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Article
Transatlantic Fuentes: Between ‘The Two Shores’ of Pluriculturality and Glossocentrism
Modern Languages & Literature
  • Alberto Ribas-Casasayas, Santa Clara University
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2011
Publisher
University of California Press
Abstract

The cultural program that Jerónimo de Aguilar pronounces at the end of Carlos Fuentes's short story “The Two Shores” appears to be inconsistent with the fundamentals of democratic liberalism and multiculturalism upon which they are ostensibly based. Furthermore, cultural visions like those in “The Two Shores” lend signifying imagery and empower cultural institutions, the media, and political authorities to exert symbolic violence upon minorities, thereby negating the multiculturalism that such visions claim to be promoting. El programa cultural que Jerónimo de Aguilar pronuncia al final del cuento “Las dos orillas” de Carlos Fuentes parece inconsistente con los fundamentos del liberalismo democrático y multiculturalismo en los que aparentemente se basa. Es más, visiones culturales como las de “Las dos orillas” rinden imágenes y poder de significación a instituciones culturales, medios de comunicación y figuras políticas, capacitándolos para ejercer violencia simbólica sobre las minorías, negando así el multiculturalismo que tales visiones afirman promover.

Citation Information
Transatlantic Fuentes: Between “The Two Shores” of Multiculturalism and Glossocentrism Alberto Ribas Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos , Vol. 27, No. 1 (Winter 2011), pp. 143-175 Published by: University of California Press on behalf of the University of California Institute for Mexico and the United States and the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Article DOI: 10.1525/msem.2011.27.1.143 Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/msem.2011.27.1.143