Revolutionary Women Writers: Anarchist Representations of Latin America in the Early 20th Century

Date and Time
June 28, 2011

Location

Event Details

    During the 19th and the early 20th century, Latin American intellectuals and writers revealed vital concerns about Latin American identity and the future of the newly independent nations after 400 years of Spanish colonial rule.  Within the political discourse we find women’s voices which proposed a revolutionary future for the continent in essays and fictional texts.  Not only did they help define the nation, but also conceived a radical strand: Anarchism as a new system for Latin America.

    From Juana Fernandez Ferraz to Luisa Capetillo, we will analyze the contribution of these women to the process of national and continental identity at a time where women’s writings had no place in the current political debate.   We will discuss the textual strategies they used to convey their messages as well as fundamental elements in their anarchist, feminist and pacifist discourse.

    A writer in residence in the Library’s Wertheim Study, María Hernández-Ojeda is an Associate Professor of Spanish at Hunter College, CUNY.  She specializes in transatlantic literary and cultural relations, in particular between the Canary Islands and the Americas. Her publications include Insularidad Narrativa en la obra de Nivaria Tejera: Un Archipiélago transatlantic (2009) and an upcoming edited book Canarias, Cuba y Francia: Los exilios literarios de Nivaria Tejera (2011). She has published in Hispamérica, Ínsula, Gaceta de Cuba, Encuentro de la cultura cubana, Anuario de Estudios Atlánticos and other journals.

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