Gabriel Trujillo Muñoz's "Permanent Work: Poems 1981-1992"

Gabriel Trujillo Muñoz's Permanent Work: Poems 1981-1992 was published in 1993 by the San Diego State University Press. Interestingly, his works were organized by date, to visually demonstrate Munoz's evolution of his writing style to the reader.

I was particularly drawn to the poem “Turbulence” (Muñoz, 28). The vivid imagery feels almost jarring, reminding me somewhat of airplane turbulence, especially starting at the quote “vital signs/Dissolve into the mud”. I could almost hear the squelch of the mud described in the aforementioned quote. The collection consists of almost all poems in verse, excluding about six or so poems written in prose, demonstrating Muñoz’s range in writing skills. The back-cover of the collection states he was a “key player in the Baja California’s literary Renaissance of the 1980s”, creating context for me as I had never heard of Muñoz’s work before reading this collection. The diverse spread of poetry provides a portfolio to those who have no or little experience with this poet’s works. 

How queer? We’re the exclusive English publisher of the work of transgressive Brazilian poet Glauco Mattoso | Perversions on Parade: Brazilian Literature of Transgression and Postmodern Anti-Aesthetics in Glauco Mattoso by Steven F. Butterman

Not to massage our own feet, per se, but we’re wondering why more of you theory heads haven’t been reading Perversions on Parade: Brazilian Literature of Transgression and Postmodern Anti-Aesthetics in Glauco Mattoso.

Excuse our Portuguese, and pardon the long title, but there’s a lot packed in these critical 266 pages. Without giving away any spoilers, there’s insight provided by Georges Bataille, a fertile wizard of gory-erotic poetic imagery, into the nature of pseudonyms. For one, Glauco Mattoso is a semantic stage-name of sorts—in Portuguese, it becomes a punk rock play on words roughly translating into “one who has glaucoma.”

Perversions on Parade: Brazilian Literature of Transgression and Postmodern Anti-Aesthetics in Glauco Mattoso by Steven F. Butterman (Author), Rebecca Saraceno (Illustrator)

But the punk rock nature of Mattoso’s work goes further, actually toeing the fetishistic fixations of Quentin Tarantino: namely upon feet. But, we’re not here to be basic, to shock you into reading a book about weirdos who are turned on by toes (shrimping is a term that we highly encourage you “NOT TO GOOGLE”). No, in this serious academic text, Judith Butler shares insight into the pleasure which is derived from the troubling nature of the categorization of the binary gender performative. Mattoso, according to Perversions on Parade, manages to fetishize feet so much that he negates the categorization itself and invokes a genderless subject who is overtaken by the excessive joy of the conceived/perceived “foot.” All in a day’s worship,— sorry, a day’s work.

But don’t let us tease you any further. Pick up a copy of Steven F. Butterman's Perversions on Parade here. It turns us on. Really. And it solves one more predicament. Mattoso remains quite obscure to the English-speaking world. In fact, for those of us who don’t know Portuguese, there’s not much to read about the man, and not much of his work available. For those of us restricted to simple Google searches, few solid English translations of his poems exist. So: if you or anyone you know translates Portuguese and enjoys LGBTQ theory, poetics, performative, etc., get at us. ASAP!

Pictured: Glauco Mattoso

Have We Told You Lately, We Love Semiotics? SDSU Press's POETICS AND VISUALITY: A TRAJECTORY OF CONTEMPORARY BRAZILIAN POETRY

Yes, we’re kind of theory heads here at the SDSU Press — which means we think about how unstable the term semiotics itself is! Why does a sign mean what we think it does? And how could anyone think that a sign really means one thing? Seriously, though, for anyone’s been courted in this lifetime, is it not so trite to wonder after receiving something—a text, a note, a message, a smile—to wonder: Okay, so-and-so just conveyed “this,” but does “this” mean that they “like” me? And, if yes, then what should I do to convey “exactly” what I want them to understand, i.e. a yes or no or maybe or … ???

“Koito” (coitus) — Villari Herrmann — 1971

But we digress… Of course, love is more than mere semiotic matter… And, yes, Semiotics proves an ever-contentious field of thought. But on a more pragmatic note, have you thought about reading one of our contributions to this destabilizing theoretical field? In 1994, we published POETICS AND VISUALITY: a trajectory of contemporary Brazilian poetry by Philadelpho Menezes. While it’s no spring chicken, it is a phenomenal cognitive gateway drug to hyper-specific moments of poetic metamorphoses that occurred in Brazil through the 1960s and ‘70s. The book is worth the read if only to experience one of many contexts for examination of the quixotic and visual poetry of artists like Décio Pignatari and Pedro Xisto and Villari Herrmann, to name a few…

“terra” — Décio Pignatari — 1957

Take note, radical theory heads. In a historical sense, Brazil figured violently into the burgeoning globalized economy. While Menezes’ text remains acutely clinical, tending to gloss over the gory details and analyze the pure “poetics,” it’s worth mentioning: these relatively obscure artworks came into being in light of intense political discord. In 1968, Brazilian political leaders were outright imprisoned, tortured and even killed; the nation was violently seized by dictatorship; “Ferreira Gullar, a Concretist turned Neo-Concretist who then broke with the avant-garde camp to write agitprop poetry,” was exiled along with fellow artists who were revered by the Brazilian people! If you’re curious, LA REVIEW OF BOOKS wrote a fantastic piece about Brazil’s tumultuous history here.

“beba coca cola” — Décio Pignatari — 1956

With Menezes’ tragic death in 2000, the world was deprived of further semiotic investigations. But, fortunately, we were able to press his impressively erudite text, originally written in Portuguese, and translated by SDSU’s very own Harry Polkinhorn. A challenging read, a rewarding read. So enjoy, good readers! Hopefully, as much as we enjoyed bringing it to fruition.

“Epithalâmio III” (“Epithalamium III”) — Pedro Xisto — 1966

A Dick Higgins classic from SDSU Press: MODERNISM SINCE POSTMODERNISM ...

Modernism Since Postmodernism: Essays on Intermedia by Dick Higgins
ISBN 1-879691-43-4 (1997/2014) paper, 252 pp. US $22.95

Modernism Since Postmodernism: Essays on Intermedia completed Dick Higgins' critical trilogy that began with A Dialectic of Centuries: Notes Towards a Theory of the New Arts and continued with his Horizons: The Poetics and Theory of Intermedia. A fluxperson, artist, poet, composer, and scholar of intermedia, Higgins also authored Pattern Poetry: Guide to an Unknown Literature, among numerous other works. He died in October of 1998.

Dick Higgins, from the Foreword to Modernism Since Postmodernism:

"Of course kitsch can be fun. Already 125 years ago, Rimbaud recognized this when, in the second section of A Season in Hell, he speaks of liking dumb paintings, door panels, stage sets, backdrops for acrobats, street signs, old-time literature and such-like. Who doesn't?... 'Kitschspeak' is the term I use...for the fashionable kitsch language about the arts, sometimes delightful for a while, as with

Derrida, for instance, but ultimately locked so closely into fashion and the world of second-rate, derivative art that it is all but impossible to use with major work and thus destined to pass into academia or oblivion once its novelty has passed... There are, of course, many schools of postmodernism--and they are just that, schools--but for a preliminary discussion there is no need to identify all of them. [One sort is] pop-academic, in which the professors cite each other to build up a lattice of assumptions into a polemic that may or may not have any correspondence with the realities of the arts that lie outside what is known in their trade as 'the discussion.' The academic trades are known collectively among participants in such discussions as 'the profession,' much as prostitutes refer to 'the life.'"

The Definitive Critical Work Focused on John Steinbeck as a Native Californian! HOMER FROM SALINAS from SDSU Press

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From April to May 2007, some of the most celebrated scholars of American Literature, cultural studies, and California history joined with noted artists, performers, and photographers for a unique John Steinbeck celebration at San Diego State University. Homer from Salinas: John Steinbeck's Enduring Voice for California, edited by noted American Studies scholar William Nericcio, collects these lectures, screenings, debates, discussions, and visual artifacts into one volume. An innovative anthology, Homer from Salinas unfolds as a bracing melange of old school conference proceedings, next-generation Web 2.0 journalism, and a John Steinbeck scrapbook. The collection, with an introduction by Nericcio, includes outstanding pieces by Jeffrey Charles, Charles Wollenberg, William Deverell, Francisco X. Alarcon, Hernan Moreno-Hinojosa, Pam Munoz Ryan, Paul Wong, Fred Gardaphe, Arturo J. Aldama, Michael Harper, Joanna Brooks, Arthur Ollman, Louis Hock, and Susan Shillingslaw.

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San Diego State University Press Was Ahead of the Curve When it Comes to Gender Studies and LBGTQ Cultural Studies Volumes!

Perversions on Parade: Brazilian Literature of Transgression and Postmodern Anti-Aesthetics in Glauco Mattoso by Steven F. Butterman, is the first book-length scholarly treatment in English of the Brazilian poet Glauco Mattoso's work, some of which was written during Brazil's most recent dictatorship (1964-85).

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The author highlights Mattoso's themes of homosexuality, fetishism, and symbolic sadomasochism within a context of a comparative examination of transgressive literature in the Western canon (for example, the French poete maudit, such as Rimbaud, Baudelaire, and Verlaine) with particular emphasis on Luso-Brazilian literature from the Middle Ages to the present.

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Perversions on Parade is a 2005 Hyperbole Books Volume. Christened in 2004 as an imprint of San Diego State University Press, Hyperbole Books is dedicated to publishing cutting-edge, over-the-top experiments in critical theory, literary criticism and graphic narrative. Imagine some odd, bastard child of SEMIOTEXT[e], Taschen, and Fantagraphics Books raised in the dumpster behind Powells, and you begin to wide the wave of Hyperbole Books. Remember, "Buy the Hype."

CRITICAL THEORY | CULTURAL STUDIES | QUEER THEORY | LATIN AMERICAN LITERATURE | Perversions on Parade: Brazilian Literature of Transgression and Postmodern Anti-Aesthetics in Glauco Mattoso by Steven Butterman | SDSU PRESS | 2005 | trade paperback | List Price: $25

Utopia and Dystopia : Sir Thomas More from SDSU Press

Special One Day 99¢ Shipping Offer on our Comprehensive History of SDSU

New! From the SDSU Press Journals Division! A New pacificREVIEW: A West Coast Arts Review Annual Edition: ERRANT MYTHOLOGIES!

The Flesh and Blood Aesthetics of Alejandro Morales: Disease, Sex, and Figuration by Marc García-Martínez: An Exploration, Analysis, and Worthy Critical Read

Dr. Marc García-Martínez provides readers and in-depth analyses of Alejandro Morales’ works. The outset of this text details the Morales’ descriptions of the sometimes beautiful, horrific or sublime nature of the body. García-Martínez examines Morales’ modes of poetic construction elucidates the inherent connections between the body, the soul, and societal borders that Morales’ works illustrate. García-Martínez reveals the subtext and scaffolding that García-Martínez utilized to layer explorations of ethnic symbologies, motifs, and religions; “disease, disorders, and decadence…technology and science, urban ecology, cultural ruin vs. renaissance, mythology, futuristic conceptualizations, (post)colonialism and self-determined consciousness” - Francisco A. Lomelí, Prof of Spanish & Portuguese and Chicana/o Studies, UCSB, editor of Aztlán: Essays on the Chicano Homeland (with Rudolfo A. Anaya). 

Frederick Luis Aldama, author of The Routledge Concise History of Latino/a Literature and Arts & Humanities Distinguished Professor at Ohio State University, reviewed the text as "Leaving in the dust all those highfalutin' literary theories of yesteryear,” describing “Marc García-Martínez [as digging his] heels in deep to dig out a radically new aesthetic paradigm.”

García-Martínez has unraveled the folds of meaning contained within each piece featured by Morales, and in doing so has unveiled the deep, rich multiplicities of self, imagination and histories within Chicano bodies. García-Martínez delves into Morales’ methodologies of making his reader disquieted in their reflection of omnipresent abject – putting on display the ties between the decaying body, the earth, and violence among men.

The Flesh-And-Blood Aesthetics of Alejandro Morales is a must read for any scholar, educator or writer that wishes to view Morales’ work through the credible and holistic lens of a Chicano author. García-Martínez clearly recognizes his platform and has manifested a text that not only transgresses the layers and borders of Morales’ poetics, but also transcends the White-American gaze that often infects and alters the Latinx voice. 

To purchase García-Martínez's text, click here:  http://amzn.to/2DYkC82

New Groundbreaking Book on the Border, Mexico, and the United States by Steven Bender, Law Professor, Seattle University

More info and snap up a copy on sale here!

About the Author: Dr. Steven W. Bender:
Steven Bender is a national academic leader on immigration law and policy, as well as an expert in real estate law. Among his honors, the Minority Groups Section of the Association of American Law Schools presented him with the C. Clyde Ferguson, Jr., Award, a prestigious national award recognizing scholarly reputation, mentoring of junior faculty, and teaching excellence. Born to a Mexican American mother in East Los Angeles, his culture and upbringing in a Mexican American household informs his writing and passion for legal reform. An avid reader as a youth, he read over 400 adult-level bestsellers and classics each year from 7th grade through high school. An equally avid fan of popular culture, and a critic of its shortcomings, Bender infuses his writings with a connection to pop culture, while trying to instill timeless values of respect and human dignity for all people.

New from @sdsupress ➡️ Steven Bender's HOW THE WEST WAS JUAN http://amzn.to/2uW17IG

A post shared by SDSU Press (@sdsupress) on Jul 25, 2017 at 7:53pm PDT

New from SDSU Press! A pathbreaking book by Professor Steven W. Bender: https://t.co/VLNXjvTDQR pic.twitter.com/eKzv671Gz4

— SDSU Press (@SDSUPress) August 25, 2017

Trilingual Education: Sign Language, Spanish, English, OH MY!

First posted 11/1/14--updated 11/26/17

Quick Link to Purchase this Book: 

Trilingual Education: Sign Language, Spanish, English

New vibrant cover for our 2nd printing of the book.

The title speaks for itself, Trilingual Education: Sign Language, Spanish, English, but I'll elaborate on it a little more in case you want some nitty gritty details.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to speak three languages?  Some people find it difficult to speak one language, but you?  I'm sure you've always had this little voice in your head telling you to broaden your horizons.  Can you even begin to imagine what you could do with three languages?  

Forget Spanglish (for those bilingual speakers).  You could invent SignSpanglish!  

Your resume would be much more colorful than it is now.  How many people actually know three languages fluently (or almost fluently)?  Your future employer would be so impressed, that you'd most likely get hired on the spot!  Who wouldn't find three languages impressive?

At your next family gathering, you could talk to all members of the family without wondering who is talking badly about you behind your back.  You wouldn't even have to let them know that you understand them.  Just sit back, sip on your coffee and enjoy the show. 

These are just a couple of opportunities you could enjoy by utilizing this book. 

Trilingual Education: Sign Language, Spanish, English is written by Kathee M. Christensen and C. Ben Christensen with illustrations by Graham Booth.  According to the Preface, "Currently there are millions of Hispanic families living in the United States.  In this ethnic group there are deaf children...the goal of this project is to facilitate the communication of clear concepts between deaf children and their Spanish speaking families" (4). 

With easy to follow pictures, questions, dialog and exercises, whoever picks up this book will be on their way to understanding sign language in both Spanish and English (with English as the bridge for Spanish speakers to grasp the sign language). 

Don't hesitate any longer!  If this book is for you, follow this link and it will be sent to your mail box immediately: I WANT TO KNOW THREE LANGUAGES ASAP! 

Trilingual Education: Sign Language, Spanish, English from San Diego State University Press

Educación Trilingue/Trilingual Education: Sign Language, Spanish, English is a unique manual was developed to facilitate the communication of clear concepts between Spanish speaking parents and their deaf children. Now in its second printing, this unique book, fusing languages and dedicated to bettered communication, uses a series of clear exercises and diagrams to facilitate interchange among users of three different languages: spoken English, spoken Spanish, and American Sign Language. Originally published in 1985, this updated edition appeared in 2016.

A Classic Critical Anthology on John Steinbeck, Focused on the Nobel Prize Winner and his Home, California #steinbeck

From April to May 2007, some of the most celebrated scholars of American Literature, cultural studies, and California history joined with noted artists, performers, and photographers for a unique John Steinbeck celebration at San Diego State University. Homer from Salinas: John Steinbeck's Enduring Voice for California, edited by note American Studies scholar William Nericcio, collects these lectures, screenings, debates, discussions, and visual artifacts into one handy volume that unfolds as a bracing melange of old school conference proceedings, next-generation Web 2.0 journalism, and a John Steinbeck scrapbook. The collection, with an introduction by Nericcio, includes outstanding pieces by Jeffrey Charles, Charles Wollenberg, William Deverell, Francisco X. Alarcon, Hernan Moreno-Hinojosa, Pam Munoz Ryan, Paul Wong, Fred Gardaphe, Arturo J. Aldama, Michael Harper, Joanna Brooks, Arthur Ollman, Louis Hock, and Susan Shillingslaw.

Click the book for a direct link or here.

Get the Definitive Scholarly Volume on German Expressionist Illustration by Ida Rigby from SDSU Press!