Professor Alison Ribeiro de Menezes (University of Warwick):‘Tactile Translations: Re-Locating the Disappeared’
This paper examines the manner in which the term ‘the disappeared’ now circulates globally, by considering the case of the disappeared of the Northern Irish conflict. The paper examines visual art’s role as the bearer of memories of the illegally detained, forcibly migrated, and improperly buried, and draws on the examples of the photography of David Farrell and the filmic production of Willie Doherty. The specificities of the case of the disappeared of the Troubles remind us that the original paradigm from Latin America has undergone political, social and cultural transformations which highlight the importance not only of political context but also of our relationship to the land and landscapes in which we live and in which the disappeared bodies lie. The paper thus moves towards a vision of eco-memory as significant in enriching transnational approaches to memory studies.
Alison Ribeiro de Menezes is a Hispanist with particular interests in literature and film, and in the relationship between history, memory, and culture in various regions of the Hispanic world. Alison has published widely on contemporary Spanish narrative, including the books Juan Goytisolo: The Author as Dissident (Tamesis, 2005), and A Companion to Carmen Martín Gaite, co-authored with Catherine O’Leary (Tamesis, 2008, paperback edition 2014). Her current research focuses on cultural memory in the Hispanic and Lusophone worlds, and she has co-edited two volumes in this area: War and Memory in Contemporary Spain/Guerra y memoria en la España contemporánea with Roberta Quance and Anne Walsh (Verbum, 2009), and Legacies of War and Dictatorship in Contemporary Portugal and Spain, with Catherine O’Leary (Peter Lang, 2011). Alison’s focus has shifted during her time at Warwick to Latin American research questions, notably around memory and enforced disappearance, and productive ways of dealing with the past through oral history and life story.
When: 21 February 2020, 16:00 – 18:00.
Where: Arts Seminar 2