Introduction -- Pre-Columbian Mexico. The indigenous image: from caricature to self-portrait -- Eréndira ikikunari (Indomitable Eréndira) -- Cabeza de Vaca -- Sexuality and identity. Sexuality and its social dimensions -- Un paraíso bajo las estrellas (Paradise beneath the stars) -- Dependencia sexual (Sexual dependency) -- Madame Satā -- The infant sage. The child as paradigm in Latin American film -- El silencio de Neto (The silence of Neto) -- Maroa -- Paloma de papel (Paper dove) -- Female roles and stereotypes. Women protagonists in Latin American film -- A hora da estrela (The hour of the star) -- En la puta vida (In this tricky life) -- Novia que te vea (Like a bride) -- Crime and corruption. A spectrum of criminality: gangsters, politicians and the military -- Ratas, ratones, rateros (Rodents) -- Perder es cuestión de método (The art of losing) -- Días de Santiago (Days of Santiago) -- Fratricide and neo-imperialism: twentieth-century conflicts. Fratricidal wars and imperialism -- Iluminados por el fuego (Blessed by fire) -- Mi mejor enemigo (My best enemy) -- Hamaca paraguaya (Paraguayan hammock) -- The poet in the city. Writers as characters -- El lado oscuro del corazón (Dark side of the heart) -- Caída al cielo (Loud whispers).