Dreams and Realities Selected Fiction of Juana Manuela Gorriti

One of the most dramatic figures among Latin America's romantic writersand the towering woman writer of her century, Juana Manuela Gorriti bringspassion and intrigue to the scene of writing. An exile from her native Argentinawho sought refuge first in Bolivia and then in Peru, her life story of traveland displacement is echoed in her fictions. Her short stories tell ofhomelessness and nomadic yearnings that take the reader from the Peruvianhighlands, where Spanish colonizers plot to rob the treasures of the Incas, tothe Argentine capital city, plagued by sinister political plots. Her laterfictions move from Chile to scenes of the California Gold Rush.Covering the wide landscape of the Americas, Gorriti tracks the spirit ofnineteenth-century adventurers and dandies, nation builders and soldiers whoparticipate in the conflicts of settlement in a new and lawless land. Women arethe protagonists who mediate these stories about civil strife and voice theirdespair about the treachery and deceit of fortune seekers in Latin America inthe years following Independence from Spain.Dreams and Realities offers a sampling of Gorriti's stories, showing the rangeof her commitment to political fiction drawn in the romantic style. Originallypublished in four volumes under the titles Suenos y realidades and Panoramas dela vida, her works deal with the tyranny of the Rosas regime, the mediating roleof women, and the clash of European and indigenous cultures. Notwithstanding herpolitical leanings, Gorriti's stories and fictions provide a generous dose ofswashbuckling adventure and romance. Translated into English for the first timeby Sergio Weisman and with an Introduction, Chronology, and Critical Notes byFrancine Maisello, the book gives a woman's view of the world of politicalintrigue and civil unrest that mark Latin America's turbulent nineteenthcentury.

Francine Masiello is Professor of Comparative Literature at the University of California, Berkeley. Sergio Waisman is Assistant Professor of Spanish at George Washington University.