Spanish Professors Ketevan Kupatadze and Mayte de Lama presented at the XXXV Congreso Internacional de Literatura y Estudios Hispánicos held in Oaxaca, México on March 10-12, 2024.

Kupatadze’s presentation “The Ethics of Writing Fiction in an Unjust World: Valeria Luiselli’s ‘Lost Children Archive and Tell Me How It Ends’” was part of a panel on Migration, Afrolatinidad and Transmutation in Hispanic prose.
de Lama presented her work “Saldando cuentas pendientes: Victims and Victimizers in Marina Mayoral’s narrative,” where she analyzed the novel Crimen Perfecto (2007). The protagonist in such a novel oscillates between being a victim and an agent of victimization in an hetero-normative and patriarchal society.

In addition, Rod Salazar and Misako Matsuishi-Scott, staff members at IrazĂş Coffee, and Elon student Manaka Furusho hosted two cultural tables representing Costa Rica and Japan, their countries of origin.

Furthermore, Deanna Dick and her husband provided the opportunity to learn about China and Tanzania, where they lived abroad for many years.

At the event organized by Mayte de Lama, children engaged with these cultural ambassadors and learned about musical instruments, coffee plants, mate tea, Manchego cheese, alfajores, baklava, and other desserts, fauna, volcanos, pastimes, and daily routines for children in other countries (typical board games, soccer, local artifacts), among other topics. They also had the opportunity to have their names written in characters from different languages (Arabic, Japanese and Georgian) as well as practiced Spanish and other languages.

Marvin B. Smith has recently been a national showcase school for two consecutive years for capturing kids’ hearts. They have certainly captured the World Languages and Cultures’ faculty hearts because we hope to bring back this educational and fun experience next year.

The conference was titled “Feminist Futurities: Making People Think and Imagine in Times of Crisis” and was held on Dec. 5-7.

De Lama’s presentation entitled “Un amor que no mate: maternidad y (auto)cuidado en Madre mĂ­a que estás en los infiernos de Carmen JimĂ©nez” analyzed motherhood in JimĂ©nez’s novel and advocated for self care.

Kupatadze’s presentation “¡Dime cĂłmo termina! La responsabilidad moral de la autora contemporánea frente a la crisis migratoria infantil” studied the child migration crisis at the border of the U.S. and MĂ©xico in two works by Valeria Luiselli: Desierto sonoro (2019) y Los niños perdidos, un ensayo en cuarenta preguntas (2016).

Her presentation entitled “Cóctel de risas y deseos: homoerotismo en la cuentística de Marina Mayoral” explored humor and (homo)eroticism in Marina Mayoral’s short-stories.

Carmen Mónico, a Core Fulbright U.S. Scholar and assistant professor in human services, led a discussion in which she shared her research and teaching on global violence against women and girls, and the practicum experiences with her students in Guatemala. She drew connections between the film and her recent book on the implications of child abduction for human rights and child welfare systems, as well as her ongoing research on youth at risk in that Central American country.

The next film in the series, “Mr. Kaplan,” will be screened on Oct. 27 followed by a screening of “NN” on Nov. 10, with both taking place in LaRose Digital Theatre at 5:30 p.m. on each day. The III Hispanic Series has been made possible thanks to the following sponsors: School of Communications, Department of World Languages and Cultures, Sigma Delta Pi, El Centro, International and Global Studies, Peace and Conflict Studies, Pragda, Spain-USA Foundation, and Secretary of State for Culture of Spain.

Elon Spanish professors Ketevan Kupatadze and Mayte de Lama shared their respective research at the XVIII Congreso Internacional de Literatura y Estudios Hispánicos held July 6-8 in San Sebastian, Spain.

Kupatadze’s research was titled, “Las identidades falsas y la falsedad de la política de la identidad en Amphitryon de Ignacio Padilla.”

This presentation examined the possibilities of rethinking the politics of identity and of nationalist discourse through its relationship with the practice of hospitality, Based on the close reading of the novel Amphitryon by Ignacio Padilla.

de Lama’s research was titled, “Encuentros (homo)eróticos, venganza y (des)equilibrios en dos relatos de Esther Tusquets.”

Revenge becomes a point of interest in two short-stories by Spanish writer Esther Tusquests (2012). This presentation discussed how erotic encounters and revenge facilitate the recovery of psychological stability and power in stories where the main characters were initially powerless.  

Published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing, it presents new perspectives on the author’s canonical works and lesser-known publications. Eleven international scholars examine Tusquests´ novels, short and long stories, memoirs, her work as editor, and her newspaper editorials.

In her essay, “Juegos eróticos, juegos caóticos: desequilibrios, venganzas y subversiones en tres cuentos de Esther Tusquets,” de Lama analyzes “psychological instability, revenge and subversion” (xii) in Tusquets’ less-studied fictional texts. 

This chapter adds to de Lama’s research and teaching portfolio on Spanish women writers.