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Cultural Capital, Language and National Identity in Imperial Spain by Lucia Binotti (review)

political action as individuals and collectivities engage in the assignment of blame as well as the construction of greater security” (191). Chapter two, entitled “Drought and Literary Construction of Risk in Northeastern Brazil,” studies how drought can be defined as a disaster of national significance and consequently how, as a result, Northeastern Brazil embodies what the author Antonio Callado calls a “traditional Brazilian calamity” (24). However, the author argues that things become more complex when literary tropes and themes cannot be traced to a single source (either Trujillo or Brazilian intellectuals interpreting drought from outside the affected region), and “competing representations of disaster vie for discursive legitimacy” (25). Such is the case in chapter three, “Volcanic Identities: Explosive Nationalism and the Disastered Subject in Central American Literature.” Here, the focus is how volcanic activity has contributed to the construction of Central American identity. What distinguishes this analysis from that of the first two chapters is that this progressive expression of identity springs from different voices. In other words, Central American identity, and particularly Nicaraguan identity, can be traced to authors such as Rubén Darío, Luis de Lión, Claribel Alegría, Roque Dalton, and José Coronel Urtecho, among others. By disastered subject the author is referring to individuals living under repressive regimes who are at the same time experiencing the trauma of volcanic disaster. The final chapter, “Fault Lines: Mexico’s 1985 Earthquake and the Politics of Narration,” examines how, instead of serving the regime, disaster can on the contrary take legitimacy away from the ruling powers, and give the discourse to either popular or literary interpretations of the events. The author argues that Mexico’s ruling PRI lost control of its interpretation of the disaster and that the effects of the earthquake contributed to the collapse of the governmental edifice. This book is a valuable source for scholars, professors, and students. Scholars will find in it a wealth of information on the politicization of disaster and the role that textual representations play in Latin America. Moreover, it is a valuable contribution not only to ecocritical studies, but to Latin American studies as well, and an excellent approach to a survey course on Latin American literature, history, or civilization.