The Female New Boom in Latin American Literature: A Lecture by Dr. Patricia Gwozdz


On October 23rd at 4:30 PM, a lecture titled "My Class, My World, My Gender: The Female New Boom in Latin American Literature" was held in Room 214 of the Zhonghe Building at Hunan Normal University. The speaker was Dr. Patricia A. Gwozdz, who is a senior lecturer for Comparative Literature with special focus on Romance Literatures and Cultures at the University of Potsdam. Attending the lecture were Ottmar Ette, a distinguished "Xiangxiang Scholar" and director of the Humboldt Center for Transdisciplinary Studies at HNNU, Dr. Xing Hongru, head of the Spanish major, and students from various years of the Spanish program.


Dr. Gwozdz began by introducing the current situation of the explosion of women's literature in Latin America and the controversies surrounding it. She then used the works of María Ángeles Cantero Rosales as a gateway to help the audience understand Latin American women's literature. Dr. Gwozdz analyzed the different stages of development in Latin American women's literature, focusing on several writers and their representative works, including Hélène Cixous's Le Rire de la Méduse, Fernanda Melchor's Tomporada de Huracanes and Páradais, and Pilar Quintana's La perra.


Dr. Gwozdz argued that these works deeply explore the injustices faced by women across various fields from different dimensions, while also critically examining the impact of patriarchal society on "male-dominant" culture and "masculinity." She emphasized that the manifestos these authors write truly inspire the feminist movement and the awakening of female gender consciousness.


After the lecture, Dr. Xing summarized Dr. Gwozdz's viewpoints on the feminist wave and expressed sincere gratitude to her. During the discussion segment, Professor Ottmar Ette and Dr. Gwozdz explored the significance and far-reaching impact of feminist literature in Latin America, with students actively participating in the interaction. In response to a question posed by Chen Peiqi, a student from the 2022 class, about how to change the portrayal of female characters in the works of male writers, Dr. Gwozdz thoughtfully answered, "We need to allow for the existence of 'differences'; it is precisely these diverse voices that bring women into the view of more people."


The lecture was lively and successful, providing attendees with an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of Latin American women's literature and sparking thoughts among students about the relationship between gender and literature.




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