The Struggle for Recognition: The Hispano-American Novel in the 21st Century

46th Annual Convention, Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA)
April 30-May 3, 2015
Toronto, Ontario

This roundtable seeks to examine how, as a space for reflection on contemporary preoccupations of the Spanish-speaking world, the Hispano-American novel provides a lens into pressing questions of representation and recognition in a context which has been greatly impacted by the forces of globalization and neoliberalism. Within the realms of identity politics, human rights, (post)nationalist discourse, post-conflict studies and postcolonial studies among many others, the Hispano-American novel can be viewed as a narrative laboratory in which the nuances of contemporary realities are presented and explored. The representation of such realities, and of the groups and individuals that participate in them, may be described as a crucial and constitutional element of their recognition as sources of local and global political agency in the information age. As the validity of traditional spatially and nationally-based delineations between subjects and entities is disrupted by an increasingly transnational scenario, modes of representation continue to respond to evolving points of reference and de-stabilized contexts in the ongoing struggle for recognition. Authors that could be included in the debate are, among others: Roberto Bolaño, Daniel Alarcón, Rodrigo Rey Rosa, Juan Gabriel Vásquez, Edmundo Paz Soldán, Horacio Castellanos Moya, Fernando Vallejo, Mayra Santos Febres, Cesar Aira, and Andrés Neuman.

This roundtable will examine the ways in which the twenty-first century Hispano-American novel provides insights into pressing questions of representation and recognition in a context that has been greatly impacted by the forces of globalization and neoliberalism. The nuances of contemporary realities in these novels can be explored within the realms of these topics:
Latin American Studies
Human rights
(Post)nationalist studies
Post-conflict studies
Gender studies
Postcolonial studies
Subaltern studies

Please go to https://nemla.org/convention/2015/cfp.html#cfp15337 and follow the instructions there to create a user account and submit your abstract directly to our session.

Deadline: September 30, 2014

The Northeast Modern Language Association will meet in Toronto, Ontario, for its 46th annual convention. Toronto is Canada’s hub of international arts and culture, known for its diverse culinary scene and multicultural urban vitality. NeMLA convention delegates can explore galleries and museums, shop at historic markets, and discover vibrant international villages—all within a short commute of the convention hotel, the famous Fairmont Royal York, in the heart of downtown Toronto. More information is available at the convention 2015 page, and via email at support@nemla.org.

We look forward to receiving your submissions.

Best regards,

Charles LeBel
Carlos Gardeazabal Bravo
Department of Literatures, Cultures & Languages
University of Connecticut, Storrs