Latin American Languages and Societies Commons^™

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 …

El Presidio Hispano-Colonial: Estudio Del Discurso Moderno De Fortificación Del Imperio Español A Traves De Planos Y Mapas, Javier E. Astorga Villarroel Ph.D.

Latin American Studies ETDs

This dissertation project delves into the processes of ideation, design, projection, and knowledge-transfer around the Presidio, an iconoclastic fortification system deployed by the Spanish Empire while projecting its colonial power toward the Transatlantic region. Based on Bruno Latour’s classic theory on the agency of networks of meanings (also known as new materialism) applied to historical cartography, my investigation examines the production of techno-military knowledge around the presidios as they were depicted through plans, maps, and manuals while mapping out border areas over North America and the Caribbean, from the 17th to the 19th centuries. With archival research work performed at …

Imágenes De Silencio, Compromiso, Persecución Y Tortura: La Teología De La Liberación Y Su Encrucijada Con Las Dictaduras Del Cono Sur Desde Una Representación Cinematográfica, Marcial Martínez

Spanish and Portuguese ETDs

This dissertation examines the interaction between liberation theology and the

dictatorships of the Southern Cone from the 1960s to the 1980s through cinematic

representation. Filmmakers from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay

depict the political upheavals of the time, including the rise of leftist movements,

military regimes, and the influence of liberation theology, a progressive religious

ideology advocating for the oppressed. The study focuses on what is defined here

as the "cinematic canon of liberation theology," a body of films and documentaries

that legitimize, contest, or obscure ideologies tied to this movement vis-à-vis the

dictatorships. These films contest the silence …

Rootless - The Body Remembers What The Mind Has Forgotten, Helena Omana-Zapata

Latin American Studies ETDs

In repurposing academic spaces for healing, this project is meant to culminate in an artefact that aligns with decolonial educational practices, focusing on accessibility. In doing so, this project braids multimodality, re-represented history, and testimonio of various genres: personal narrative, Latinx story and resistance, critical examination of history and reproductions of information to depict my experience of detaching from cultural identity through assimilation and acculturation in the United States in education. In what I have called the process of leaving me rootless, I no longer had access to the places, people, identity, or language that established belonging. However, through …

Greenleaf Lecture: Sounds On The Road: Music And Mobility In The Camino Real De Tierra Adentro, Dr. Javier Marín-López

LAII Events

Join LAII and UNM Music for a talk led by LAII Greenleaf Visiting Library Scholar, Dr. Javier Marín-López.

In use from the mid-16th century, the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro was part of a global network of intercontinental roads and sea circuits designed by the Spanish monarchy to promote evangelization, encourage trade, and connect the different regions of the empire. This lecture will explore the function and significance of circulating sound in the symbolic construction of this trail. Dr. Marín-Lopez will pay special attention to the impact of this historic and cultural route on shaping the distinctive soundscape of the …

Nalcap Info-Session, Latin American And Iberian Institute

LAII Events

Tuesday, November 19, 2024 | 04:30 pm

Latin American and Iberian Institute (801 Yale Blvd NE)

801 Yale Blvd NE (campus building #165)

About:

The North American Language and Culture Assistants Program (NALCAP). College students and graduates - who are native-like speakers of English - partner with elementary and secondary schools in Spain to bolster language programs, as language assistants (TAs) under the supervision and guidance of teachers in Spain.

Notes:

This event is free and open to the public.

Mayan Film Screening & Director Q&A, Latin American And Iberian Institute

LAII Events

Monday, November 18, 2024 | 01:00 pm

Learning Language Center (Ortega Hall) Lab 1

About:

Synopsis:

Elena, a Mayan Tzotzil woman from San Andrés Larráinzar, Chiapas, is challenged by the uses and customs of her people when an almost entirely male community assembly appoints her as a municipal trustee. As an authority, she introduces us to the complexity of the system of socio-political organization in San Andrés. During her term of office, the traditional practice of masculinity begins to be questioned.

Director Bio:

Florencia Gómez Sántiz, Maya Tzeltal woman from Oxchuc, Chiapas. She has a bachelor's degree in Intercultural Communication …

The Future Of U.S.-Mexico Relations, Dr. Abelardo Rodriguez Sumano, Dr. Jorge A. Schiavon, Dr. Rafael Velazquez, Patricia Pinzon Sanchez

LAII Events

Monday, November 18, 2024 | 03:00 pm

National Hispanic Cultural Center | Wells Fargo Theatre

About:

Join the UNM Latin American and Iberian Institute, the Mexican Consulate in Albuquerque, and the National Hispanic Cultural Center for a panel discussing the future of US-Mexico relations.

The purpose of this panel is to discuss the nature of the current relationships between Mexico and the United States. The participants will also try to foresee the perspectives of the future interaction between both countries. As the relation embodies both promising opportunities and reasons for alarm, the panel will explore the context of the two …

Portuguese Bate-Papo + Lunch, Latin American And Iberian Institute

LAII Events

Come practice Portuguese, make some friends, and try Brazilian Snacks!

Bate-Papo | 3-4 PM

November 7, 21

December 5

Lunch | 12-1PM

November 22

Please contact [email protected] with any questions.

Why Do Populist Authoritarians Rarely Turn Into Repressive Dictators?, Dr. Kurt Weyland

LAII Events

Thursday, November 07, 2024 | 03:30 pm

Ortega Reading Room (third floor)

About:

Join LAII, the UNM Department of Political Science, and the UNM International Studies Institute for a discussion about authoritarinism in Latin America led by Professor Weyland.

Most authoritarian regimes installed by populist chief executives do not become full-scale, repressive dictatorships. As explanation, scholars commonly highlight the charismatic appeal of populist leaders: Because they command voluntary mass support, they do not need harsh political coercion. While corroborating this argument, the talk highlights a crucial complementary factor: Populist chief executives have difficulty marshalling large-scale political repression. After all, their …

Musicology Colloquium: Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay Canta Y No Compones: Mariachi Performance And Composition, Latin American And Iberian Institute, Dr. Russell C. Rodríguez

LAII Events

Wednesday, November 06, 2024 | 02:00 pm

Latin American and Iberian Institute (801 Yale Blvd NE)

801 Yale Blvd NE (campus building #165)

About:

Focusing on the impact of technology on mariachi music, this presentation examines the transition of the ensemble and its repertoire at the beginning of the 20th century. Rodríguez ultimately argues that the global reach of the mariachi, facilitated by the modern capitalist marketplace, garnered musical developments from cosmopolites contributing to the form’s vibrancy.

Russell C. Rodríguez is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Music at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC). He received his …

Reduction Of The Vocalic Sequence /Ea/ In Tapatío Spanish, Karol Ibarra Zetter

Spanish and Portuguese ETDs

Reduction of the Vocalic Sequence /ea/ in Tapatío Spanish

This study investigates reduction in the vocalic sequence /ea/ in spontaneous conversational Tapatío Spanish from CCT: El Corpus Conversacional Tapatío (Martínez Gómez & Ibarra Zetter, 2017). An example of this phenomenon is the vocalic sequence /ea/ in the word in teatro ‘theater,’ which is often produced as [ˈtja.tɾo]. However, the word azotea ‘rooftop’ is usually pronounced [a.so.ˈte.a] by CCT speakers. The lexical frequency of these words is one factor that influences the degree of /ea/ reduction. Typically, there is a correlation between the frequency of lexical items and their phonetic reduction …

¿Qué Lengua Hablas?: The Interaction Of Languages, Education And Identity In A Majority/Minority Sociolinguistic Setting, Luisa F. Hurtado Iglesias

Spanish and Portuguese ETDs

This thesis presents a comparative analysis of language dynamics in two distinct contexts: the Tres Fronteras region, where Spanish and Portuguese intersect, and Cauca, Colombia, where Namtrik and Spanish coexist. Through qualitative research methods including interviews and ethnographic observations, the study examines the roles of these languages in shaping social interactions, cultural identities, and community dynamics.

By exploring language use patterns, attitudes, and policies in these regions, the thesis seeks to uncover similarities and differences in the ways Spanish, Portuguese, and Namtrik influence individuals' sense of belonging and cultural expression. Furthermore, the study examines the impact of historical, social, and …

Muertos Made In México: Necrocapitalismo En La Cultura Mexicana, Luis A. Gamboa

Spanish and Portuguese ETDs

Muertos Made in México: Necrocapitalismo en la cultura mexicana examina textos de la literatura mexicana desde 1810 hasta la actualidad, junto con estudios cinematográficos, para explorar los contextos históricos y culturales que han contribuido al surgimiento de la violencia en México como fenómeno social. Asimismo, siguiendo la teoría de la necropolítica (2019) de Joseph-Achille Mbembe (1967), se analizan el realismo-gore y la doctrina neoliberal en México (1980-presente) que impulsan la deshumanización y cosificación de colectivos marginados y la trata de personas en el mercado global. Muertos Made in México propone que en una sociedad caracterizada por la muerte y la …

Overregularization Of Irregular Spanish Verbal Morphology: The Cases Of 2sg Preterit And Irregular Past Participles, Elisabeth Baker Martínez

Spanish and Portuguese ETDs

This dissertation investigates a widely observed phenomenon in child language acquisition: overregularization, which occurs when a child applies a regular linguistic pattern where an irregular form is expected (Bybee, 2015), for example, when a child overregularizes irregular 1sg Spanish sé ‘I know’ as sabo. This dissertation adds to the research on the overregularization of Spanish verbal morphology. The population of focus is Spanish-speaking children ranging from the ages of 1;10 – 12;4 with different language backgrounds (e.g., monolingual Spanish children, U.S. child heritage speakers). The studies included address the development of two Spanish morphological forms by focusing on children’s …

"Un Pedacito De Nuestro Pais": Salvadoran Rootedness In Central Los Angeles, Ericka Arias

Latin American Studies ETDs

How has the Salvadoran Market contributed to a sense of cultural rootedness in Central Los Angeles? This thesis project examines the ways in which an informalized street vendor market has employed Latino Urbanism and Placemaking practices to foster a sense of cultural rootedness and belonging for the local Salvadoran community. Through community- based approaches and analysis, this thesis addresses the sociocultural importance of street vendors for immigrant communities and analyzes the ways in which this Salvadoran market facilitates placemaking practices that (re)unite Salvadorans with their cultural roots. This research contributes to subfields of Latino Urbanism and Informality, within Urban Studies, …

Resistance Narratives: Storytelling Of Transnational Insurgencies In 1960-70s Us And Mexico, Tania Libertad Balderas

English Language and Literature ETDs

Resistance Narratives: Storytelling of Transnational Insurgencies in 1960-70s US and Mexico emphasizes how the narratives from the Mexican Insurgency, the American Indian Movement (AIM), and the leftist faction of the Chicana/o Movement in the 1960s and 1970s articulate intersecting notions of resistance, liberation, and transnational solidarity. The comparative analysis of the testimonial novel Las mujeres del alba (2019) by Chihuahuan novelist Carlos Montemayor, the autobiographies Lakota Woman (1991) and Ohitika Woman (1993) by Sičháŋǧu Lakȟóta writer and AIM militant Mary Brave Bird (formerly Crow Dog), and the memoirs and plays by the San Diego-based group Teatro de las Chicanas, collected …

Returning To Northern New Mexico. A Study Of The Nuevomexicano Lexicon., Guevara Del Angel

Spanish and Portuguese ETDs

Spanish in New Mexico prior to the 1900s was the predominant language of the region that began to be displaced with the growth of the English-speaking population during the 20th century. In this dissertation I refer to the Spanish language variety that has had the longest historical presence in northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado as Traditional New Mexican Spanish (TNMS, as per Bills & Vigil, 2008). This study aims to document aspects of maintenance and change regarding TNMS. The traditional heritage variety of New Mexican Spanish is changing in many ways, evolving from what has been documented in the …

Aging And Learning: Community Engagemente And Self-Efficacy In L2 Teaching To Elderly Learners, Leticia Rinaldi Souza

Spanish and Portuguese ETDs

The elderly population (60 years or older) has been increasing during the past decades around the world and is expected to reach two billion by 2050 (Scult, Haime, et al 2015). However, the misconception that elderly people are uncapable, or incompetent is still part of the imaginary constructed around such populations (Minichiello and Coulson, 2005). Older adults present powerful functional capacities and social activities lead to better performance and slower decreases in their memory and executive function (Scott, Masser, & Pachana, 2020). Thus, second language learning plays an effective role in enabling active and regular engagement in social and psychological …

The Manito Topos Project: Place Naming And Toponymic Silencing In The Sierras Of Northern Nuevo México And Southern Colorado, Len N. Beké

Spanish and Portuguese ETDs

This dissertation reports on documentary research on vernacular toponymies in Manito communities in Nuevo México and Colorado. These toponymies are erased, obscured and delegitimized in official maps. Within the study area, vernacular antecedents for 49.5% of official names for natural features were documented, along with 280 previously unmapped names. These data were compared to the state-sanctioned toponymy to determine a typology of linguistic mechanisms of toponymic silencing. While a majority of official toponyms are based on Manito oral tradition, only 15.4% of the labels for natural features represent unaltered versions of names in that tradition. This dissertation theorizes the conceptual …

Cautividad: Deconstructing Notions Of Race And Nation In Argentina 1776–1840, Whitney Rue Wagner

Latin American Studies ETDs

This project is an exploration of the construction and contestation of whiteness in Argentina through the lens of women’s captivity in the middle period. This research explores how representations of captive women were used to construct a national identity via gender, race, and ethnicity, exploring some of the foundational work that would lead to the myth of Argentina as a white nation. By focusing on the various roles these captive women played and centering the complex liminal spaces they negotiated this work seeks to challenge elite historical representations of captive women by highlighting their nuanced socio-political role amongst Indigenous, specifically …

Creando La Confianza: Narratives On Mentorship Of Latina Professors At The University Of New Mexico, Maria G. Vielma

Spanish and Portuguese ETDs

Numerous scholars have investigated the significant role that representation and mentorship play in the success of Latinas and other women of color during their journey through higher education, from degree completion to faculty hiring and advancement (Vasquez 1982, Zambrana et. al. 1997, Valdez 2001, Cavazos & Cavazos 2010, Shayne 2020, Contreras et. al. 2022). However, little research exists surrounding the lived experiences that have shaped mentorship carried out by university faculty, specifically, mentorship carried out by bilingual Latina faculty in higher education. Through a Latina Feminist Epistemology implementing Oral History Methodologies, this thesis aims to understand the cycle of mentorship …

Escribir El Desarrollo, Desplegar La Cultura: Historias De Imaginación Económica En Colombia Y Brasil, Diego Bustos

Spanish and Portuguese ETDs

In this dissertation, we analyze how a group of artists negotiate through their novels and cultural performances a repertoire of meanings on inequality and plurality, formulating a program of socio-cultural transformation via literature. In the first two chapters, we examine the work by Colombian author Augusto Morales Pino (comprised of four volumes), as proponent of a transnational genealogy of economic development, offering a repertoire of meanings and practices for contemporary public policy in which the concept of middle class predominates. I argue that these representations actively shape the possibility and limits of the contemporary models of inclusion and cultural citizenship. …

The Body Articulated: Gender Violence And The Performative Turn In Mexico, Kylee Aragon

Museum Studies Theses

The Body Articulated: Gender Violence and the Performative Turn in Mexico explores the role of performance art in raising awareness for gender-based crimes. My thesis investigates the performative response to gender-based violence in contemporary art in Mexico during the 1970’s and then again in the post-NAFTA era, with the aim of examining the use of the artists body, the voices of women as substitution for the body, and the bodies of others as means of creating a greater awareness to the feminicidal epidemic. Artists like Mónica Mayer and Lorena Wolffer use their body and the voices of woman, as opposed …

Lecturas Ecoculturales Del Caribe Hispánico Y Francés Y Del Brasil, Mariana Herring

Spanish and Portuguese ETDs

In this dissertation, we analyze a selection of works, both literary and filmic, in order to explore how they connect ecological realities with the social, economic and cultural realms. Through the analysis of novels, biographies and films by Caribbean and Brazilian authors, this analysis will focus, in particular, on how these works show the impact of the imposition of the plantation, the modernization discourse, the ongoing colonial experience, and the dismissal of traditional and local knowledge and practices, on ecological problems in the past and in the present. By ecological, we do refer to the interconnectedness between the human and …

Innovadores Guaymíes: Un Estudio De Caso De Emprendedores En Una Sociedad De Menor Complejidad Socioeconómica., Milton R.A. Machuca-Gálvez Phd, Mlis, John R. Bort Phd

University Libraries & Learning Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Traducción al castellano de la disertación doctoral Guaymí Innovators: A Case Study of Entrepreneurs in a Small Scale Society de John R. Bort, presentada al Departamento de Antropología y la Escuela de Postgrado de la Universidad de Oregón, junio de 1976. Traducción de Milton Machuca-Gálvez, PhD, MLIS.

Se enfoca en el cambio socioeconómico en los indígenas guaymí del occidente de Panamá. Principalmente en cómo los guaymíes reaccionan a las cambiantes circunstancias económicas de su entorno. La mayor parte de los datos utilizados se obtuvieron mediante observación participante junto con materiales del censo que sirvieron para complementar el trabajo de campo. …

O Ventre Como Espaço De Resistência Em Maria Firmina Dos Reis E Yolanda Arroyo Pizarro, Jessica Luana Bueno Dos Santos Ms.

Spanish and Portuguese ETDs

The issue of violence against reproductive capacity and the right to motherhood in the context of the African diaspora in Brazil and Puerto Rico was systematically placed in the background, especially in the literary field, as was the case with the attitudes of resistance practiced against such violence. Considering this reality, this thesis compares two texts that approach such violence from a place of resistance, evidencing practices of insubordination common to such contexts: “A escrava” (1887) by Maria Firmina dos Reis (1822-1917) and “Matronas” (2012) by Yolanda Arroyo Pizarro (1970). Specifically, this study examines and compares the representational strategies used …

Conversations About Utopia And Anti-Utopia In Latin America: Co-Authored Writing, Felix Manuel Burgos, Les W. Field, Lara Gunderson

LAII Events

During the markedly strange time for research and writing engendered by the pandemic, I came to realize that for many years I had noticed with alarm that utopian narratives and imaginaries, in written and visual media, had almost completely disappeared, whereas dystopian and anti-utopian imaginaries had everywhere proliferated. I initiated conversations with former and current students to co-theorize this historical moment in the ways alternative futures are conjured and represented. Out of those conversations the two projects presented here developed: on the one hand, a conversation with Lara Gunderson, (PhD in Anthropology 2018) about the utopian imaginary in Nicaragua was …

Disrupting The (Post) Neoliberal Order In Latin America Through The Representation Of Fictional Corporate Office Narratives In Argentina And Mexico (2007-2010), Juliana Todescan

Spanish and Portuguese ETDs

Due to the expansion of the neoliberal and global order in Latin America in the 1990s, national states and citizens are subjected to the free market interests regulated and managed by for profit corporations and the financial industry. Considering this a critical change in the social organization of Latin America, I compare narratives from Argentina and Mexico that imagine cosmopolitan cities being colonized by the corporate logic of profit. My analysis focuses on the representation of low level office workers in Antonio Ortuño’s novel Recursos humanos (2007), Guillermo Saccomanno’s novel El oficinista (2010), and Aníbal Jarkowski’s El trabajo (2007), and …