Bandit Narratives in Latin America : From Villa to Chávez.

Intro -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Preamble: Porfirio Díaz's Paradox -- Introduction -- Part I. Banditry, Self-Fashioning, and the Quest for Legitimacy -- 1. Speculum Latronis: On Villa's Retrato autobiográfico -- 2. Hugo Chávez, Maisanta, and the Construction of an Insurgent Lineage -- Part II. Banditry and the Epic of the Nation -- 3. The Burning Plains: On Las lanzas coloradas -- 4. "Bodies for the Gallows": On ¡Vámonos con Pancho Villa! -- 5. The Andean Western: On Cuentos andinos -- 6. Borges and the Melancholic Cultor del Coraje -- Part III. Banditry and the Latin American Left -- 7. Dangerous Illusions and Shining Utopias: On Seara Vermelha -- 8. The Heart of Darkness: On José Revueltas -- Part IV. Banditry and the Dilemmas of Literature -- 9. Borges and Moreira: Inglorious Bastards -- 10. Language, the Devil, and the (Out)law: On Grande Sertão: Veredas -- 11. An Abundance of Hats and a Scarcity of Heads: On La guerra del fin del mundo -- 12. Banditry, Neoliberalism, and the Dilemmas of Literature: On Plata quemada -- 13. What Is a Bandit? -- Notes -- Works Cited -- Index.

Dabove shows how the bandit trope was used in fictional and non-fictional narratives by writers and political leaders, from the Mexican Revolution to the present. By examining cases from Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela, from Pancho Villa's autobiography to Hugo Chavez's appropriation of his "outlaw" grandfather, Dabove reveals how bandits function as a symbol to expose the dilemmas or aspirations of cultural and political practices, including literature as a social practice and as an ethical experience.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2024. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.