Dr. Ramón A. Gutiérrez, Preston & Sterling Morton Distinguished Professor in United States History, to keynote two-day conference at Cal State L.A.
Los Angeles, CA – On Friday and Saturday, May 2-3, Cal State L.A. will host a free scholarly and literary forum focusing on well-known Chicano writer Rudolfo Anaya and his literary work, which spans more than 40 years. Anaya belongs to the first generation of Chicano writers who pioneered and charted one of the most vigorous and theoretically-grounded ethnic literatures in the United States.
Featuring scholars representing Asia, Germany, Mexico and the United States, the 2014 Conference on Rudolfo Anaya: Tradition, Modernity, and the Literatures of the U.S. Southwest includes two plenary sessions on topics ranging from Anaya’s novels to Mesoamerica and the U.S. Southwest.
“This conference proposes a re-examination of Anaya’s work according to the several phases of his writing, from the early New Mexico trilogy that began with Bless Me Ultima (1972), to his most recent novels, such as Randy López Goes Home (2011), and The Old Man’s Love Story (2013),” explained Professor Roberto Cantú, who is the conference organizer.
The two-day conference will feature the following lectures: “Cultural Authority, Authenticity, and Performance in Rudolfo Anaya,” “A Citizen of the World: Transnational Imaginaries in the Work of Rudolfo Anaya,” “The Chicana and Chicano Literary Imagination,” and “Sweet Birds of Youth: Coming of Age from Rudolfo Anaya to the Dreamers.”
Program:
The conference opens on Friday, May 2, at 8:30 a.m. with hospitality coffee and pastry, followed by lectures by Enrique Lamadrid, Horst Tonn, Ana Castillo, Francisco Lomelí, and Reyna Grande. A featured lecture titled “Anaya’s Historical Memory” by Rosaura Sánchez of University of California, San Diego, will also be included.
Dinner is scheduled for 7:30 to 9 p.m. with a performance of Cal State L.A.’s Mariachi “Aguila de Oro.” The luncheon will feature music by Vicko Cortés, singer and guitarist of the Latino group “Cumbia Brava.”
The Saturday program will run from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. with lectures by Mario Acevedo, John Pohl, José Limón, Monika Kaup, and María Herrera-Sobek, followed by the keynote lecture from 6 to 7:15 p.m. by Ramón A. Gutiérrez (University of Chicago), entitled “The Spell of New Mexico: The Lies of the Land.” A dinner banquet follows. (The cost of the luncheons is $15, and dinner is $20, which includes tax and service charge).
For the complete conference schedule: http://rudyanayaatcalstatela.blogspot.com
This conference is sponsored by Cal State L.A.’s Gigi Gaucher-Morales Memorial Conference Series, the College of Arts and Letters, the College of Natural and Social Sciences, the Department of Chicano Studies, the Department of English, the Barry Munitz Fund, and the CSULA Emeriti Association. This conference is free and open to the public.
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04/25/14