JANET PÉREZ is Associate Dean of the Graduate School and Paul Whitfield Horn Professor of Spanish at Texas Tech University. She is the author, editor, or coeditor of numerous books, including the Dictionary of Literature of the Iberian Peninsula (Greenwood, 1993), and her articles have appeared in such journals as Romance Notes, Studies in Short Fiction, and Kentucky Romance Quarterly.
MAUREEN IHRIE is Professor of Spanish at Elon College. Her publications have appeared in numerous journals, and she is the coeditor of Dictionary of Literature of the Iberian Peninsula (Greenwood, 1993).
Gr 10 Up-The approach of this companion to The Feminist Encyclopedia of French Literature (Greenwood, 1999) and others is to offer a context for understanding Spanish women's writing by including topics from history, philosophy, religion, and sociology. As the preface states, the intention is to "-present the cultural background against which Spanish women writers have produced their works, the climate in which they were formed, and- against which they react-." The alphabetically arranged, authoritative entries include authors (both male and female); Spanish rulers; events; individual works; and topics such as drama, poetry, and lesbianism. The literature covered was written in Castilian Spanish (not Galician, Catalan, or Basque) and selected for its relevance to women's studies. Portrayal of female characters, discussions of themes, and the significance of women in the authors' lives are given consideration, but biographical detail is minimal. Each article is accompanied by a bibliography; author entries include works written by and about the subject. An appendix provides a chronological listing of subjects. There is also a selected bibliography and a detailed index. This set will be accessible to advanced high school students with some familiarity with Spanish literature and history. Note that the definition of "feminist" for this volume is different from those that may consider only writing and analysis exclusively by women.-Tina Cohen, Deerfield Academy, MA Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
The fourth installment in Greenwood's "Feminist Encyclopedia" series, this two-volume set follows the same format as the previous one-volume titles (French [1999], German [1997], and Italian [1997]). Editors Perez and Ihrie, who have previously collaborated on the Dictionary of Literature of the Iberian Peninsula, and their contributors (primarily U.S. scholars) have done a commendable job of covering a huge amount of material on Spanish literature from the perspective of women's studies. Unlike many other reference materials on Spanish women writers, this one is not solely biographical. It also includes numerous thematic essays and entries discussing genres, significant characters and character types, and time periods (Medieval through late 20th century). For the most part, the 350 entries discuss issues of interest to feminist scholars and focus on the literature in Castilian, though contemporary literature in Basque, Catalan, and Galician is also covered. Although not required, some knowledge of Spanish literature is useful in understanding their content. The encyclopedia includes such useful features as secondary bibliographies, an appendix of authors grouped chronologically by century, and a list of contributors. The index and cross references, on the other hand, are somewhat problematic because of a lack of consistency. Saint Teresa of Avila, for example, has no cross reference in the body of the encyclopedia under either "Teresa" or "Avila" to the actual essay about her: "Teresa de Jesus, Santa." While there is a cross reference in the index to the correct name, the entry "Autobiographical Self-Representation of Women in the Early Modern Period," which discusses St. Teresa's writings in detail, includes an internal cross reference to Teresa of Avila. These editorial discrepancies aside, the work contains useful and unique information for women's studies and comparative literature collections in all academic libraries.-Cynthia A. Johnson, Pratt Inst. Lib., Brooklyn, NY Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
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