Smith prof quoted in NYT

Colleges and Universities A-Z Smith College
1

<p>In an article titled "Amazon Books, But Not What You Think", 9/24/07, concerning two Brazilian novelists who write about the Amazon:</p>

<p>"'Most outsiders still conceive of the Amazon as a natural environment that is populated by tribesmen, if populated at all,' said Nicomedes Suarez-Arauz, editor of "Literary Amazonia: Modern Writing by Amazonian Authors" (University Press of Florida, 2007) and a professor of Latin American literature at Smith College. 'The image of terra incognita, of a savage land, persists and is promoted, so when you mention culture and writers, that produces an immediate surprise in most people.'...In recent years, though, the Amazon has become what Dr. Suarez-Arauz called 'an urbanized reality'...."</p>

<p>The authors, by the way, are Marcio Souza and Milton Hatoum. </p>

<p>It's always interesting to catch glimpses of the terrain being explored behind those ivy-covered walls in Northampton.</p>

2

<p>Ha! I thought "Amazon books" was referring to the website. That tells you something about American culture -- or at least, about me.</p>

3

<p>Those tricky headline writers....</p>

4

<p>Which begs the question, why is the Amazon we all thought of first called "Amazon"?</p>

5

<p>Because Jeff named his company after the river. The river is largest in the world and he envisioned his company offering the largest selection of books in the world.</p>

<p>Now if Jeff would just get rid of that silly laugh…………..</p>

6

<p>Well, my first thought when I heard Amazon was Pliny. (the elder, that is.)</p>

7

<p>Why Pliny, Mini?</p>

8

<p>Pliny (elder) records in his Natural History five bronze statues of Amazons in the Artemision of Ephesus. These (he says) were created in a sculpture contest in the 5th Century BC.</p>

9

<p>Ah. I thought it had something to do with one-breasted warrior women. I'll have to read him again. Along with Lucretius.</p>

10

<p>Well, it could well have been a statue grouping of Sarmatian or Scythian women warriors. I wonder if someone was having old Herodotus on about breasts being cauterized so as not to interfere with the drawing back of the bow string.</p>