Iberianist Lecture Considers Empire and Frontier Through Epic Poetry

April 14, 2014

The UNM Latin American & Iberian Institute (LAII) is pleased to announce the seventh and final presentation in its Spring 2014 Lecture Series. On Wednesday, April 23, 2014, Dr. Celia López-Chávez will present on "The Land Upon Which No Christian Set Foot: Empire and Frontier in the Spanish Colonial Epic Poetry. The presentation will be held from 12:00-1:00 p.m. in the LAII Conference Room. Please see the event flyer for reference.

The presentation will focus on an interdisciplinary study that analyzes the historical discourse about the Spanish American empire included in the epic poetry written by two soldiers who participated in the conquest of the Spanish America's Southern and Northern frontiers. Based, in part, on a larger study that examines and compares two poems written about the conquest of Chile (1540s) and New Mexico (1590s), this talk will offer specific examples in which concepts of geographical space, power, and time are present in the analysis of Western imperialism, specifically the case of Spain. Hopefully the presentation and subsequent discussion with the audience will help to provide more information for questions such as: How can some concepts such as time, geographical space, and power be analyzed from a historical perspective using epic poetry? What is the relevance of those poems today in the historical memory of the respective regions? How can a historical analysis of Spanish American epic poetry contribute to the most recent new models that insist in the importance of studying imperialism from an interdisciplinary and Braudelian long durée perspectives?