The Muses of the Land: The Reception of Greece and Rome in the Hispanic World

Description:

Muses of the Land will spotlight how Spain and Latin America have engaged with their Greek and Latin cultural heritage. Despite the fact that this heritage has been central to many aspects of the cultural life of the region, it has received little consideration in the English-speaking world, where the idea that Latin American is a "non-western" civilization still has some currency. Recent panels at academic conferences in the United States, however, have begun to explore the influence of this heritage in the literature, film, and drama. Our conference seeks to expand the panorama of scholarly perspectives by inviting representatives from other academic fields to enter the conversation. We selected a group of papers from various fields (history, art, classics, and Spanish literature) that not only showcase the variety of forms assumed by classical reception in the Spanish-speaking world, but also spotlight the challenges facing the study of this topic that might be specific to this particular cultural milieu.

For the website of the conference, click here.

Click here to view the abstracts for the conference.

For more information, contact Francisco Barrenechea (fbarrene@umd.edu)

Schedule:

THURSDAY, MAY 1 — Third Floor Patio, Tawes Hall

Reception at 7 pm

FRIDAY, MAY 2 — Maryland Room (0100 Marie Mount Hall)

Morning Session: Indigenous Contestations (9:30 am – 12:00 pm)

9:30-10:00 — Coffee and Danish

10:00-10:10 — Introductory remarks, Francisco Barrenechea, Department of Classics, University of Maryland, College Park

10:10-10:30 — “Phoenician Colonists and Anti-Romanism in the Iberian Renaissance,” Adam Beaver, Department of History, Princeton University

10:30-10:50 — “A World Apart: Plato and the Guaraní,” Michael Brumbaugh, Classics Department, Tulane University

10:50-11:10 — “Pagan Love Stories about Redemption: Mythological Autos Sacramentales from José de Valdivieso to Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz,” Antonio Río Torres-Murciano, ENES Morelia, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

11:10-11:30 — “Deifying Pachamama,” Annick Benavides, Department of Art and Art History, University of New Mexico

11:30-Noon — Discussion

LUNCH BREAK

Afternoon Session: Reflections of Identity (2-4:30)

2-2:20 — “Bolívar at the Roman Forum: Republican Visions and Dreams of Empire,” Elise Bartosik-Vélez, Spanish and Portuguese Department, Dickinson College

2:20-2:40 — “Antigone as Foundational Myth of Spanish American History: the case of Argentina,” Aníbal A. Biglieri, Department of Hispanic Studies, University of Kentucky

2:40-3:10 — “Athens and Sparta of the New World: Classical Confrontations in Santo Domingo,” Dan-el Padilla Peralta, Department of Classics, Stanford University

3:10-3:30 — "Ancient Greek Aesthetics, Indigeneity, and Africanness after the Mexican Revolution, 1910-1940,” Theodore Cohen, Latin American Studies Center and Department of History, University of Maryland, College Park

3:30-4:30 — Discussion