Spanish and Portuguese Language and Literature Commons^™

Fantasmas O Fantasia: Un Análisis De Casa Tomada, Christopher Good

Research and Creativity Symposium

Literary analysis of Casa tomada (House overtaken), a short story written by Julio Cortazar in his book: “Bestiario” (bestiary). The story has features of magical realism, mystery, and horror in its account of two siblings whose home is overtaken after hearing strange sounds. This essay was written by a student in Professor Fajardo-Cardenas’ writing-intensive, Advanced Writing class (Spanish 413).

Outperformed: Exploration And Comparison Of The Tongue-And-Cheek Tragedies Of Women-Animal Relationships In Selected Short Stories By Samanta Schweblin And In Apichatpong Weerasethakul’S Film, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, Sawnie Smith

Vernacular: New Connections in Language, Literature, & Culture

The unsettling short stories that comprise Samanta Schweblin’s 2008 collection Pájaros en la boca are textured and populated by the flesh of not only humans, but also the skins of species that belong to a wider zoological and mythical scope. Those creatures in Schweblin’s literary output who possess scales, feathers, and wings find themselves variously rubbing up against, crushed under, and orally engulfed by human dermis. This essay seeks to explore the charge of gender politics that courses through interactions between human women and (demi-) animals in two short stories from this collection: “El hombre sirena” and “Olingiris”—animal contact with …

Simbolismo Y Metáfora: Paralelismos Filosóficos En “La Biblioteca De Babel” De Jorge Luis Borges, Alberto Fernández-Diego

Vernacular: New Connections in Language, Literature, & Culture

El relato titulado “La Biblioteca de Babel” de Jorge Luis Borges nos cuenta la historia de un hombre cuya vida ha transcurrido en “la Biblioteca” (sinónimo de “universo”) y que ha pasado sus años buscando algo que ni él ni ningún otro morador de la misma ha podido encontrar: su razón de ser, sus límites, el contenido de sus obras, etc. El texto está narrado en primera persona por el protagonista, que nos hace partícipes de la frustración que se ha apoderado de él en sus últimos años de su vida, después de dedicar toda su biografía a intentar, sin …

El Quijote En Alcalá De Henares: Graffiti, Arte Urbano Y Autorrepresentación, Juan Fernandez Cantero

Vernacular: New Connections in Language, Literature, & Culture

En el presente trabajo se realizará un estudio de los procesos culturales existentes en la ciudad de Alcalá de Henares en la actualidad a través del arte urbano. Concretamente, se analizarán las representaciones del Quijote, personaje universal de Miguel de Cervantes, en el casco antiguo y en los barrios periféricos de la urbe. Se demostrará cómo la figura del Quijote es un medio para la autorrepresentación de la ciudad. Más allá de las decisiones políticas sobre el arte urbano en el centro histórico de la ciudad, se verá cómo la iconografía del Quijote se consolida como un elemento cohesivo para …

Being Portuguese In Spanish: Reimagining Early Modern Iberian Literature, 1580–1640, Jonathan William Wade

Purdue Studies in Romance Literatures

Among the many consequences of Spain’s annexation of Portugal from 1580 to 1640 was an increase in the number of Portuguese authors writing in Spanish. One can trace this practice as far back as the medieval period, although it was through Gil Vicente, Jorge de Montemayor, and others that Spanish-language texts entered the mainstream of literary expression in Portugal. Proficiency in both languages gave Portuguese authors increased mobility throughout the empire. For those with literary aspirations, Spanish offered more opportunities to publish and greater readership, which may be why it is nearly impossible to find a Portuguese author who did …

Teaching Don Quixote Online - Course Redesign (Span 290 Literatue In Translation), Jesus-David Jerez-Gomez

Q2S Enhancing Pedagogy

This course syllabus was developed thanks to the E-Learning Academy workshop in course redesign and Quality Matters online workshop for online teaching innovative development. The redesigned course, SPAN 290: Spanish Literature in Translation, was piloted in Fall 2019, and it is being offered again with improvements and revisions this Spring 2020.

Digital Exhibit Of Human Monstrosity, Eli Cohen

Digital Humanities Curricular Development

The final project for SPAN/LITRS 058 is a digital exhibit of human monstrosity. Each student will identify a topic or theme related to human monstrosity in any form and choose representative examples. This project will be presented using an online tool (Scalar) that enables the creation of multimedia exhibits. Students will search for and collect text, images, video and sound recordings of their topic/theme and examples and curate an online exhibit that explores some facet (historical, biological, psychological, social, etc.) of the limits between the human and the monstrous.

Human Monsters: Representations Of The Limits Of Humanity In The Early Modern Period (Span/Litrs 058) Syllabus, Eli Cohen

Digital Humanities Curricular Development

What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to be a monster? Under what conditions and at what point does one exceed or not meet the standards of humanity and become a monster? Focusing on the so-called ‘Age of Exploration,’ this course examines the ways in which authors, artists, politicians and philosophers imagined the limits between the human and the monstrous during the early modern period, identifying their sources and pursuing their lines of influence. Ranging from classical mythology and the medieval worldview to Renaissance drama and the chronicles of the discovery and conquest of the New …

Ecuador Is Black: Afro-Ecuadorian Literary Resistance In Drums Under My Skin, Gabriella Davis

Student Scholars Day Oral Presentations

The transcendence of Black Ecuadorian literature has the power to rewrite narratives that have constructed them as hypersexual or invisible. By telling their own stories, Black Ecuadorian writers not only place Blackness into the Ecuadorian national narrative. They make their existence the center of everything. In Drums Under My Skin, Luz Argentina Chiriboga writes of Rebeca, a mulata teenager struggling to accept her Blackness while spilt between the ideological spaces of Quito and Esmeraldas. Chiriboga confronts racism in Ecuador based around mestizaje by making Blackness the sole narrative voice and rejects ideas that Blackness doesn’t belong in Ecuador. Concurrently, she …

Somos Y Estamos, Primavera/Spring 2020, Western Michigan University

Somos y Estamos

For Friends of the Department of Spanish at Western Michigan University. In both Spanish and English.

Afro-Brazilian Music And Culture, Regina Castro Mcgowan

Open Educational Resources

In this course students will learn about the musical heritage Africans brought to Brazil and how through forced conversion and cultural adaptation, their traditions quickly syncretized into distinct Afro-Brazilian artistic expressions. This course will explore many musical traditions, including; Samba, Pagode, Baile Funk, Candomblé and Axé music for their social, religious and/or political significance, from the early twentieth century through today. In doing so, students will get to practice and learn the vocabulary and grammatical structures found in the music of these rich and varied genres, and acquire a familiarity with conversational Portuguese.

El Cuerpo En La Poesía De Mujeres Ecuatorianas, Chloe Hood

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Este proyecto examina la presencia del cuerpo humano en la poesía de tres mujeres ecuatorianas: Aleyda Quevedo Rojas, Aurora Estrada y Ayala, y Sophia Yánez. Enfoco en como las imágenes del cuerpo en su poesía están relatados con algunos temas del poder y el genero. Específicamente, exploro los temas del patriarcado, el colonialismo, y la creación. En relación con el patriarcado, encontré que la poesía de Aleyda Quevedo Rojas aborda mucho con la expectativa social para la perfección del cuerpo femenino. Ella rechaza esta expectativa y abraza las imperfecciones de su cuerpo, incluyendo la fracasa del cuerpo a través de …

The Haunting Parallel Amid Governmental Responses: Tlatelolco Massacre & The Covid-19 Pandemic, Chelsea Wepy

Publications and Research

The overall purpose of this analysis was to exemplify the parallels between the governmental responses to the Tlatelolco Massacre of 1968 and the COVID-19 Pandemic of 2020. “Memorial de Tlatelolco” is a poem that was written by Mexican poet and activist, Rosario Castellanos in 1968 following the Tlatelolco Massacre. The findings of this research note the familiarity instilled in those suffering through the COVID-19 Pandemic by Castellanos' poem.

Being Portuguese In Spanish: Reimagining Early Modern Iberian Literature, 1580-1640, Jonathan William Wade

Purdue University Press Book Previews

Among the many consequences of Spain’s annexation of Portugal from 1580 to 1640 was an increase in the number of Portuguese authors writing in Spanish. One can trace this practice as far back as the medieval period, although it was through Gil Vicente, Jorge de Montemayor, and others that Spanish-language texts entered the mainstream of literary expression in Portugal. Proficiency in both languages gave Portuguese authors increased mobility throughout the empire. For those with literary aspirations, Spanish offered more opportunities to publish and greater readership, which may be why it is nearly impossible to find a Portuguese author who did …

El Hambre Y La Formación Del Sujeto: Un Estudio Transatlántico De Lazarillo De Tormes Y Naufragios, Nicole Donoghue

Theses and Dissertations

El hambre es un sentimiento que puede controlar de manera considerable el cuerpo humano y cuando se encuentra exacerbada por circunstancias de supervivencia, el hambre se convierte en la motivación principal que circunscribe todas sus acciones. Esta consecuencia causada por el hambre extrema es el foco principal de dos obras canónicas del siglo XVI escritas en lados opuestos del océano atlántico: Lazarillo de Tormes (1554) y Naufragios (1555). Las dos obras requieren especial atención no tan solo en lo que dicen los narradores, sino también en lo que hacen y las razones detrás de sus acciones. De este modo, si …

Borges, El Escritor Italiano: Precursores Italianos En/Desde Borges, Sara Boscagli

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The word precursor is a term that suggests something that comes before, that anticipates. However, what would happen if literature (beginning with Borges) would change this concept? The binary canons of before and after would disappear and with them the idea of a chronological literary temporality. As Borges suggests in the essay “Kafka and his precursors”, precursors can be identified due to the existence of Kafka who (as all writers) choose his literary “fathers”. What Borges suggests is that this choice not only modifies the future, but also the past.

To explore this literary and philosophical idea, Borges will be …

Entre La Persona Y La Poesía: Atravesando La Sombra De Alejandra Pizarnik, Laura Pérez Torremocha

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alejandra Pizarnik remains a mystery of latin american literature. Despite the multiple investigations that have been conveyed about her writing, the myth of this poéte maudite is still unsolved. We find continuous changes of significance in her words, according to her theory “una palabra significa una cosa, y otra más, y otra más” (a word means one thing, and something else, and something else); she uses a language that looks simple but it actually has a desire for infinity. In this thesis we will analyse her Diarios and her poetry in order to try to solve the mystery of this …

The Indigenous Communal Sense In Enrique Dussel's Concept Of People, Erick Javier Padilla

LSU Master's Theses

In Twenty Theses on Politics, Argentine-Mexican philosopher Enrique Dussel compares the concept of people with two Indigenous terms: The Aztec altepetl and the Mayan Amaq’. Both concepts mean ‘community’ or ‘people,’ and ‘us/we.’ However, beyond his reference to Carlos Lenkersdorf’s book Filosofar en clave tojolabal (Philosophizing in Tojolabal Code), Dussel delves not further into these Indigenous words and their implications to understand what he means by people. Focusing on the work of Carlos Lenkersdorf (2005), Gladys Tzul Tzul (2018), Alejandra Aquino Moreschi (2013), Raúl Madrid (2014) and Josef Estermann (2006), I shall examine how the political proceeding …

First Letter - Primeira Carta - Prima Lettera: An Imaginary Letter Exchange Between Paulo Freire And Lorenzo Milani, Simone Gugliotta

Spanish and Portuguese: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Characterization Of Proteus Species Inhibition Of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa’S Quorum Sensing Molecule Pyocyanin, Grayson Wright

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The identification of antimicrobial compounds that inhibit multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria continues to be a significant area of research to combat the public health threat posed by MDRs. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a Gram-negative, MDR bacterium found within both the environment and healthcare settings. Our laboratory has observed another Gram-negative bacterium, Proteus species, exerts an interesting polymicrobial interaction with Pseudomonas aeruginosa by potentially compromising the quorum sensing (QS) factor, pyocyanin, of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Production of pyocyanin by Pseudomonas is the main method the bacterium uses for communication and coordination of virulence. In this study, we examined the effectiveness of Proteus mirabilis and …

Investigando La Creación De Un Canal De Noticias BilingüE En Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo: Un Estudio De La Representación LingüÍstica, Paige Farris Mcgill

World Languages and Cultures

The purpose of this research study is to determine if there is a desire or demand for a bilingual English-Spanish news outlet at Cal Poly. Spanish is considered the most relevant language because it is the second most frequently spoken language in the community. Results are based on analysis of data collected through an electronic survey and various interviews. Demographics of the university as well as the surrounding community are also factors to consider.

Lo Visible, Lo Invisible Y Lo Imaginable: Neoliberalismo Y Ciudad En Las Producciones Culturales De Posguerra En Centroamérica, Maria A. Leon Umana

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This project researches the radical change that the peace treaty of the 1990s brought to Central American societies in connection with economic models. Specifically, it examines the way in which the implementation of neoliberal policies has transformed the cities concerning the spatial and the social; consequently, resulting in an important urban shift in regard to postwar cultural productions. I build a theoretical model organizes the investigation in three representative examples of Central American urban imaginaries (The Visible, The Invisible, and the Imaginable) so as to enlighten and/or enrich the analysis of the region’s urban social realities—examined in detail in a …

Glotopolítica De La Desigualdad: Ideologías Del Mapudungun Y El Español En Chile (2009–2019), Gabriel E. Alvarado Pavez

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Glottopolitics of Inequality: Ideologies on Mapudungun and Spanish in Chile (2009-2019) by Gabriel Alvarado Pavez Advisor: José del Valle This dissertation is an attempt to analyze contemporary discourses on Mapudungun and Spanish and their development within the political and economic context of Chile between 2009 and 2019. The object of analysis is the diverse array of linguistic ideologies displayed on both the hegemonic press (newspapers of nationwide circulation) and on Facebook, which helps provide a sociolinguistic profile of Chile from a glottopolitical perspective. This entails a point of view focused on power structures and their modes of (re)production and perpetuation, …

Afectos En La Novela Española Contemporánea: Tematización De La Tercera Guerra De Los Balcanes Y Construcción Del "Otro", Isabel Dominguez Seoane

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation proposes an affective reading of contemporary Spanish literature whose topic is the third Balkan War. On the one side, it aims to showcase the political role of affects (fear, happiness and disgust) when representing the "other". On the other side, how Spanish public sphere has used the Balkans as a mirror to refer to Spanish political context.

Después Del Exilio: El Regreso Y El Retorno En La Autoficción Latinoamericana Del Siglo Xxi, Joan C. Aguirre

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The present work analyzes the return—both the physical return and anticipated physical return— to the homeland after living in exile, the act of remembering caused by this process, and the metareflective role that the genre of autofiction plays in this interaction. The dissertation examines the twenty-first century autofictions of four Latin American countries: La casa de los Conejos by Laura Alcoba of Argentina; Memorias prematuras by Rafael Gumucio of Chile; ConPasión absoluta by Carol Zardetto of Guatemala; and El sueño del retorno by Horacio Castellanos Moya of El Salvador. These autofictions are part of an important corpus, one that offers …

Más Allá De La Comisión De La Verdad Y Reconciliación: Memoria, Cuerpo Y Producción Cultural De Mujeres En El Perú (2005–2013), Otilia M. Mendiolaza

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines literary and cinematographic works concerning the war between the Peruvian Armed Forces and the Peruvian Communist Party Shining Path (1980-2000) produced by contemporary women artists. In particular, it analyzes how these works reveal topics overlooked by the report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Peru (CVR) published on August 28, 2003. To do so, it studies the socio-political and cultural factors that contributed to the violation of human rights during the internal military conflict, especially of women, focusing on questions of memory, identity, and the body. The dissertation analyzes Rocío Silva Santisteban’s poetry collection Las hijas …

Apresentação: Literatura Além Do Livro, Diego J. Bustos, Marguerite Itamar Harrison

Spanish and Portuguese: Faculty Publications

Apresentação: literatura além do livro

Presentation: Literature Beyond the Book

Presentación: la literatura más allá del libro

Introducción Al Homenaje A Mary Shelley, Giovanna Rivero, M. Elizabeth Ginway

Alambique. Revista académica de ciencia ficción y fantasía / Jornal acadêmico de ficção científica e fantasía

La idea de homenajear a Mary Shelley y su pulsión creativa apunta precisamente a mostrar el lado productivo y feminista del monstruo en las letras contemporáneas. La transgresión de Shelley ha sido definitoria en la sensibilidad y mirada ideológica de muchas escritoras occidentales, probablemente porque —si aludimos muy brevemente a los campos culturales en tanto espacios también orgánicos de escritura— muchas de estas escritoras están instaladas en espacios de enunciación semiperiféricos de Latinoamérica y España. Así, el monstruo escrito alcanza una escala orgánica continental y transoceánica que tiene que ver con tomar piezas de ese desmembrado cuerpo de saberes que …

La Cíborg De Rosa Montero Como Utopía De La Redención Social, Mercedes Tejera-Garcia De La Concha

Alambique. Revista académica de ciencia ficción y fantasía / Jornal acadêmico de ficção científica e fantasía

Este artículo abarca los temas de la memoria histórica colectiva y la redención social en las dos primeras novelas de la trilogía de Rosa Montero, Lágrimas en la lluvia (2011) y El peso del corazón (2015). El análisis pone el foco en la cíborg, Bruna Husky, principalmente por su lucha en la conquista de derechos civiles. Se sostiene la premisa de Bruna como un doble novum, indagando en su agencia como vehículo de esperanza social, noción de Ernst Bloch, así como en su potencia en tanto novedad técnica y política, postulado de Darko Suvin. Un costado fundamental de esta aproximación …

La Reivindicación Del Monstruo En La Obra De Pilar Pedraza: De Las Novias Inmóviles A El Amante Germano., Lola Robles

Alambique. Revista académica de ciencia ficción y fantasía / Jornal acadêmico de ficção científica e fantasía

Digna heredera de la narrativa de Mary Shelley, la autora española Pilar Pedraza (Toledo, 1951) ha escrito y publicado una docena de novelas, varios libros de relatos y numerosos cuentos en antologías colectivas, a lo que hay que añadir una serie de ensayos sobre el papel de las mujeres en el arte, cine y literatura, y sobre brujería. Estas publicaciones ensayísticas muestran claramente la concepción del mundo que tiene Pedraza y son un buen correlato de su narrativa, tal como veremos. Su obra de ficción se inscribe dentro de la literatura de terror fantástico o se la define también simplemente …