On 1st Feburary, Dr Josep-Anton Fernàndez visited Queen Mary University of London to give the 2023 Joanot Martorell Lecture, organised in association with the Insituto Cervantes London.
Josep-Anton, who taught at Queen Mary from 1993 to 2006 and who founded the Centre for Catalan Studies, gave a paper entitled “An Empty Origin: Migration and Mourning in the Catalan Literature of the Argentine Diaspora”.
He began the lecture by explaining the reasons for Argentinian migration and the presence of migrant voices in Catalan literature. This was the perfect introduction for his analysis of the role of mourning in three works written by authors of the Argentinian diaspora. He offered a clear example of trauma and mourning in literature with La mecànica de l’aigua (“The Mechanics of Water”, 2016) by Silvana Vogt, analysing the ideas of blank state vs. indelible mark and frozen temporality with extracts from the novel. The theatrical trilogy La fragilidad de la memoria (“The Fragility of Memory”, 2008), by Victoria Szpunberg, suggested the idea of an impossible identification with the protagonists’ origins, in terms of language, accent, and rejection of one’s own origins. Finally, he explained how Patrícia Gabancho’s La néta d’Adam (“Adam’s Granddaughter”, 2012) offers a different perspective in comparison to Vogt’s and Szpunberg’s works, with a more affective approach to roots and trying to open a subjective void.
This interesting lecture was followed by a drinks reception and a series of inspiring questions from the attendees.
If you missed the lecture, you can watch it via this Youtube link thanks to Instituto Cervantes London: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPyy3pVbMBg
CENTRE FOR CATALAN STUDIES (Queen Mary University of London) 