An absorbing look at the mythical Wild Man in Western culture

Wild Men in the Looking Glass: The Mythic Origins of European Otherness

Bartra, Roger

Arts & Photography

Univ of Michigan Pr

Despite melancholy’s long tenure in European history, little attention has been paid to the subject of melancholy during the Spanish Golden Age, in spite of its enormous importance to Spanish thinking and culture. This volume demonstrates that the melancholy that prevailed in this historical period is an indispensable link in a chain which may help us to further understand the appearance of sadness and malcontent in Europe at the dawn of modernity. Staring with an exploration of Libro de la melancholia, the first book on melancholy written in vernacular Spanish, Melancholy and Culture goes on to examine the condition in works by Cervantes and Velásquez in order to suggest that culture is not an antidote for the melancholic, and, rather, that the culture is melancholy, and melancholy is culture.

Melancholy and Culture: Diseases of the Soul in Golden Age Spain (Iberian and Latin American Studies)

Literature & Fiction

History & Criticism

University of Wales Press

Until the year 2000, when Vicente Fox of the National Action Party won the presidential election, Mexico was ruled by one of the most enduring autocratic regimes of the twentieth century, the Institutional Revolutionary Party. Here Roger Bartra chronicles the key moments that led to the Mexican transition to democracy and reflects on the different aspects of civic culture, the political process, and electoral struggles that played a role in that journey. Bartra also explores the setbacks that have plagued the nation since Fox’s election, including the war on drug trafficking, and offers some insightful conclusions about Mexico’s political future.

The Mexican Transition: Politics, Culture, and Democracy in the Twenty-First Century (Iberian and Latin American Studies)

History

Americas

"A fascinating book . . . Bartra's argument is concise and elegant in form, one that rearticulates ideas in a persuasive inquiry. His point of view is, certainly, that of an intellectual from the Third WorldÐÐrefreshing and appealing."ÐÐJulio Ortega, Brown University"An uncommonly imaginative set of essays on the mediationsÐÐespecially the imaginary symbols and deflectionsÐÐthat breathe life and legitimacy into contemporary systems of political domination."ÐÐSteve  J. Stern, University of WisconsinIn this collection of essays, Roger Bartra, a prominent Mexican scholar, offers his own view of the expansion of the power of the modern state in both capitalist and socialist societies. Not accepting the traditional borderlines that separate art and literature from science and politics,  Bartra playfully moves from one topic to what at first appears to be a startlingly different topic, and discovers links between different aspects of modern culture.     In each essay, Bartra argues that there are groups of institutions, social relationships, and ideas that function as imaginary networks to suppress class conflict and to give unity and stability to society. The mediating networks are partly in the institutional solidity of the State and partly in the imagination. The networks allow class conflicts to seem to cancel each other out, but are not real substitutes for class struggles. Bartra uses the metaphor of bridges to make his point. The mediating networks build bridges between the State and social classes. These bridges eventually cancel out the different banks they unite, and actually conceal the chasms, or contraditions and differences, between the banks. The bridges legitimize capitalist domination.   The chapters are illustrated by drawings which, as a metaphorical joke, relate Bartra's argument to the Apocalypse and to the Tarot. In his conclusion, Bartra discovers that his preceding essays about pessimism, disillusionment, and the crisis of legitimacy now have a more fashionable nameÐÐpostmodernism. This book fits into the new wave of postmodernist studies, in an unusually broad and imaginative manner.Roger Bartra is an anthropologist and sociologist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and the editor of La Jornada Semanal, a literary magazine.225 pp. 22 black-and-white illustrations. Cloth, $37.00ss, 0-8135-1741-9;  Paper, $15.00s, 0-8135-1742-7. May."A fascinating book . . . Bartra's argument is concise and elegant in form, one that rearticulates ideas in a persuasive inquiry. His point of view is, certainly, that of an intellectual from the Third WorldÐÐrefreshing and appealing."ÐÐJulio Ortega, Brown University"An uncommonly imaginative set of essays on the mediationsÐÐespecially the imaginary symbols and deflectionsÐÐthat breathe life and legitimacy into contemporary systems of political domination."ÐÐSteve  J. Stern, University of WisconsinIn this collection of essays, Roger Bartra, a prominent Mexican scholar, offers his own view of the expansion of the power of the modern state in both capitalist and socialist societies. Not accepting the traditional borderlines that separate art and literature from science and politics,  Bartra playfully moves from one topic to what at first appears to be a startlingly different topic, and discovers links between different aspects of modern culture.     In each essay, Bartra argues that there are groups of institutions, social relationships, and ideas that function as imaginary networks to suppress class conflict and to give unity and stability to society. The mediating networks are partly in the institutional solidity of the State and partly in the imagination. The networks allow class conflicts to seem to cancel each other out, but are not real substitutes for class struggles. Bartra uses the metaphor of bridges to make his point. The mediating networks build bridges between the State and social classes. These bridges eventually cancel out the different banks they unite, and actually conceal the chasms, or contraditions and differences, between the banks. The bridges legitimize capitalist domination.   The chapters are illustrated by drawings which, as a metaphorical joke, relate Bartra's argument to the Apocalypse and to the Tarot. In his conclusion, Bartra discovers that his preceding essays about pessimism, disillusionment, and the crisis of legitimacy now have a more fashionable nameÐÐpostmodernism. This book fits into the new wave of postmodernist studies, in an unusually broad and imaginative manner.Roger Bartra is an anthropologist and sociologist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and the editor of La Jornada Semanal, a literary magazine.225 pp. 22 black-and-white illustrations. Cloth, $37.00ss, 0-8135-1741-9;  Paper, $15.00s, 0-8135-1742-7. May."A fascinating book . . . Bartra's argument is concise and elegant in form, one that rearticulates ideas in a persuasive inquiry. His point of view is, certainly, that of an intellectual from the Third WorldÐÐrefreshing and appealing."ÐÐJulio Ortega, Brown University"An uncommonly imaginative set of essays on the mediationsÐÐespecially the imaginary symbols and deflectionsÐÐthat breathe life and legitimacy into contemporary systems of political domination."ÐÐSteve  J. Stern, University of WisconsinIn this collection of essays, Roger Bartra, a prominent Mexican scholar, offers his own view of the expansion of the power of the modern state in both capitalist and socialist societies. Not accepting the traditional borderlines that separate art and literature from science and politics,  Bartra playfully moves from one topic to what at first appears to be a startlingly different topic, and discovers links between different aspects of modern culture.     In each essay, Bartra argues that there are groups of institutions, social relationships, and ideas that function as imaginary networks to suppress class conflict and to give unity and stability to society. The mediating networks are partly in the institutional solidity of the State and partly in the imagination. The networks allow class conflicts to seem to cancel each other out, but are not real substitutes for class struggles. Bartra uses the metaphor of bridges to make his point. The mediating networks build bridges between the State and social classes. These bridges eventually cancel out the different banks they unite, and actually conceal the chasms, or contraditions and differences, between the banks. The bridges legitimize capitalist domination.   The c

Imaginary Networks Of Power

Rutgers University Press

"A wonderful and timely book. . . . Bartra brilliantly dissects the idea of 'being Mexican' upheld and imposed by the dominant forces in Mexico. But by extension, he asks readers everywhere if they recognize themselves in the national character proposed by the political elites of the U.S., France, U.S.S.R., or Nigeria. Bartra invites us all to step out of self-consciousness, take a good look at the metaphysics of 'national character' and then decide if they are true to you or to me. . . . A more relevant cultural exercise can not be proposed at this time."ÐÐCarlos FuentesIn The Cage of Melancholy, Roger Bartra explores the myth of the Mexican national character, and how this myth has been used to legitimize the exploitative modern national state. Between the time of the European Conquest and the Mexican Revolution, the Mexican was viewed as a peasant who was timid, childlike, resigned, lazy, and indifferent to death. This image was modified by industrialization. The peasant became a worker who was violent, sentimental, resentful, evasive, and betrayed by modernity. In both incarnations, the Mexican is stereotyped as melancholy, as are the members of the intellectual elite who construct this image. (Bartra links this notion of melancholy with European, Romantic ideas.) As Bartra shows how the myth was constructed and why, he skillfully weaves an extraordinary comparison with an axolotl. An axolotl is an actual larva-like aquatic amphibian, swimming in the waters of Mexico, which never metamorphosizes into a salamander, as expected, and which is misunderstood by both Europeans and Mexicans as they subject it to constant scrutiny. For Bartra, the axolotl is the Mexican, always on the brink of change, always misunderstood, always melancholic. The axolotl is a mirror of the Mexican national culture. To explain the ways that the myth of the typical Mexican serves political purposes, Bartra tells us about relajo, the slackening of norms that causes disorder. Mexicans advocate relajo as a strategy of self-defense as they try to disorder the mechanisms of domination. But when relajo is institutionalized into the myth of the national spirit, it functions as a diversion that deflects protests, thus ensuring the domination of the modern state. Moreover, those who question the state are accused of renouncing the national culture. Bartra argues that "Mexicans must get rid of this imagery which oppresses our consciences and fortifies the despotic domination of the so-called Mexican Revolutionary state." Drawing from the fields of history, literature, popular culture, psychoanalysis, evolution, and biology, he challenges us to look at problems in new ways.Roger Bartra is an anthropologist and sociologist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and the editor of La Jornada Semanal, a literary magazine.200 pp. 11 black-and-white illustrations. Cloth, $38.00ss

The Cage Of Melancholy: Identity and Metamorphosis in the Mexican Culture

Blood, Ink, and Culture: Miseries and Splendors of the Post-Mexican Condition

Pens and swords, words and blows: for Roger Bartra, the culture of ink and the culture of blood offer two contrasting approaches to the political transformations of our time. In this compilation of essays, Bartra thinks through these transformations by tracing the complex interplay between popular culture, nationalist ideology, civil society, and the state in contemporary Mexico. Written with verve over a period of twenty years, these essays—most translated into English here for the first time—suggest why Bartra has become one of Latin America’s leading public intellectuals. The essays cover a broad range of topics, from the canonical forms of Mexican culture to the meaning of postnational identity in a globalizing age, from the repercussions of the 1994 Zapatista uprising to the 2000 election of Vicente Fox and the end of the PRI’s seven-decade rule. Across this range of topics, Bartra imparts astute insights into a critical period of transition in Mexican history, stressing throughout the importance of democracy, the complexity of identity, and the vibrancy of the Left. In Blood, Ink, and Culture, he provides a stimulating inside look at political and intellectual life in the southern reaches of North America.

Duke University Press Books

Pens and swords, words and blows: for Roger Bartra, the culture of ink and the culture of blood offer two contrasting approaches to the political transformations of our time. In this compilation of essays, Bartra thinks through these transformations by tracing the complex interplay between popular culture, nationalist ideology, civil society, and the state in contemporary Mexico. 
Written with verve over a period of twenty years, these essays—most translated into English here for the first time—suggest why Bartra has become one of Latin America’s leading public intellectuals. The essays cover a broad range of topics, from the canonical forms of Mexican culture to the meaning of postnational identity in a globalizing age, from the repercussions of the 1994 Zapatista uprising to the 2000 election of Vicente Fox and the end of the PRI’s seven-decade rule. Across this range of topics, Bartra imparts astute insights into a critical period of transition in Mexican history, stressing throughout the importance of democracy, the complexity of identity, and the vibrancy of the Left. In Blood, Ink, and Culture, he provides a stimulating inside look at political and intellectual life in the southern reaches of North America.

Anthropology of the Brain: Consciousness, Culture, and Free Will

In this unique exploration of the mysteries of the human brain, Roger Bartra shows that consciousness is a phenomenon that occurs not only in the mind but also in an external network, a symbolic system. He argues that the symbolic systems created by humans in art, language, in cooking or in dress, are the key to understanding human consciousness. Placing culture at the centre of his analysis, Bartra brings together findings from anthropology and cognitive science and offers an original vision of the continuity between the brain and its symbolic environment. The book is essential reading for neurologists, cognitive scientists and anthropologists alike.

Politics & Social Sciences

Anthropology

Cambridge University Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Bartra, Roger. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Bartra, Roger

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Bartra, Roger. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Wild Men in the Looking Glass: The Mythic Origins of European Otherness

Melancholy and Culture: Diseases of the Soul in Golden Age Spain (Iberian and Latin American Studies)

The Mexican Transition: Politics, Culture, and Democracy in the Twenty-First Century (Iberian and Latin American Studies)

Imaginary Networks Of Power

Imaginary Networks Of Power

The Cage Of Melancholy: Identity and Metamorphosis in the Mexican Culture

Blood, Ink, and Culture: Miseries and Splendors of the Post-Mexican Condition

Blood, Ink, and Culture: Miseries and Splendors of the Post-Mexican Condition

Anthropology of the Brain: Consciousness, Culture, and Free Will

Anthropology of the Brain: Consciousness, Culture, and Free Will