They will explore the literary destiny of the conquest of Mexico


“Sometimes we can learn more from literature than from the work of the academic historian, who, due to the demands of science, does not give himself the right to affirm very radical theses and take very clear ideological positions, especially if it is about a past issue. The freedom of the novelist can be very enriching and this space is conducive to the freedom of dialogue”, said historian Jean Meyer, writer and professor at the Center for Economic Research and Teaching (CIDE), during the presentation of the XXXI International Cervantine Colloquium (CCI)a space that began as a gathering and meeting between friends, and which today is a great academic and outreach event.

This edition is entitled “The literary destiny of the conquest of Mexico”, it will be a review of the literary work that arises from that historical event and its importance not only for Mexicans, but as part of the writings of the world. 500 years after the arrival of Hernán Cortés, the Colloquium hopes to contribute to exploring the founding act of modern Mexico and studying the consequent literary and artistic legacy.

Onofre Sánchez Menchero, general director of the Don Quixote Iconographic Museum (MIQ) and director of the CCI, explains that May 30, 31 and June 1 will be days for a very lucky experience between specialists and public of all kinds. “We will be seeing the drift of this meeting of the conquest, how it influenced and how it was transcending towards other spaces, especially in Europe, in America and what it awoke at the time”.

He said that different perspectives will allow us to analyze the role of the villains, the civilizing warriors, but also part of the Mexican identity that would distance us from the American invaders. “The conglomerate of literary styles that produced this historical event throughout these 500 years of the meeting, we will see with ten papers by ten very important scholars.”

They are Antonio Río Torres-Murciano, Amille Carreón Blaine, Miguel Olmos Aguilera, Estelle Laloy-Prestini, Gabriel Auvinet Guichard, Phillippe Ollé-Laprune, Jose Luis Trube, Ana Gacía, Bergua, Jean Meyer and Christian Duverger.

He added that there will be an opportunity to explore two dimensions, the reality and the fiction of the time, although this time the problematization will be taken to later centuries to show that, as the lecture that Jean Meyer will dictate says, “History is a literature always contemporary”.

As has become customary, the colloquium is also accompanied by artistic sessions, which this year will include the plastic exhibition of the Spanish artist Augusto Ferrer-Dalmau and his work La arrival, which represents the meeting of Spaniards and Mexicas. Local characters also participate, with The University Theater of Guanajuato, in the traditional Plaza San Roque; and finally, the concert by the Mexican composer Víctor Rasgado, called Rabinal Achí; It is worth mentioning that it is a world premiere with the MIQ Symphonet and under the baton of maestro Juan Trigos.

During the official presentation of the program, Dr. Christian Duverger, also academic coordinator of the Colloquium, reflected by way of conclusion: “Something that happens in Mexico is that in a certain way the conquest is a taboo subject, they do not want to talk about it, finally There is always a way to cover up, to hide the theme, but it has inevitably been a worldwide literary theme. Literature and art show us that it is a founding moment of what Mexico is today and in this sense it is a contribution to the history of Mexico”.

He adds that what always changes the vision of things is research. “The specificity in the topic of the conquest allows us to look for other elements that allow us to change our vision (…) In this colloquium, new research is also presented, that is why it is an important moment for the intellectual life of the country.

The roots of the Colloquium

Sánchez Menchero explains that the colloquium was created by Eulalio Ferrer in 1987, which deepens the Cervantine roots in Guanajuato, which began since the teacher Enrique Ruelas Espinosa in the 50s promised to bring cultural projects to the state with people who live the place. Then, with the idea of ​​Luis Echeverría to emulate a festival similar to that of Venice, which was of international stature, the Cervantino International Festival arose, already with five decades of tradition.

“Guanajuato is a lucky city, because many things have arrived without looking for them. Today a Cervantine tradition has been achieved, for the locals Don Quixote and Cervantes, without most people having read it, they have it incorporated into their DNA. The Festival has modified its artistic perception, since the best of the cultural world has arrived here. This has been very beneficial so that the presence of art and culture is part of everyday life, I wish more places in the Republic had this opportunity”

See the program and register for the colloquium through this site:

https://museoiconografico.guanajuato.gob.mx/coloquio-cervantino.php

[email protected]

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