses people with red hair and sends them a beetle whose scientific name reveals the way in which the victim will be killed. The case ends with the death of the last redhead in the small village, as well as one of the suspects, the Swiss Jean Graz, a French teacher. The case is closed due to lack of evidence and, years later, during a trip to Europe, Alberto discovers by chance the identity of the killer and his motivations. The author's choice of the insect allows several messages to be developed in the text, linked to the symbolic value of the scarab in Western culture, particularly in ancient Egypt. Through the symbolism of the insect, the book offers a humanist interpretation of life and the exercise of empathy.
- Écologie occidentale et cosmovision andine - Claude Bourguignon Rougier
Comptes-rendus
- Multisensory Symphony: Report of Néstor Ponce's Boy says (Vos es) - Keni Li
- La Russie en 1931. Réflexions au pied du Kremlin, César Vallejo - Luis Martínez Andrade
- Saúl Sosnowski, Estación del encuentro - Néstor Ponce
- Gabriel Trujillo Muñoz, Zarabanda, el reino de las nubes - Anaïs Fabriol
- Postérités de l'œuvre de Roberto Bolaño, collectif, sous la direction de Florence Olivier - Anaïs Fabriol
- L'Écriture de la migration, collectif, sous la direction de R. Abouddahab et S. Brownlie - Anaïs Fabriol
- Multisensory Symphony: Report of Néstor Ponce's Boy says (Vos es) - Keni Li