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Symbolism. An International Annual of Critical Aesthetics is an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed annual dedicated to pursuing fundamental questions on the forms and functions of the symbolic. Symbolism publishes high-profile research on various topics related to the use of figurative language, thought and signification in artistic expression and constructions of reality. While maintaining a strong literary focus, the annual also enquires into practices of the symbolic across various media.

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The complex nature of globalization increasingly requires a comparative approach to literature in order to understand how migration and commodity flows impact aesthetic production and expressive practices. This special issue of Symbolism: An International Journal of Critical Aesthetics explores the trans-American dimensions of Latina/o literature in a trans-Atlantic context. Examining the theoretical implications suggested by the comparison of the global North-global South dynamics of material and aesthetic exchange, this volume highlights emergent Latina/o authors, texts, and methodologies of interest in for comparative literary studies. In the essays, literary scholars address questions of the transculturation, translation, and reception of Latina/o literature in the United States and Europe. In the interviews, emergent Latina/o authors speak to the processes of creative writing in a transnational context. This volume suggests how the trans-American dialogues found in contemporary Latina/o literature elucidates trans-Atlantic critical dialogues.

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Rüdiger Ahrens, Uni Würzburg, Germany; Florian Kläger, Uni Bayreuth, Germany; Klaus Stierstorfer, Uni Münster, Germany.

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