Rafael Pinedo’s Trilogy: Dystopian Visions and Populist Thought in Argentina’s Turn-of-the-century Narrative

The three short novels written by Rafael Pinedo (Argentina, 1954–2006) before his untimely death are increasingly attracting the attention of academic researchers, not only because of their complexity but also because of their take on Argentine politics and ideology. The following article analyzes how these novels operate within what Tom Moylan defined as a critical dystopian narrative. By narrating each story as a future world in agony, where all social interactions are described with a militant pessimism, the novels envisage the consequences of the populist’s policies grip on the country’s social and cultural environment. I argue that Plop (Casa de las Américas Prize 2002), Frío (Finalist for the 2004 Planeta Prize), and Subte can be read as a trilogy since they propose a radical thought experiment about the limits of the social and cultural practices of populist policies, as well as a mise-en-scène of its hijacking and betrayal of utopian values. The article also underlines how, despite its pessimistic tone, the novels offer a glimmer of hope by returning to basic concepts of community and empathy.     

Permian brachiopods from the Tupe Formation,San Juan Province,Precordillera, Argentina

The brachiopod fauna from the Tupe Formation at La Herradura Creek, located on the west flank of Perico Hill, San Juan Province, Argentina, palaeogeographically belongs to the western sector of the Paganzo basin (‘Guandacol embayment’). The stratigraphical section of the Tupe Formation at La Herradura Creek is the stratotype of the Tivertonia jachalensis-Streptorhynchus inaequiornatus biozone, was previously regarded as being of Late Carboniferous age but here is assigned to the earliest Permian (Asselian). We describe and review the biozone assemblage, which consists of Streptorhynchus inaequiornatus, Tivertonia jachalensis, Kochiproductus sp., Costatumulus sp., Coronalosia argentinensis, Tupelosia paganzoensis, Trigonotreta pericoensis, Septosyringothyris sp. aff. Septosyringothyris jaguelensis and Crurithyris? sp. This brachiopod assemblage is related to Indian and Australian Early Permian faunas and its presence in the La Herradura Creek section provides new evidence in support of an Asselian (Early Permian) age for the Tivertonia jachalensis-Streptorhynchus inaequiornatus biozone. This assemblage is also important for intra- and inter-basinal correlation because several of its characteristic species have been identified from other sections of the Paganzo basin and the Río Blanco basin. The proposed age for this biozone is consistent with the age of palynological data from slightly above the marine faunas from the stratotype locality.     

Indigenous bodies,indigenous minds? Towards an understanding of indigeneity in the Ecuadorian Amazon

This article explores how perceptions about bodies and interpersonal exchanges contribute to the production of indigenous subjectivities in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Drawing on feminist methodologies and experiences with Cofán, Quichua and Secoya peoples in the province of Sucumbíos, I reflect on how bodies and their ‘grammar’ can become analytical spaces through which to understand indigeneity. Specifically, I look at the body as object and subject of imaginaries of difference with the goal to examine how moments and interactions through which people commonly identify as ‘indigenous’ construct, contest and/or maintain indigenous subjectivities. I conclude with a discussion on the possibilities of thinking about and with bodies to further a post-colonial questioning of indigeneity.     

Introduction: cultural policies in Ibero-America at the beginning of the XXI century

ABSTRACT

This editorial introduction presents the aims and contents of a special issue devoted to cultural policies in Ibero-America. The issue provides a wide-ranging overview about the subject. In addition to papers focused on the development of cultural policy in specific countries, it also includes articles analyzing particular cultural policies in a transnational perspective, paying attention to their multiple programmatic transferences. It also includes articles centred on the development of cultural diplomacy and institutional networks within this area. In this way, it intends to highlight the commonalities among countries and the relations between them, so offering a new and deeper vision of the development of cultural policies in the Ibero American region. In this introduction we offer some theoretical keys for analyzing this development, in particular the notion of family of nations proposed by Castle (1993) and we evaluate its applicability to the case and beyond.     

How to get a 2,000% profit from selling an object

Most readers will be aware of past and present issues surrounding the illicit traffic in antiquities. There are already a number of generic books available on the subject.1 See, for example, , Stealing History: The Illicit Trade in Cultural Material; , Illicit Antiquities: The Theft of Culture and the Extinction of Archaeology; and ., Trade in Illicit Antiquities: The Destruction of the World’s Archaeological Heritage. This article reflects on the problem of treasure‐hunting in Bulgaria and the inadequacy of Bulgarian legislation, which is leading to the deterioration and destruction of Bulgarian heritage sites. As no changes in the legislative basis can be observed at this stage there is a real threat to the country’s cultural inheritance. This paper reflects upon the results of personal research undertaken in Bulgaria as part of a PhD.     

The cultural paradiplomacy of Barcelona since the 1980s: understanding transformations in local cultural paradiplomacy

This article seeks to explain the conditions for the emergence and institutionalization of the cultural paradiplomacy of the city of Barcelona and its local effects. The recognition of the city as an active participant on the international stage is based on its evolution from an industrial to a service economy. Against this backdrop, Barcelona’s city council, in common with many other city authorities operating in the world’s metropolises during the 1980s, initiated its own cultural paradiplomacy as a strategy for attracting capital and promoting local development. This policy became established as part of a new multilevel system of governance. This article analyzes the causes of the institutionalization of this activity from an intergovernmental perspective. It concludes that in the context of economic globalization, the emergence of cities’ cultural paradiplomacy is strongly related to the restructuring of the State and its external administration and to the intensification of the ‘cultural branding’ of cities as a tool for global competition.     

Phylogenetic analysis of the Panochthini (Xenarthra,Glyptodontidae), with remarks on their temporal distribution

Zamorano, M. & Brandoni, D., 2013. Phylogenetic analysis of the Panochthini (Xenarthra, Glyptodontidae), with remarks on their temporal distribution. Alcheringa 37, 1–10. ISSN 0311-5518.

To test the monophyly of Panochthini, a phylogenetic analysis including all the species traditionally referred to the tribe was conducted. The matrix included 16 species of Glyptodontidae and 35 characters, from which 14 correspond to the skull, four to the dentition, two to the cephalic armour, nine to the dorsal carapace and six to the caudal sheath. Propalaehoplophorus australis (Propalaehoplophorinae) was used to root the trees. Four most parsimonious trees were obtained (Tree Length = 75, CI = 0.65, RI = 0.70). The strict consensus tree (Tree Length = 77, CI = 0.64, RI = 0.68) has the following topology: Propalaehoplophorus australis (Glyptodon reticulatus (Hoplophorus euphractus (Panochthus jaguaribensis, P. intermedius (P. frenzelianus, P. tuberculatus (P. subintemedius, P. greslebini)))) ((Pseudoplohophorus absolutus, Plohophorus figuratus) (Nopachtus cabrerai, N. coagmentatus, Propanochthus bullifer, Stromaphorus compressidens, Phlyctaenopyga ameghini))). The results indicate that: 1, Panochthini is not a natural group but polyphyletic; 2, Panochthus is monophyletic and, concordant with recent proposals, Hoplophorus euphractus is its sister group; and 3, Nopachtus and Propanochthus are more closely related to species traditionally referred to ‘Plohophorini’ than to Panochthus. Nopachtus and Propanochthus, as the ‘Plohophorini’, are recorded from the latest part of the Neogene, whereas Panochthus and Hoplophorus euphractus are restricted to the Quaternary.

[Martín Zamorano [marzamorano@fcnym]unlp.edu.ar], Departamento Científico Paleontología Vertebrados, Museo de La Plata, Paseo del Bosque, s/n, 1900, La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina. CONICET. Diego Brandoni [dbrandoni@cicyttp.org.ar], Laboratorio de Paleontología de Vertebrados, Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción (CICYTTP-CONICET), Matteri y España, E3105BWA Diamante, Entre Ríos, Argentina. Received 25.10.2012; revised 11.1.2013; accepted 18.1.2013.     

Recent Research in Puebla Prehistory

This review of recent research in the state of Puebla, Mexico, focuses on six issues: (1) reevaluations of the Tehuacan Valley Archaic; (2) rural household archaeology at Tetimpa; (3) the impact of Popocatépetls eruptions; (4) the city of Cholula; (5) the Nahua-Otomangue frontier; and (6) new perspectives on the Mixteca-Puebla art style. Not only do these topics illustrate the scope of archaeological work, but they can be linked to broader anthropological themes like the origins and spread of agriculture, relationships between rural populations and emergent cities, the environmental, social, and cultural impact of natural disasters, the operation of geographical frontiers and ethnic interfaces, the construction of cultural landscapes, and the connections between political organization and art style. Pueblas location along numerous environmental and cultural divides makes it an excellent laboratory for the study of human interaction across diverse kinds of frontiers.