Gothic Silk

The New World of the Gothic Fox: Culture and Economy in English and Spanish America Claudio V?liz adopts the provocative metaphor of foxes and hedgehogs that Isaiah Berlin used to describe opposite types of thinkers. Applying this metaphor to modern culture, economic systems, and the history of the New World, V?liz provides an original and lively approach to understanding the development of English and Spanish America over the past 500 years.
According to V?liz, the dominant cultural achievements of Europe’s English- and Spanish-speaking peoples have been the Industrial Revolution and the Counter-Reformation, respectively. These overwhelming cultural constructions have strongly influenced the subsequent historical developments of their great cultural outposts in North and South America. The British brought to the New World a stubborn ability to thrive on diversity and change that was entirely consistent with their vernacular Gothic style. The Iberians, by contrast, brought a cultural tradition shaped like a vast baroque dome, a monument to their successful attempt to arrest the changes that threatened their imperial moment.
V?liz writes with erudition and wit, using a multitude of sources–historians and classical sociologists, Greek philosophers, today’s newspaper sports pages, and modern literature–to support a novel explanation of the prosperity and expanding cultural influence of the gothic fox and the economic and cultural decline endured by the baroque hedgehog.
Customer Review: The Truth About the Spanish Heritage
This is an excellent book! It was written more than ten years ago by a Latin who is obviously an Anglophile. He goes to the origins of English and Spanish character traits, the origins of Latin American dislike of things U.S. and makes a very compelling case that those countries of Spanish origins, due to their heritage, have and will have a very hard time developing in our changing world. It is not politically correct but it is real. A must read for those trying to understand why everything south of the Rio Grande is so terrible.

For those interested, read Carlos Alberto Montaner and Octavio Paz, one Cuban the other Mexican (1990 Nobel Prize winner for literature, actually poetry) for similar views from authors who are not enamored of the Anglo-American world.
Customer Review: A fascinating historical-comparative study
This novel take on the comparative economic fortunes of the north and south should encourage other scholars to focus on questions of economic culture. Too much work in Latin American studies is carried out from within a structuralist paradigm, yielding the same stale conclusions. Veliz’ insistence that we cannot overlook cultural factors is timely and apt.

The book is well written and meticulously documented.

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spanish origins, isaiah berlin, origins of english, baroque dome, counter reformation, greek philosophers, spanish heritage, lively approach, novel explanation, spanish america, historical developments, anglophile, sports pages, gothic style, character traits, hedgehogs, economic systems, erudition, modern culture, latin american