The singer's needle : an undisciplined history of Panamá

__The Singer’s Needle__ offers a bold new approach to the history of twentieth-century Panamá, one that illuminates the nature of power and politics in a small and complex nation. Using novelistic techniques, Vierba explores three crucial episodes in the shaping and erosion of contemporary Panamanian institutions: the establishment of a penal colony on the island of Coiba in 1919, the judicial drama following the murder of President José Antonio Remón Cantera in 1955, and the “disappearance” of a radical priest in 1971. Skillfully blending historical sociology with novelistic narrative and extensive empirical research, and drawing on the works of Michel Foucault among others, Vierba shows the links between power, interpretation, and representation. The result is a book that deftly reshapes conventional methods of historical writing. Ezer Vierba's The Singer's Needle offers an innovative history of twentieth-century Panama that illuminates the nature of power and politics in a small but volatile nation. Using novelistic techniques, Vierba explores three episodes that proved critical to the shaping and erosion of contemporary Panamanian institutions: the establishment of a penal colony on the island of Coiba in 1919; the judicial drama following the murder of President Jose Antonio Remon Cantera in 1955; and the "disappearance" of a radical priest in 1971. The episodes are layered in different styles and perspectives, with the narrative voices both illuminating and concealing key moments that illustrate how powerful interests control and create social and political history. Vierba blends historical sociology with novelistic narrative and extensive empirical research, drawing on Michel Foucault's ideas about the inherent and intricate connections between power, interpretation, and representation. The result is a book that redefines conventional methods of historical writing. In short, Vierba has produced a multifaceted and deeply felt novelistic tale that reveals not only the nature of power - both institutional and disciplinary--but the contemporary history of a complex country over the course of a tumultuous century "Ezer Vierba's manuscript engages deeply and self-reflexively with issues of power and aesthetic form in twentieth-century Panama, using a novelistic form. A complex narrative that illuminates the nature of power (both institutional and disciplinary) and the tumultuous social and political history of Panama, Vierba's book brings to life three historical episodes that are critical to the shaping and corrosion of contemporary Panamanian institutions: the establishment of the penal colony on the island of Coiba in 1919; the judicial drama following the murder of Panamanian president Remón in 1955; and the work and eventual "disappearance" of a radical priest in 1971"-- Provided by publisher