From Lack to Excess

Book excerpt: "From Lack to Excess analyzes the narrative and rhetorical structures of Latin American colonial texts by establishing a dialogue with studies on minority discourse, minor literatures, and postcolonial theory. After reviewing the main contributions and limitations of Transatlantic, Early Modern, and Postcolonial studies for the interpretation of Latin American colonial textualities, Martinez-San Miguel takes as a point of departure the subtle yet pervasive semantic link between the terms "minority" and "colonialism" prevalent in current studies on ethnic and sexual identities. She then engages the disciplinary debate between Colonial Latin American studies and Early Modern, Transatlantic, and Postcolonial studies, paying attention to the epistemic and institutional junctures that explain the current reconfiguration of these fields." "As an alternative to an exhausted debate, Martinez-San Miguel uses Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari's notion of a "minor literature," along with current studies on minority discourse to propose new close readings of texts by Hernan Cortes, Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, Carlos de Siguenza y Gongora, and Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz. From Lack to Excess traces a discursive voyage that configures a linguistic matrix from the initial lack of language to the excessive Baroque representation of American reality."--BOOK JACKET.