Espectros is a compilation of original scholarly studies that presents
the first volume-length exploration of the spectral in literature, film,
and photography of Latin America, Spain, and the Latino diaspora. In
recent decades, scholarship in deconstructionist "hauntology," trauma
studies, affect in image theory, and a renewed interest in the Gothic
genre, has given rise to a Spectral Studies approach to the study of
narrative. Haunting, the spectral, and the effects of the unseen, carry
a special weight in contemporary Latin American and Spanish cultures
(referred to in the book as "Transhispanic cultures"), due to the
ominous legacy of authoritarian governments and civil wars, as well as
the imposition of the unseen yet tangible effects of global economics
and neoliberal policies. Ribas and Petersen's detailed introductory
analysis grounds haunting as a theoretical tool for literary and
cultural criticism in the Transhispanic world, with an emphasis on the
contemporary period from the end of the Cold War to the present. The
chapters in this volume explore haunting from a diversity of
perspectives, in particular engaging haunting as a manifestation of
trauma, absence, and mourning. The editors carefully distinguish the
collective, cultural dimension of historical trauma from the individual,
psychological experience of the aftermath of a violent history, always
taking into account unresolved social justice issues. The volume also
addresses the association of the spectral photographic image with the
concept of haunting because of the photograph's ability to reveal a
presence that is traditionally absent or has been excluded from
hegemonic representations of society. The volume concludes with a series
of studies that address the unseen effects and progressive deterioration
of the social fabric as a result of a globalized economy and neoliberal
policies, from the modernization of the nation-state to present.
