"Writing Women in Central America explores these relationships in key texts and analyzes the ways in which women authors appropriate history to confront the rhetoric of the state, global economic powers, and even dissident groups within their own cultures. Barbas-Rhoden finds a common thread in the literary imaginations of Claribel Alegria, Rosario Aguilar, Gioconda Belli, and Tatiana Lobo and shows how these writers offer provocative supplements to the historical record." "Writing Women in Central America considers narratives in which the authors craft their own interpretations of history to make room for women, indigenous peoples, and Afro-Latin Americans. Some of the text reveal silences in the narratives of empire- and nation-building. Others reinterpret events to highlight the struggle of marginalized peoples for dignity and humanity in the face of oppression. All confront the ways in which stories have been told about the past, but direct readers toward a more just future for all who live in Central America."--Jacket.