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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE An Ecocritical Approach to Mexican and Colombian Brief Fiction, 2000-2015 A Dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Spanish by Raelynne M. Hale March 2018 Dissertation Committee: Dr. Raymond L. Williams, Co-chairperson Dr. Christina Soto Van der Plas, Co-chairperson Dr. Benjamin Liu Copyright by Raelynne M. Hale 2018 The Dissertation of Raelynne M. Hale is approved: Committee Co-Chairperson Committee Co-Chairperson University of California, Riverside Acknowledgments This dissertation would not have been possible without the financial support of the University of California, Riverside through the Chancellor’s Distinguished Fellowship and the Summer Research Grant from the Hispanic Studies Department. I am especially indebted to Dr. Raymond L. Williams, Distinguished Professor and Co-Chairperson of my Dissertation Committee, who supported my research, guided me through the writing process, and has consistently and actively worked toward my success in this doctoral program and beyond. I am also grateful for the professors in the Hispanic Studies department at the University of California, Riverside for their knowledge, expertise, and feedback throughout my studies. I am especially appreciative of Dr. Christina Soto Van der Plas, Assistant Professor and Co-Chairperson of my Dissertation Committee, who spent time discussing my research and areas in which to expand and improve; Dr. David K. Herzberger, Distinguished Professor, who spent hours advising me before my committee had been set and who has continuously guided and supported my academic decisions; and Dr. Benjamin Liu, Graduate Advisor to the Hispanic Studies Department and Associate Professor, who recruited me into the program, was always available with advice, anecdotes, and encouragement, and was an indispensable resource throughout these past three years. I am also indebted to Saint Louis University, Madrid for starting me off with a solid base for my research in Peninsular and Latin American literature. I would like to personally thank and mention Dr. Ángeles Encinar, Spanish Professor, who introduced me to microfiction and its literary analysis and who inspired me to continue my research; Dr. iv Aitor Bikandi-Mejías, Spanish Professor, who taught me the bases of literary criticism and supported my interest in obtaining a doctorate in Spanish; Dr. Olga Muñoz Carrasco, Program Director and Spanish Professor, who inspired my literary studies, creative writing, and editorial pursuits; and Dr. Verónica Azcue Castillón, Spanish Professor, who worked with me individually to develop academic projects and provided guidance and support throughout my Master of Arts degree in Spanish. There have been a handful of teachers and professors throughout my life who inspired and believed in me and my academic pursuits of Spanish and the study of its literature. I would like to mention two professors who motivated me during my undergraduate degree at Missouri State University, Dr. Pedro G. Koo, Associate Professor of Spanish, who taught me to strive for the best and compete against myself and who introduced me to the great writers of Latin America, and Dr. D. Roger R. Dowdy, Emeritus Professor of Spanish, who introduced me to Spanish culture and art. Ultimately, I would like to thank Señor Joaquin Cuni-Carreno for challenging me from the very beginning, for encouraging me to reach for more, and for his continuous support of my academic ambitions and the study of Spanish literature. There are many teachers and professors outside of my field of study who I would like to acknowledge, for without them I would not be here today: Mrs. Corey who gave me access to the library at a very young age; Mrs. Candler, German teacher, who was my first foreign language teacher and who inspired me to learn more than one foreign language; and Dr. Joey Independence, my French teacher at the University of Missouri – Kansas City, who introduced me to an immersion teaching method for foreign languages. I would also v like to mention Mr. Chambers who challenged me to write my first research essay, Mr. Hatfield who supported my writing and introduced me to publication, Dr. David Heller who taught me how to do research, data analysis, and formulate hypotheses, proper research statements, and goals, and Dr. Jessica Q. Stark who taught me how to be part of an editorial team. Finally, I am most grateful for Mr. Miguel Miguez, my colleague in Spain, who taught me to be the best professor I can be and is now a dear friend of mine. Furthermore, I couldn't have completed my degree or been prepared for this rigorous program without my family and friends. First and foremost, I would like to thank my mother, Lara Wood, whom I studied alongside as a child, who taught me to write and highlight books because it was the only way to read, who was my first editor, and who always challenged and supported everything I did. I would like to thank my dad, John Wood, who always believed in me, taught me to believe in myself, and told me to reach for the stars. I am appreciative of my grandparents, Connie and Sam Hale, who quizzed me, inspired me, and read everything I wrote, and of my aunts, Joanna Simmons and Lisa Winter, who taught me that education wasn't always in school and who, to this day, give me books and articles to read. I would also like to thank a few friends, in alphabetical order, who are my first readers, editors, and supporters: Aviya Amir, Marta Calvé Gómez, Mariana Guerra, Caralyn Harmon, Jayme Lisell, Katrina Nolte, and Zuleima Ramirez. I would also like to thank Gwendolyn Brune, Lee Carpenter, Matt Georges, Dwinetta Rozier, and Annalise Winter who, no matter how far, supply endless emotional support and encouragement. vi Finally, I would like to acknowledge my loving partner and husband, Guillaume Babin, who tolerates my long hours of reading, researching and writing, supports my academic and personal endeavors, and loves my passion for knowledge, language, and culture. vii Dedication Dedicated to Lara Wood, my mom, who taught me how to live in this complicated world, to Connie and Sam Hale, my grandma and grandpa, who told me I could do anything, to John Wood, my dad, who taught me that I didn't need anyone's permission to pursue my dreams, and to Guillaume Babin, my loving partner and husband, who supports all of my crazy ambitions. viii ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION An Ecocritical Approach to Mexican and Colombian Brief Fiction, 2000-2015 by Raelynne M. Hale Doctor of Philosophy, Graduate Program in Spanish University of California, Riverside, March 2018 Dr. Raymond L. Williams, Committee Co-Chairperson Dr. Christina Soto Van der Plas, Committee Co-Chairperson This dissertation analyzes Mexican and Colombian brief fiction published after 2000, focusing on four authors from the Generation Zero Zero, Mexican authors Alberto Chimal and Heriberto Yépez and Colombian authors María Paz Ruiz Gil and Gabriela A. Arciniegas. The Generation Zero Zero consists of Latin American authors born in the 1970s who have published their major works after 2000. Agustín Cadena, Lorena Campa Rojas, Dolores Corrales Soriano, and Lauro Zavala separate the Generation Zero Zero from the writers of the Crack and claim that the group is heterogeneous in their lived experience in a time of crisis, their dismantling of utopic ideas, and their literary creations within the fantastic, science fiction and horror genres. This dissertation analyzes four authors of this generation to identify underlying ecocritical trends, an environmental unconscious, and the representation of human and non-human characters within this group of authors. Through an ecocritical approach to their writing and an exploration of their use of brief literary forms, I analyze Chimal, Yépez, Ruiz Gil, and Arciniegas’ representation of the environment and the non-human to reveal both anthropocentric and ecocentric perspectives within their publications, demonstrating a possible divide in the Generation Zero Zero in regard to environmental discourse. ix Table of Contents Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ iv Dedication ........................................................................................................................ viii Abstract of the Dissertation ............................................................................................... ix List of Charts..................................................................................................................... xii List of Microrrelatos and Short Stories ........................................................................... xiii Chapter I: Introduction: An Ecocritical Approach to Mexican and Colombian Brief Fiction, 2000 - 2015 ............................................................................................................1 Bibliography ..........................................................................................................41 Endnotes .................................................................................................................49 Chapter II: The Non-human in the Brief Fiction of Alberto Chimal: An Ecocentric Reading of 83 Novelas ....................................................................................................57 Bibliography .........................................................................................................94

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