European Languages and Societies Commons^™

La Santa Muerte And The Characteristic Damage Of Canonization, Ellen Webber

Journal of Global Catholicism

Devotion to La Santa Muerte, a Mexican folk saint who personifies Death, has

been condemned by the Catholic Church for its affiliation with Mexican drug

cartels. This article challenges mainstream interpretations of La Santa Muerte

devotion using the theological framework of characteristic damage, as defined

by Lauren Winner and Paul J. Griffiths. This framework understands liturgy

as celebrated by sinners in a damaged world, and therefore necessarily damaged

itself. As much as liturgy and Christian practice form us for good, they also per-

petuate damage. I argue that the sins present in La Santa Muerte veneration are

an expression of …

Editor's Introduction, Brent H. Otto S.J.

Journal of Global Catholicism

No abstract provided.

Hindu Poetry And The Project Of An Inter-Spiritual Catholic Theology, Francis X. Clooney

Journal of Global Catholicism

This article engages the work of the Indian south Indian Tamil-language Vaiṣṇava poet saints known as the Alvārs. The article specifically focuses the First HundredHoly Linked verses of Poykai Ālvār to argue for inter-spiritual learning between Catholics and Hindus. The article concludes with personal reflections on this encounter within the context of the global Catholic Church

The Proletarian Moment In World Literature, Anna Björk Einarsdóttir

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

During the interwar period (1918–1939), an international literary movement emerged in relation to internationalist and socialist politics and political struggles. Writers around the world saw themselves as contributors to a new proletarian moment within the historical unfolding of world literature. This movement was international, and writers situated on the peripheries of both the capitalist core and the emerging socialist world looked toward revolutionary Russia and other centers of the socialist world. This paper focuses on three such authors, the American Richard Wright, the Argentinian Roberto Arlt, and the Icelander Halldór Laxness. During the interwar period, all three were involved in …

The Desire Of Strict Souls: The Poetry, Criticism, And Letters Of Paul Valéry And Wallace Stevens, Michael Healy

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation compares the poetic, critical, and epistolary oeuvres of Paul Valéry and Wallace Stevens and the influence of the former on the latter. Valéry famously advocated for the pursuit of “poésie pure” (“pure poetry”) and influenced Stevens especially in this way, though both of them concluded it was not achievable. I establish an approximation of a critical framework based on the work of the following critics and scholars: Wendy Lesser, Wendy Steiner, Anthony Cuda, Michael Clune, Paul Bové, and Liesl Olson. Harold Bloom’s passionate advocacy and deep, sustained engagement with Stevens and his work strongly influenced my choice to …

Al-Manfiyun Exiliados: Voices Of The Lebanese Diaspora In Mexican Literature, Mia Del Rosario

Spanish and Portuguese ETDs

This thesis explores two key works of Mexican literature published in the late 20^th century in terms of their cultural relevance in the Mexican literary sphere. The novels En el verano, la tierra by Carlos Martínez Assad and Las hojas muertas by Bárbara Jacobs center around the infrequently-explored identities of Lebanese immigrants to Mexico and their Mexican-born descendants through a sociocultural lens, discussing their identity negotiation in the context of 20^th-century Mexico, which was in the process of redefining its national identity after the Mexican Revolution. During this time, people of ethnicities that did not fall into …

A Constructional Approach To Multimodal Linguistic Analysis, Fredy A. Mendieta Rodriguez

Spanish and Portuguese ETDs

This dissertation investigates the systematic organization of co‑speech gestures in referential communication, using data from Spanish‑speaking monolinguals and Spanish–English bilinguals. While traditional gesture research treats pointing as a universal phenomenon, the current analyses show that gestural productions display internal phonological patterning and context‑conditioned variability that parallels spoken constructions. Quantitative results demonstrate how referential distance and communicative context (find‑it versus misunderstanding situations) shape the selection of embodied phonological features—handshape, orientation, movement, and beats—revealing consistent associations between form and interactional demands. Qualitative analyses trace how gestural realizations reduce across discourse as shared understanding emerges. A new complexity metric, based on token frequency …

The Romantic Imagination Of Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer And J.R.R. Tolkien, Mariana Rios Maldonado, Andoni Cossio

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Studies on the presence of Romantic elements in J.R.R. Tolkien’s literary production have steadily risen to prominence, especially since the publication of Julian Eilmann’s landmark monograph J.R.R. Tolkien: Romanticist and Poet (2017) and, more recently, the edited collection The Romantic Spirit in the Works of J.R.R Tolkien (2024). Our paper seeks to contribute to this scholarly upsurge by presenting a comparative analysis of Tolkien’s works and those penned by one of the most noteworthy authors of Spanish Romanticism, Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (1836–1870). Akin to the Kunstmärchenof German Romanticism and Tolkien’s Fairy-stories, Bécquer’s Leyendas—e. g. “El monte de las …

Codenames For Language Courses, Jeffrey Nolan Mcculley, Chloe Bennett

UTA Libraries Staff Publications - Archive

In this lesson, students deepen their proficiency in the target language by designing and implementing a foreign-language edition of the game Codenames. Drawing on their understanding of vocabulary, semantics, and cultural nuance, students adapt game components and rules to account for language-specific challenges such as word ambiguity, cognates, homophones, and idiomatic meaning. Through collaborative gameplay, students actively apply linguistic knowledge in a communicative, problem-solving context that emphasizes precision and strategic language use. The lesson promotes critical thinking, intercultural competence, and authentic language practice while reinforcing vocabulary acquisition and comprehension in an engaging, student-centered format.

Terminating Pregnancies In Boccaccio, Anne C. Leone

Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics - All Scholarship

Analyzing examples from the Decameron (1349-51), De mulieribus claris (1361), and the Corbaccio (1365), I argue that Boccaccio (1313-75) demonstrates an awareness of theological, legal and medical opinions on abortion and contraception at the time. However, he is more attuned to the practical concerns of pregnancy than are many of his contemporaries. Acknowledging the variety of situations facing pregnant people and some parts of their lived experience that were ignored by many religious and legal authorities, Boccaccio highlights a disconnection between theory and practice, and thereby raises questions about the limits of abstract knowledge in the face of practical concerns.

Interspecies Responsivity In Early Modern Drama And Animal Performances, Taylor C. Culbert

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation proposes an expansive, interspecies definition of performance that uses behavior rather than cognition as the decisive feature and illustrates how such a definition can reshape our approach to theatre and performance history. Using the concept of responsivity, which refers to the embodied and affective ways that humans and non-human animals acknowledge and react to one another, I trace human–animal interactions across a variety of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century performance genres, from the aristocratic stag hunt and entertainments involving trained animals to the plays of Molière and Shakespeare. Drawing on my experience training animals, I offer a new perspective on …

Hamete Y Su Viaje Transformador, Matthew J. Dean

Homage to Alexander von Humboldt: Travels to and from Spain Throughout the Centuries / Homenaje a Alexander von Humboldt: Viajes hacia y desde España de todos los siglos

El Hamete de Toledo es un drama escrito por Lope de Vega. Cuenta la historia de un noble musulmán del norte de África que es capturado y esclavizado en España. Este artículo sitúa la acción en el contexto histórico, destacando las técnicas dramáticas a través de las cuales se revelara el viaje de transformación del protagonista.

El Encuentro De Alexander Von Humboldt Y Enrique Gil En Berlín, Valentín Carrera

Homage to Alexander von Humboldt: Travels to and from Spain Throughout the Centuries / Homenaje a Alexander von Humboldt: Viajes hacia y desde España de todos los siglos

La celebración del X Congreso Internacional e Interdisciplinario Alexander Von Humboldt en la ciudad de León propició la mejor ocasión para hilvanar ante distinguidos colegas especialistas en la materia uno de los hilos más desconocidos de Humboldt: su relación con el poeta y diplomático Enrique Gil, Padre de las Letras Leonesas. Esta contribución hilvana, pues, sobre el telar del Romanticismo, los cabos sueltos del encuentro en Berlín de dos inteligencias deslumbrantes, dos personalidades de alto voltaje literario y humano, que compartían su homosexualidad y sus vínculos con logias masónicas. La relación, descrita como amistad íntima, se extendió desde septiembre de …

Pedro Aceves Mfa Thesis, Pedro M. Aceves

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

My Work is about looking at Cruising through a queer decolonial lens. Using multiple mediums such as photo, glass, Augmented reality, and film, I explore these queer histories and aesthetics through not just an anthropological approach but also an artistic epistemological approach weaving together narratives of prehispanic and modern queer Latinidad.

La Historia Externa Del Español Hasta La Reconquista, Alicia Westmoreland

World Languages and Cultures Senior Capstones

This paper talks about the romance language, Spanish, which evolved from Vulgar Latin after the fall of the Roman Empire. Influenced by the Visigoths, Moors, and the Christian Reconquista, its linguistic development reflects centuries of cultural exchange. The Moors introduced Arabic vocabulary, while the Reconquista reinforced Castilian dominance. Despite external influences, Spanish retains a phonetic system closely linked to Latin. This essay examines Spanish’s historical linguistics, highlighting how conquests, migrations, and societal shifts shaped its evolution.

Avant Et Après : Examen Du Proto-Féminisme À Travers La Résistance Littéraire En France Au Xve Siècle Et Au Mexique Au Xviie Siècle, Madison Coleman

World Languages and Cultures Senior Capstones

This essay seeks to understand the implications of a “before” distinction in the feminist canon— i.e., why is there “proto-feminism”, and not just “feminism”? This essay will explore the works of “proto-feminist” writers, Christine de Pizan and Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, and examine how the feminist themes and issues prevalent throughout their respective works are in response to the respective and collective inequities and injustices they experienced. Their oeuvres provide insight into what advocacy for women and other marginalized peoples looked like outside of the modern understanding of the historical “waves” of feminism. This essay seeks to examine …

The Rescue Of Wahutedew’Á And The Epistemological Reforestation: An Analysis Of Time In A Terra Dos Mil Povos, By Kaká Werá Jecupé, Ivo Cruz

The Coastal Review

It is estimated that in 1500, the year the Portuguese arrived in America, there was a population of 2,431,000 inhabitants, according to historian John Hemming (1978), who occupied the lands that we now know as Brazil. These peoples had their own culture whose cosmology was destroyed and erased over time by a violent process of colonization. Even though entire groups were decimated, much of their influence is still alive in Brazilian culture. This influence can be found in vocabulary, cuisine, and even religious practices. With the aim of rescuing ancestral narratives and knowledge of various native peoples, Kaká Werá Jecupé …

Light And Darkness For Aesthetic Pleasure: An Exploration Of J.M.G. Le Clézio’S Early Writings And Jun’Ichiro Tanizaki’S In Praise Of Shadows, Kenichiro Otani

The Coastal Review

Building upon comparative principles, this semantic reading of Jun’ichirō Tanizaki’s essay In Praise of Shadows and J.M.G. Le Clézio’s early writings illustrates how both the Franco-Mauritian author and the Japanese writer problematize modern Western perception laden with concepts stifling flexible imagination through the mysterious worldview of light/darkness. They also simultaneously express the hope that another way of life leading to liberation is possible. Delving into the spiritual confinement of the subject, they demonstrate how keeping rich creativity within one’s heart can be an escape from a stagnant society. Albeit in very different mediums, Tanizaki and Le Clézio assert that the …

Teaching Cuba In Georgia Today, Eric Kartchner

The Coastal Review

This essay details a college professor's approach to teaching a course on Cuban history and culture. The professor's pedagogical choices were influenced by Ada Ferrer's book, Cuba: An American History, and José Antonio Bowen's work on fostering independent thinking. The syllabus covered pre-Columbian Cuba, Spanish rule, the wars of independence, the Castro era, and significant cultural aspects like music and religion. The course emphasized multiple perspectives and encouraged student-led research, challenging preconceived notions about Cuba's complex relationship with the United States. The professor aimed to promote critical thinking and understanding through student-driven inquiry.

Leer La Pintura Las Meninas: Niveles B Y C De Español L2, Nydia Jeffers

The Coastal Review

La pintura española Las meninas (1656) de Diego Velázquez ha sido examinada por especialistas de las artes y las ciencias. Esta propuesta didáctica invita a los estudiantes de español de los niveles B y C a practicar la lectura mediante las conexiones curriculares de la obra. Para ilustrar su potencial educativo, se conecta la pintura con más de veinte investigadores de distintas disciplinas. El diseño de las actividades se apoya en teóricos de la adquisición de segundas lenguas y en referentes de artes plásticas del Plan Curricular del Instituto Cervantes (2007) y abarca las competencias lingüísticas del Marco Común Europeo …

Editor's Introduction, Mathew Schmalz

Journal of Global Catholicism

No abstract provided.

‘More Love Letters, Please!’: Portuguese Love And The Literary Legacy Of Sincere Feeling, Manuela MourãO

English Faculty Publications

This essay traces the formation of the myth of Portuguese Love, and demonstrates both its transcultural reach and its importance for literary history. Sparked by the tragic love of Pedro and Inês de Castro, the notion of Portuguese Love was crystallized in seventeenth-century France by Lettres portugaises, influenced European letters for centuries, and became an enduring myth in Portuguese culture. Anchored by Roland Barthes’s critique of the contemporary disparagement of sentimental love, the essay argues that Portuguese Love’s continued affirmation, from nineteenth-century literary iterations to current manifestations, demonstrates the power of a discourse of genuine feeling to counter ideological …

Alianzas Antimodernas: Estudios Del Cine Español Del Proceso 15m, Pedro Cabello Del Moral

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Anti-Modern Alliances: Studies of Spanish Cinema of the 15M Process mobilizes decolonial theory to shed new light upon the politics of the 15M (or Indignados) movement and its visual culture. It tackles anti-modern critiques as embodied in film characters who have been traditionally relegated to the margins of modernity’s grand narratives. The research corpus encompasses a diverse body of works –documentaries, fiction films, activist video essays and their paratexts, which I critically interrogate in dialogue with contemporary feminist, anti-racist, decolonial, anti-neoliberal and anti-ableist debates. Thus, the dissertation examines the methods by which audiovisual works from the past ten years have …

El Movimiento Romántico En España: El Costumbrismo, Lo Gótico Y Su Recepción, Charlotte Parker

World Languages and Cultures Senior Capstones

This essay explores the history and development of the Romantic movement within Spain. Considering the historical context of the 18th century, topics such as the influences of the monarchy and the Catholic Church, the authors Mariano José de Larra and José Zorrilla and the literary works produced in this era are investigated. The presentation reveals unique aspects of romanticism within Spain. Additionally, it investigates how these themes were reflected in popular culture values. Finally, it examines the perception of a Spanish national identity, as well as the relationship between Spain and the rest of Europe.

2024 Conference Program, Georgia Southern University

South East Coastal Conference on Languages & Literatures (SECCLL)

2024 Conference Program

La Traducción Política: El Silenciamiento Narrativo Y La Traducción Inglés-Español Bajo Francisco Franco, Avery Austin

World Languages and Cultures Student Papers and Posters

We tend to live under the assumption that translations will always attempt to be faithful to their original texts, blindly believing in the infallibility of the translator. However, in doing so, we ignore how translation can be used to take advantage of the reader – how can one know that a change has occurred in a translated work if they have no knowledge of the text’s original language? This paper studies the power dynamics of translation, and how it can be used as a tool to aid censorship. By focusing on translated literary works under the Franco regime, this work …

Pedro Mexía And The Politics Of Translation In The Early Modern World, Erin Fairweather, Robert Fritz

Posters-at-the-Capitol

Spanish humanist Pedro Mexía (1497-1551) wrote two highly influential texts in the sixteenth century, the Silva de varia lección (1540) and the Historia imperial y cesárea (1545), which were, notably, written in Spanish, a vernacular language, as opposed to Latin, the academic language of the age. As these books presented previously inaccessible scientific and historical knowledge to the common person, they were soon translated into several languages, achieving widespread fame and influence. However, the texts have been mostly forgotten and have seen little study in recent times. Nevertheless, the Silva and the Historia can help us better understand the politics …

Unha Vez Tiven Un Cravo (Once I Had A Nail), Roslie De Castro, Scott Cooper

Obsculta

Rosalia de Castro was a nineteenth-century Spanish Catholic writer now best-known for her novels, but her poetry is widely admired in the Spanish-speaking world as well. This devotional poem is written in the language of her native region of Galicia, and the translator hopes that this new version will awaken interest in Castro's work in the English-speaking world.

A Construção Da Guerra Civil Através De Dois Discursos Na Farsália, De Lucano, Leni Ribeiro Leite, Thayrynne De Faria Coutinho

Modern and Classical Languages, Literatures and Cultures Faculty Publications

O presente trabalho analisa a construção da Guerra Civil nos cantos II e IV da Farsália, do poeta Lucano, por meio da caracterização e dos discursos de duas personagens: a mãe e o soldado. Em uma épica em que o confronto entre membros de um mesmo povo é central, defendemos que Lucano, ao apresentar essas duas personagens, apresenta dois pontos de vista romanos em relação a dinâmica da guerra. Para essa análise, tomamos como base a concepção de Dominique Maingueneau (1995, 2008) de ethos e elementos retóricos da Antiguidade apresentados, em especial, na Institutio Oratoria, de Quintiliano.

Global Communities: The Potential Of Street Art And The Public Space, Elena Picech

The Coastal Review

This paper highlights the significance of physical proximity and the potentiality of socio-spatial situations as tools to enrich study abroad programs. Particular attention is given to street art and the public space. While, studying on-site can be somewhat uncomfortable, it can potentially prompt unique reflections, enhance student’s learning and encourage introspection. Being on-site provides the opportunity to come into contact and to connect with the physical objects and their environment. It enables a multisensory and immersive embodied experience. Leveraging art for communicative educational activities can facilitate a participatory experience, promote critical thinking and enhance cultural understanding.