Romance Studies at the NeMLA Convention
Boston University is the sponsoring institution for this year’s Northeast Modern Language Association Convention, February 26-March 1 in Boston.
NeMLA, which will celebrate its 40th anniversary, is a scholarly organization for professionals in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and other modern languages. A number of B.U. faculty and graduate students will participate in the Convention.
Among the special events are a poetry reading by Rosanna Warren and a lecture (“What is French Cinema?”) by T. Jefferson Kline— part of his current book project, The Cinema and Its Doubles. There will also be a session on contemporary Spanish poetry organized by Alan Smith. Three Spanish poets—José Luis Gallero, José María Parreño and Graciela Baquero–will read from their poetry. A group discussion will follow, on “the place of poetry in today’s Spain”, and NeMLA and the Department of Romance Studies will host a reception. The poets will also join Alan Smith’s poetry course, “Spanish Poetry Today” to discuss their work with students. The event is being sponsored by the Humanities Foundation at Boston University, the Consulate of Spain in Boston, and the Geddes Lecture Series of the Dept. of Romance Studies.
Jim Iffland, Professor of Spanish, will be chairing a session on “The Legacy of Roque Dalton within Contemporary Central American Culture.” The panel will assess the work of Dalton in current Central American culture and society and his relevance in a Central America striving to find its way (politically, socially, economically) within the still unstable post-war period.
French graduate student Frédérique Donovan will be chairing a session on “Crime and Violence in 18th-Century French Literature” and Sandra Rogosic and Adeline Soldin, also French grad students, will chair a session on “Performing Artifice: Acts of Transgression in Decadent Literature.” The panel will explore how French fin de siècle writers often create characters who favor beauty over utility, death over life, artifice over nature and how key personalities of decadent literature resort to art, artifice, and performance to satisfy profligate desires.
Spanish grad students Jill Blackstone and Arlene Ovalle-Child will also be reading papers. Blackstone will speak on “Las máscaras de Moctezuma y Cortés y el tiempo cíclico en ‘Todos los gatos son pardos’” and Ovalle-Child will give a paper titled “José Arcadio Buendía Iguarán: texto críptico carnal”.
Details on all of these events will be posted soon on the NeMLA website. B.U.’s participation is being coordinated by Adeline Soldin of RS and Carrie McGrory of the Department of English.