7/27/2019 15.Caballero

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/15caballero 1/3

Access Provided by University of Michigan @ Ann Arbor at 01/02/13 6:11AM GMT

7/27/2019 15.Caballero

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/15caballero 2/3

 Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies  215

(1930)ademásdeunavariedaddeensayoscrí-ticosdelaépocasobreeltemadelaexpresióncorporalylaculturavisualmoderna.Enelcuarto—quizáselmásambiciosoyoriginal—seinteresaporlapresenciadelooníricoenobrascomoelcuento“Parálisis”deJaimeorresBo-det(1928)yres mujeres más Equis (1930)deFelipeXiménezdeSandoval.Elúltimocapítulotieneunadoblefunción.Porunlado,ocuparsedelacrisisexistencialdelospersonajescuandotienenlasensacióndesermerasaparienciasespectralesenlasgurasmudasdeluzysom-bradelapantalla.Porotrolado,planteauna

polémicabrevedeloquenombra“lanuevamiradamasculinacondicionadaporlosplaceresvisuales—escopofílicos—aprendidosenelcine”(15).EsaquídondeNanclaresretomaaChacelcuandocontrastasucuento“ChininaMigone”(1928)conlanovela Margarita de niebla (1927)deJaimeorresBodet.Enlaconclusiónanalizadostextos—Novela como nube (1928)deGil-bertoOwenyEl marido, la mujer a la sombra (1927)comoejemplosdecómomaniestansu

opiniónsobrelaimposibilidaddecombinarloslenguajescinematográcoynovelescoquellegóaladefuncióndelgénero.

Otroscríticosliterarios (másnotable-menteC.B.Morris,RománGubern,AlfonsoPuyalyJoséManueldelPino)yahanescritosobreelimpactodelcineenlanarrativavan-guardista,peronohanllegadonuncaatomarestaposiciónprovocadora.Nohanllegadotanlejoscomoparadecirquelanoveladevanguar-diaadquiriósuformaespecícacomoresultado

delprocesodeincorporacióndelanuevaesté-ticadelcinematógrafoalaviejaestéticadelanovela.Estelibroesimportanteporque,másalládeserunmeroestudiotemáticoohistóricodelcineenlaliteratura,entraenprofundidadencuestioneslosócasyestéticasquesondeunenormeinterésparaelcríticopreocupadoporcuestionesdeintermedialidadenlaépocadelaculturademasas.

Susan LarsonUniversity of Kentucky 

=================================================

 New World Gold: Cultural Anxiety and Monetary Disorder in Early ModernSpainUniversity of Chicago Press, 2010By Elvira Vilches

Howdoesonewinamultimillion-dollarlotteryandstillendupbroke?Tisistheco-nundrumthatEarlyModernSpaniardswereconfronting:howwasitpossiblethatafterdiscoveringtheNewWorldandliterallyreceiv-ingboatloadsfullofgold,silver,andpreciousstones,Spain’seconomyhadcollapsed?

Inherbook,New World Gold: Cultural  Anxiety and Monetary Disorder in Early ModernSpain,ElviraVilchesdelvesintotheintricate worldofnanceandcreditofEarlyModernSpainandshowshowmostSpaniardsofthe XVIandXVIIcenturies,usingscholasticandmercantilisticlinesofthought,judgedtheeco-nomiccollapseoftheireratospiritualmalaiseandtothemismanagementofgoldandsilverbroughttothePeninsulafromtheAmericas.

ElviraVilches’suseofawidescopeof writings—which include economic treatises,letters, chronicles, and literaryworks—andauthors—suchasChristopherColumbus,GonzaloFernándezdeOviedo,LuisSaraviadelaCalle,DiegodeCovarrubias,omásdeMercado,LopedeVega,MigueldeCervantes,andMateoAlemán—allowshertocreateacomprehensiveportrayalofthenancialconcernsofEarlyModernSpainandoftheNewWorldduringtheeraofdiscoveryandearlycoloniza-

tion.TewritingofthiserareectsthedistresscausedbythediresituationofSpainanditsinhabitants’frustrationatfailingtounderstand whytheincreaseinrichesnegativelyaectedtheeconomy.Byexploringanarrayofwritings,ElviraVilchesnotonlyexplainsthetheoriesdevelopedtocomprehendandpotentiallysolvethecrisis,butalsoshowshowdicultitwasforthepeopleofthateratograspthecomplexitiesofcredit,theabstractionofmoney,ination,andthedevalua-

tionofpreciousmetals.TisapproachdoesnotconvergeintoasinglenarrativethatexplainstheeconomicdemiseofSpain—itisnotVilches’sobjectivetocreateatheoryexplainingwhyit

7/27/2019 15.Caballero

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/15caballero 3/3

216  Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies 

occurred—rather,itprovidesuswiththemultiplenarrativesoftheera,thusforcingreaderstoreectuponSpain’seconomiccircumstancestoreachtheirownconclusion.

 Amongst themostimportant ideasthatsurface constantly throughout thebookis thedistresscausedinthepopulationbytheshiftfromconcretemoneytoabstractmoney.UnderthemonetarysystemofMedievalSpain,acoin’s worthwasbaseduponthequantityandqualityofthemetalitcontained.Tesealofthekingdidnotaddvaluetothecoin,itjustcertiedthatit wasnotanadulteratedcoin.However,thissystem

 wasbasedontheideathatgoldhadanintrinsic,unalienable,andstableworth.Becausethevalueofgoldwasperceivedasimmutable,aninuxofitshouldnotaectitsvalueatall.Infact,accord-ingtothemercantilisticwritingsoftheera,themoregoldacquired,thebetterotheywouldbe.However,thisviewwaschallengedbythearrivalofrichesfromtheNewWorldthatdepreciatedthevalueofgoldandbythemonarchy’sdecisiontoincreasetheworthofthecurrencyintheNew

 WorldbutnotinSpain;thishadtheunintendedconsequenceofcreatinggreatermonetaryconfu-sionandeconomicdisincentives.AsinationsoaredthroughthePeninsulaandtheNewWorld,Spaniardsfoundthatthepurchasingvalueoftheircoinshaddiminished,yettheuctuationofgold’svaluewasinconceivableforEarlyModernSpaniards;mercantilistscametotheconclusionthattosavetheeconomy,thegoldhadtobekeptwithinSpainandpushedtostopexportingrawmaterialstoforeignnationsinexchangefor

manufacturedgoods.Teyblamedthepeoplefornotbeingfrugalandforspendingtheirmoneyintries.Tisbeliefpersisted,thoughVilchesdoespointoutthatscholars at the School ofSalamancahadguredoutthatpreciousmetalsdidnothaveintrinsicvalue,andhadaskedthegovernmenttomonitorthenewcreditindustryandmoneymarket.

ElviraVilchesprovidesuswiththemultipleperspectivesabouttheeconomiccrisisofEarly

ModernSpain,coveringtheeectthatgoldandSpain’snancialsystemhadonbothsidesofthe Atlantic.ShepresentsnumerousworksoftheerathatsuggestthatSpain’seconomiccrisisderived

fromthegreedinessofindividualsspurredbytheirexpectednewwealthfromtheNewWorld, whichmotivated them to over-consume andobtaindebt-nancedpurchases.Tisdebt-fueledconsumptionwasmadeeveneasierbytheriseofnewmethodsofcreditlargelyderivedfromunregulated,foreignsources.Amidstthispre-ponderanceofthoughttherewereothers,likethescholarsfromtheSchoolofSalamanca,thatconjecturedthattheuidityofmoneywasamajorcontributortotheeconomiccrisis.

TisexcellentanalysisofEarlyModernSpanishperspectivesontheeconomiccrisisof

theirtimeisbroadbothgeographically,bycov-eringissuesraisedbothinSpainandtheNew World,andacademically,bypresentingtheargu-mentsofmainstreamvoicesandminorityschol-ars.Teireortsto frameandunderstandthenancialfailuresoftheirtimemirrorourcurrentstruggleaswe,justasthey,searchforanarrativethatexplainsthenancialfailuresofours,makingNew World Gold atimelyandcompellingread.

 Judith G. Caballero Millsaps College 

=================================================

 Errant Modernism: Te Ethos of Photography in Mexico and Brazil Duke University Press, 2008By Esther Gabara 

Te inventory started in 1839 and since then just about everything has been photographed . . . Tis insatia-bility of the photographing eye changes the terms of connement in [Plato’s] cave, our world. In teaching us a new visual code, photographs alter and enlarge our notions of what is worthlooking at and what we have a right to

observe. Tey are a grammar and, evenmore importantly, an ethics of seeing.(Sontag,On Photography  3.New York:DellPublishing,1977)