Latin American Literature
The Collection
Prior to 1945, Mexican and Latin American poetry, drama, and music were acquired regularly by the Harris Collection. At that time, Latin American and Mexican acquisitions were effectively curtailed, although some titles were sporadically added. In 1975, formal acquisitions by purchase for Latin American and Mexican materials for the Harris Collection ceased. Some small additions by gift continue to be made.
However, Chicana/o and Puerto Rican poetry, drama, and music are still actively collected. Since many authors may move between regions and cultures, acquisitions decisions are based primarily on an evaluation of the writer's identification, rather than legal citizenship or residence. The existence of publishers that specifically concentrate in this material, such as Arte Publico and Bilingual Review Press helps in the identification of authors to be included in the Collection.
There are approximately 3,500 titles of Latin American, Chicana/o, and Puerto Rican literature in the Harris Collection. Older materials (primarily prior to 1945) may be found in the Lat Amer classification in Harris; more recent materials have been folded into the general classification structures.
The earliest imprint in the Latin American collection is Francisco Ruiz de Leon's Hernandia. Triumphos de la fe, y gloria de las armas españolas. Poema heroyco. Conquista de Mexico, cabeza del imperio septentrional de la Nueva-España. Proezas de Hernan-Cortes, catholicos blasones militares, y grandezas del Nuevo mundo. (Madrid: En la imprenta de la viuda de M. Fernandez, y del Supremo consejo de la Inquisicion, 1755), a work of poetry on the Mexican conquest of the 16th century. The earliest Latin American imprint is Amorosa contienda de Francia, Italia, y España sobre la augusta persona de el Señor Don Carlos III, exaltado al trono español. Certamen poetico, metrica palestra, ingenioso combate, a que para decidirla con dèlphicos oraculos, mètricos alegatos, y minervales instrumentos, convoca las racionales musas de su docto floreciente parnaso la Real, y pontificia universidad de Mexico, en cuyo nombre la dedica a sus reales plantas el Dr. D. Manuel Ignacio Beye Cisneros, y Quixano ... rector ... de ella ... Proponiala el Dr. y mrò Don Juan Gregorio de Campos Martinez .. (Mexico, Impressa en el Rl. y mas antiguo Colegio de S. Ildefonso, 1761). It includes poetry on the coronation of Charles III, King of Spain.
Early 19th century Latin American imprints include poetry published in Bogota, Havana, Guayaquil, Rio de Janeiro, and Bahia. Portuguese and French language materials, from colonies in South American and the Caribbean, will also be found.
Related Collections
» Sheet Music Collection (Marsh Collection)
» John Carter Brown Library
Related Internet Resources
Brown University Library Resources: Subject Collections
- Iberia, Latin America, and Latino
Holdings in Special Collections
Brown University Library Resources: Resource Guides to Subject Areas:
- Resource Guide: Iberian and Latin American Studies
- Diversity
in Literature: Researching Ethnic and Minority Authors
Brown University Library
Internet Resources
- Hispano Music and Culture of the Northern Rio Grande
Library of Congress American Memory - Latin American Network Information Center
University of Texas, Austin
Literature Resources - Latin American Literature Subject Guide
Yale University Library - Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection
University of Texas, Austin - Subject guide to Latin American Literature
Yale University Library - Tulane Latin American Library
Tulane University
Essential References
A Bibliographical Guide to Spanish American Literature: Twentieth-Century Sources.
Walter Rela, comp.
New York: Greenwood, 1988.
Chicano literature : a reference guide / edited by Julio A. Martínez and Francisco
A. Lomelí
Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 1985
Chicano writers, first series / edited by Francisco A. Lomelí and Carl R. Shirley
Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research, c1989
Chicano writers. Second series / edited by Carl R. Shirley and Francisco A.
Lomelí
Detroit : Gale Research, 1992
Handbook of Hispanic cultures in the United States / general editors, Nicolás
Kanellos, Claudio Esteva-Fabregat
Houston, Tex. : Arte Público Press ; Madrid, Spain : Instituto de Cooperación
Iberoamericana, c1993-c1994
Herencia : the anthology of Hispanic literature of the United States / editor,
Nicolás Kanellos ; co-editors, Kenya Dworkin y Méndez ... [et al.] ; coordinator,
Alejandra Balestra
Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2002
Hispanic theatre in the United States / edited by Nicolás Kanellos
Houston : Arte Público Press, 1984
Hoffman, Herbert H.
Latin American play index / by Herbert H. Hoffman
Metuchen, N.J. : Scarecrow Press, 1983-
Herbert H. Hoffman.
Hoffman's Index to Poetry: European and Latin American poetry in Anthologies.
Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow, 1985.
Huerta, Jorge A.
A bibliography of Chicano and Mexican dance, drama, and music.
Edited by Jorge A. Huerta
Oxnard, Calif., Colegio Quetzalcoatl [1972]
Infinite divisions : an anthology of Chicana literature / [compiled by] Tey
Diana Rebolledo, Eliana S. Rivero
Tucson : University of Arizona Press, c1993
Kanellos, Nicolás.
Biographical dictionary of Hispanic literature in the United
States : the literature of Puerto Ricans, Cuban Americans, and other Hispanic
writers / edited by Nicolás Kanellos
New York : Greenwood Press, 1989
Kanellos, Nicolás.
A history of Hispanic theatre in the United States : origins
to 1940 / Nicolás Kanellos
Austin, TX : University of Texas Press, 1990
Kanellos, Nicolás.
Mexican American theater : Legacy and reality / Nicolás Kanellos
Pittsburgh, Pa. : Latin American Literary Review Press, 1987
Literatura chicana, 1965-1995 : an anthology in Spanish, English, and Caló.
Manuel de Jesús Hernandez-Gutierrez and David William Foster.
New York : Garland Pub., 1997.
Mexican American theatre : then and now / edited by Nicolás Kanellos
Houston : Arte Público Press : Revista Chicano-Riqueña, c1989
Necessary theater : six plays about the Chicano experience / compiled by and
with introductions and commentaries by Jorge Huerta
Houston, Tex. : Arte Publico Press, c1989
Nuevos pasos : Chicano and Puerto Rican drama / Nicolás Kanellos and Jorge A.
Huerta, editors
Houston, TX : Arte Público Press, c1989
Recovering the U.S. Hispanic literary heritage / edited by Ramón Gutiérrez
and Genaro Padilla
Houston : Arte Público Press, 1993-
A Sourcebook for Hispanic Literature and Language: a selected, annotated guide
to Spanish, Spanish American, and United States Hispanic bibliography, literature,
linguistics, journals, and other source materials. Donald William Bleznick.
3rd ed.
Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1995.
Two centuries of Hispanic theatre in the Southwest / Nicolás Kanellos ... [et
al.]
[Houston, Tex]. : Revista Chicano-Riqueña, 1982
The world of early Chicano poetry, 1846-1910 / compiled, edited and translated
by Luis A. Torres
[Encino, Calif.] : Floricanto Press, c1994-