Initialed notices were written by members of the editorial staff.
The field of Latin American scholarship has again been well served by the appearance of the latest volume of the Handbook of Latin American Studies. This volume, the forty-second to appear since the Handbook began publication in 1936, provides a select, annotated guide to publications within the following areas: bibliography and general works, art, folklore, history, language and literature, music, and philosophy. Among the broad trends noted by the editor, since publication of the previous humanities volume, have been a continued interest among European and other extrahemispheric scholars in Latin American studies and a persistence in the tendency among researchers from all regions to investigate highly specialized themes. The trend toward more compartmentalized research has been paralleled by a corresponding decline in collaborative, interdisciplinary study. Within Latin America, while Mexico and Brazil have continued to lead in both the quantity and quality of scholarly publications, production has increased considerably in Cuba (literary reprints), Ecuador (poetry), Peru (history, literature), and Colombia (all fields). Editorially, one change should be noted: the literature section has been greatly expanded to accommodate the increasing volume and sophistication in the criticism of both contemporary and traditional Latin American literature. Like its predecessors, this volume will prove an indispensable resource for Latin Americanists. The Handbook’s sole drawback continues to be its lack of timeliness.
