Modern Languages Commons^™

El Tirano Indigente: Pedro Páramo, Deuda Y Necropolítica, Alberto Ribas-Casasayas

Modern Languages & Literature

This article studies the connections between conditions of tyrannical control in Juan Rulfo’s novel Pedro Páramo and forms of violence and government in the contemporary world. It discusses debt and violence, two essential elements in the plot of Pedro Páramo, from the perspective of the so-called drug war, as well as critical discussions of debt that have emerged in the context of recent financial crises (Graeber, Lazzarato, Varoufakis).

Pedro Páramo’s tyranny is built on the implementation of two powers that feed on each other: necropolitical power and control through debt. Necropolitical power (Mbembé) involves the administration of and dominion …

The Impact Of Program Structure On Language Acquisition And Intercultural Competence: A Comparative Study Of Study Abroad Programs In Kunming, China, Samantha Bergman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

According to the Project Atlas study conducted by the Institute of International Education, China is the world’s third most popular study abroad location. With over 390,000 international students currently studying in China, there are more opportunities for cultural exchange and mutual understanding than ever before. However, there is still relatively little existing research on how different study abroad program structures impact students’ Chinese language skills and cultural literacy.

This study examined the impacts of experiential learning and intensive language study abroad program structures on students’ language acquisition and intercultural competence development. Two study abroad programs based in Kunming, SIT China: …

The Germania Club Of Chicago — A History And Some Curiosities, Reinhard Andress

Modern Languages and Literatures: Faculty Publications and Other Works

A concise history of the Germania Club of Chicago.

Review: Echoes Of Tattered Tongues: Memory Unfolded By John Z. Guzlowski, John A. Merchant

Modern Languages and Literatures: Faculty Publications and Other Works

This review of Echoes of Tattered Tongues: Memory Unfolded by John Z. Guzlowski has been written by John Merchant, a lecturer at Loyola University Chicago who researches Polish literature.

La Magie Comme Paradoxe Dans Moi, Tituba, Sorcière Noire De Salem, Jamie Gaffin

The University Honors Program

Le roman de Maryse Condé Moi Tituba, Sorcière Noire de Salem est une oeuvre de fiction historique qui invente une adaptation de la vie de Tituba Indien, une esclave accusée de sortilèges pendant les procès des sorcières de Salem. Les critiques littéraires discutent souvent du roman dans les termes du criticisme postcolonial et féministe. Tituba Indien est, comme le titre suggère, une sorcière, compétente dans les pouvoirs surnaturels lui communiqués par Man Yaya. Même-si Tituba est littéralement sorcière, les capacités magiques de Tituba fonctionnent aussi au niveau symbolique. L'usage de la magie symbolise la façon de laquelle son oppression est …

The Roles Of Digital Literacies And Critical Literacy For Black Adolescent Females, Jacqueline B. Koonce

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

The purpose of this conceptual thought paper is to argue for critical digital literacies instruction for all students, particularly students from marginalized populations. In this paper, the lived experiences of Black adolescent female avid readers were analyzed because of the complex nature of their discrimination due to their race and gender. Research questions included: What are the technologies and practices used by Black adolescent female avid readers? How and why do they use them? What are the implications for educators? To answer these questions, the voices of Black adolescent female readers from this author’s previous study were used to explore …

El Rock En Nicaragua: Un Discurso De Resistencia Contra La Neoliberalización O Una Re-Definición De La Tradición., Martina Barinova

Department of Modern Languages and Literatures: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Abstract in English

This work, which parts from the premise that music is a medium of communication with the potential to transform and create identities, explores rock music in Nicaragua since its beginning until the present. Nicaraguan rock music is born in a sociopolitical context of extreme economic instability and during a crisis of values in the last decade of the 20^th century, with the end of the Sandinista Revolution and the establishment of neoliberal government. The young cultural movement, and rock in particular, constructs a discourse dissident from the patriarchal and capitalist hegemony and interrogates the social reality …

Positional Verbs In Colonial Valley Zapotec, John Foreman, Brooke D. Lillehaugen

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper describes the system of positional verbs (e.g., ‘be standing’ and ‘be lying’) in Colonial Valley Zapotec (CVZ), a historical form of Valley Zapotec preserved in archival documents written during the Mexican colonial period. We provide data showing that positional verbs in CVZ have unique morphological properties and participate in a defined set of syntactic constructions, showing that positional verbs formed a formal class of verbs in Valley Zapotec as early as the mid-1500s. This work contributes to the typological literature on positional verbs, demonstrating the type of morphosyntactic work that can be done with a corpus of CVZ …

The (Un)Hero In The American West: Reexamining The Male/Female Binary Of Nineteenth Century Travel Diaries, Monica Reyes

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Oooh, It’S Sooo Good!!!: Black Adolescent Females Experiencing The Delicacy Of Reading, Jacqueline B. Koonce

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Black adolescent females have largely been neglected in the research literature on their avid reading. While Gibson (2010) explained that Black girls are often portrayed in the literature as struggling and even “remedial” readers, those Black adolescent females who are avid readers receive even less attention. The purpose of this study, then, was to investigate the voracious reading proclivities of this population in order to provide a balanced view of Black adolescent females’ reading lives. The findings of this phenomenological study indicate that these five participants go beyond loving reading; they crave it. The meaning of reading for these participants …

Hebrew Typography: A Modern Progression Of Language Forms, Shayna Tova Blum

Faculty and Staff Publications

Influenced by studies in traditional Ashkenazi and Sephardi scripts. The typeface had been designed for the printing of the Koren Tanakh, a first edition printed Jewish Bible processed through an all-Jewish collaboration for the first time in centuries. Koren’s project was inspired by the revival of Hebrew initiated by Haskalah writers in the 18th century. Haskalah writers utilized the language and scripts of written and printed literary texts. Influenced by philosophical and political ideologies of the European Enlightenment, the Haskalah explored Jewish identity through language by defining the secular context through traditional Jewish symbolism and narratives. The Zionist movement of …

Visual Communication & Typography: Study In The History Of Hebrew Letterforms And The Work Of Israeli Designer, Yaakov Stark, Shayna Tova Blum

Faculty and Staff Publications

The article reviews the history of letterforms and typographic design by discussing inventions in scripts, tools, and technology which impact the evolution of visual language and writing systems. Principles and elements of typography are analyzed using the Hebrew alphabet as an example in letterform design by exploring the work of Israeli designer, Yaakov Stark, who as an Israeli immigrant from Eastern Europe projects centered on Hebrew typography and the hybridization of Ashkenazi and Mizrahi scripts. Through an archive of work produced while a student at the Bezalel Academy of Art, Jerusalem in 1906, Stark has influenced generations of Israeli designers, …

Event Semantics: A Husserlian Critique, Andres Colapinto

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Cerberus At The Gates: The Demonization Of The French Female Concierge, Mariah Devereux Herbeck

World Languages Faculty Publications and Presentations

Located at the threshold of modern Parisian apartment living, the concierge maintains the common spaces, delivers mail and, until 1957, "pulled the cord" to permit dwellers to enter the building at all hours of the night. Neither owner of nor renter in the building that she tends, the concierge occupies the first-floor loge – a liminal space that is neither entirely public nor truly private – where she simultaneously lives and works. In the nineteenth century, the concierge was often poor and uneducated, yet influential thanks in great part to her post at the front door: "She was feared because …

Introduction To German Ecocriticism In The Anthropocene, Caroline Schaumann, Heather I. Sullivan

Modern Languages and Literatures Faculty Research

How do we approach, read, discuss, and teach German literature in light of the transnational and global environmental problems and crises caused by human activities? In what way does the current geological era of the Anthropocene marked by traceable human impact across the globe lead us to reflect on the role and interconnectedness of human and non-human forces? Since human activities and human cultures have caused so many of the current ecological problems, how can scholars address broad-scale interdisciplinary problems with attention to both cultural and scientific knowledge? What is the role of the humanities in this inextricably nature-culture mix …

The Dark Pastoral: A Trope For The Anthropocene, Heather I. Sullivan

Modern Languages and Literatures Faculty Research

Denoting our current age as the Anthropocene, or the era of planet-wide human impact, scales up human agency beyond the usual biological capacity of all living things to alter their surroundings to a geological force. Human activities have altered vast areas of the Earth's terrestrial surfaces, spread industrial particulates across the globe, and impacted the planetary climate with increased release of carbon dioxide that then increases oceanic acidity bleaching entire coral reefs. The biosphere's land, air, and water have all changed with the increased release and use of energy. Once again, a species of living things has become a large-scale …

"Introduction." In Don Quixote: The Re-Accentuation Of The World’S Greatest Literary Hero, Slav N. Gratchev Phd

Modern Languages Faculty Research

This book is a unique scholarly attempt to examine Don Quixote from multiple angles to see how the re-accentuation of the world’s greatest literary hero takes place in film, theatre, and literature. To accomplish this task, nineteen scholars from the United States, Canada, Spain, and Great Britain have come together, and each of them has brought his/her unique perspective to the subject. For the first time, Don Quixote is discussed from the point of re-accentuation, that is, having in mind one of the key Bakhtinian concepts that will serve as a theoretical framework. A primary objective was therefore to articulate, …

Introduction. The Polyphonic World Of Cervantes And Dostoevsky, Slav N. Gratchev Phd

Modern Languages Faculty Research

The communication and interrelation between Spanish and Russian literature have lasted for several centuries. At times, the connections grew weaker and at other times stronger, but they never disappeared completely. Throughout this period, which extends roughly from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries, there were single instances when the relationship between Spanish and Russian literature was becoming very intense, and we can admit that these interactions were very productive for both sides. The careful study of motives, forms, and all possible aspects of such communication, even if reviewed only in part, can be both revealing and productive for Spanish literary …

Eduardo Vargas Culture Quilt, Eduardo Ezequiel Vargas

Borders in Play Culture Quilts

No abstract provided.

Tales Of The Brick Age: Corruption And Bankruptcy In The Late Works Of Rafael Chirbes, Alberto Ribas-Casasayas

Modern Languages & Literature

The subprime collapse, the Global Recession, and the Eurozone crisis have given rise to an entire subgenre of crisis narratives in literary and visual arts, attempting to make sense of the human aspect, causes and outcomes of the largest non-war economic commotion in the West since the Great Depression. In Spain, the last two novels of Rafael Chirbes (1949-2015), Crematorio (2007) and En la orilla (2013)1 have distinguished themselves for an insightful view and poignant reflections on the real estate boom and bust, which defined the economic and cultural parameters of Spain after the democratic transition. Here I will call …

Creating Harmony From Diversity: What Confucianism Reveals About The True Value Of Liberal Education For The 21st Century, Kenneth Berthel

Modern Languages

This paper takes inspiration from Confucius’s teachings on social harmony to suggest that the most salient defense of a liberal education is that it is the indispensible means by which to parlay our increasingly diverse student populations into a more harmonious global society for the 21st century and beyond. Given the ever-increasing diversity of local communities and the globality of our social and professional lives as the significance of political boundaries and local citizenship fades, traditional defenses of a liberal education on the grounds that it prepares students for meaningful participation in local democracies or that it abstractly enhances life …

Implementing Vocabutoons In The English Language Arts Classroom: Drawing Their Way To Success, William Sewell

Research & Publications

Although vocabulary acquisition remains a critical to literacy development, teachers infrequently devote classroom time to vocabulary exercises. In this article, the author demonstrates the use of "vocabutoons" as an instructional activity which draws upon students’ multiple literacies—in particular, visual literacy—in order to foster vocabulary development. Tooning is based upon the belief that "[p]roficient readers visualize what they read as they construct meaning from a text" (Onofrey & Leikam 682). Representative artwork created by English Education majors enrolled in a young adult literature course at a university in the Midwest will be featured to highlight the tooning process.

Capitalismo, Esquizofrenia E Raça: O Negro E O Pensamento Negro Na Modernidade Ocidental, Ingrid Robyn

Department of Modern Languages and Literatures: Faculty Publications

Mbembe, Achille. Crítica da razão negra. 1. ed. Lisboa: Antígona, 2014. Tradução de Marta Lança.

Crítica da razão negra, de Achille Mbembe (original em francês pela editora La Découverte, 2013), é um desses livros que nasceu já clássico: clássico não no sentido de antigo, ou imune à passagem do tempo, mas no sentido borgeano de ter sido escolhido por uma comunidade de leitores como leitura obrigatória. E o livro é, de fato, leitura obrigatória não apenas para aqueles que se interessam pela questão do “negro”,1 mas para todos aqueles que, de alguma forma, se interessam pela relação entre raça …

Review Of Performing Captivity, Performing Escape. Cabarets And Plays From The Terezin/Theresienstadt Ghetto. Edited And With An Introduction By Lisa Peschel., Hana Waisserova

Department of Modern Languages and Literatures: Faculty Publications

Performing Captivity, Performing Escape. Cabarets and Plays from the Terezin/Theresienstadt Ghetto presents Lisa Peschel’s edited, revised, and translated into English Divadelní texty z terezínského ghetta/ Theatretexte aus dem Ghetto Theresienstadt, 1941-1945.

Terezín/Theresienstadt was unusual in that it served as a ghetto with an attached prison, as well as a concentration camp. The Nazi propaganda used this camp to convince the world that life was “normal” in this supposed Jewish resettlement area. For this reason, they allowed cultural life to take place. Peschel’s work is an anthology of selected texts originating there. It contains cabarets, puppet play scripts, as well …

What Women Know: The Power Of Savoir In Marguerite De Navarre’S Heptaméron, Nora Martin Peterson

Department of Modern Languages and Literatures: Faculty Publications

The verbs savoir and connaître appear in central moments in the Heptaméron. Knowledge—as it appears in the frame narrative and in the novellas—can be a way for men and women to debate, among many other things, the relationship between the sexes. When women use this word, or when they demonstrate that they know something, it creates the space to participate – not always unambiguously – in otherwise male-dominated conversations. How Marguerite writes about the acquisition, possession, fragmentation, or loss of knowledge, underscores her interest in exploring the role of women in communities of knowledge.

The "Hair" Factor, Humanism, Neoplatonism, And The Empire Building In The Spanish Golden Age, Katherine Gatto

2017 Faculty Bibliography

No abstract provided.

Seeing In Imagination: Visual Representation And Spiritual Contemplation In The Ascetical Treatises Of Juan Eusebio Nieremberg, D. Scott Hendrickson

Modern Languages and Literatures: Faculty Publications and Other Works

The once famous Spanish Jesuit Juan Eusebio Nieremberg engages the readers of his ascetical treatises De la diferencia entre lo temporal y eterno (1640) and De la hermosura de Dios (1641) in seeing in their imagination a seemly contradictory set of images of the material world: one in contempt, the other in wonder. However, the images serve the same purpose of fostering a greater appreciation for the eternal. This paper examines how Nieremberg’s visually descriptive narrative relates to the ways in which painters of the Spanish Golden Age –Valdés Leal, Sánchez Cotán and Murillo– display items on their canvases, but …

Meeting Student Needs: Integrating Spanish Heritage Language Learners Into The Second Language Classroom, Clara Burgo

Modern Languages and Literatures: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Despite the increase of Spanish heritage language (HL) courses in response to the linguistic needs of HL learners, these courses often combine this student population with advanced second language (L2) learners. This common scenario presents a challenge to many instructors who lack the training to negotiate intercultural and linguistic issues in the classroom so that all students can benefit. This essay presents key intercultural concerns (e.g., embarrassment and intimidation) and suggests strategies for instructors. Twenty-first-century students will work in collaborative contexts, so they must learn how to benefit from their classmates’ strengths and work on their weaknesses through peer interaction …

The Role Of Working Memory Among Non-Traditional Foreign Language Students, Gabriela Olivares-Cuhat, Michelle H. Ploof

Faculty Publications

Over the last 40 years, a growing number of nontraditional students have joined the ranks of higher education. However, due to a number of internal and external factors, these students face multiple social, economic, and academic challenges that may limit their success in postsecondary education. The focus of this article is to examine the implications of these challenges on the learning of a foreign language (FL), and more specifically on the role played by working memory (WM) with nontraditional FL learners. To this end, research studies in the fields of psycholinguistics, cognitive psychology and neuroscience are reviewed and their findings …

Culture And Instruction In The Spanish Heritage Language Classroom, Clara Burgo

Modern Languages and Literatures: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Since cultural competence is inherent to language acquisition, it should take a central role in heritage language courses so that heritage language learners (HLLs) can make connections with their own culture and be aware of the diversity of the Spanish-speaking world. This article presents an overview of the instruction and assessment of culture to promote critical thinking and reflection in order to reduce stereotypes and to validate the cultural heritage of HLLs. The current role of study abroad and service-learning to teach culture in the Spanish heritage language classroom is also discussed.