{"id":171,"date":"2023-10-21T10:57:36","date_gmt":"2023-10-21T10:57:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/irscl2025salamanca.usal.es\/?page_id=171"},"modified":"2025-03-18T03:16:18","modified_gmt":"2025-03-18T03:16:18","slug":"plenary-speakers","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/irscl2025salamanca.usal.es\/es\/plenary-speakers\/","title":{"rendered":"CONFERENCIAS PLENARIAS"},"content":{"rendered":" <\/p>\n

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EVELYN ARIZPE<\/p>\n

Evelyn Arizpe<\/strong> es Catedr\u00e1tica de Literatura Infantil en la Facultad de Educaci\u00f3n de la Universidad de Glasgow. Dirige el Programa Conjunto de M\u00e1ster Erasmus Mundus \u00abLiteratura infantil, medios de comunicaci\u00f3n y emprendimiento cultural\u00bb. Su investigaci\u00f3n analiza los \u00e1lbumes ilustrados en relaci\u00f3n con los temas de desplazamiento forzado, conflicto y consolidaci\u00f3n de la paz. Ha formado parte del jurado del Premio Hans C. Andersen (2022 y 2024) y fue Presidenta de la Asociaci\u00f3n Internacional de Investigaci\u00f3n de Literatura Infantil y Juvenil (IRSCL).<\/span><\/p>\n

\nClick aqu\u00ed para detalles sobre la charla de Evelyn<\/strong><\/summary>\n

Mexican Children\u2019s Literature: Borderlands and Bridges<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Evelyn Arizpe<\/strong>
\nUniversity of Glasgow<\/p>\n

Although there exists a large historical corpus of children\u2019s literature published in Mexico before the end of the 20th century, the 1980s marks the beginning of a new era in which text production, institutional projects and children\u2019s literature scholarship take a more confident step that breaks away from the territory of pedagogy and didacticism. These last 40-50 years have witnessed the foundation of the Mexican section of IBBY; the establishment of one of the largest children\u2019s book fairs in the world; the emergence of prize-winning authors and illustrators as well as of editors who encouraged the publication of both international translations and national talent, including indigenous creators. Over the decades, interest in the field has increased, as evidenced by the development of practical and theoretical courses and workshops in universities, cultural and government organisations, leading to scholarly publications and postgraduate thesis as well as journals and blogs. The momentum led to the hosting, in 2014, of the international IBBY congress by IBBY Mexico, which gathered 971 participants from 66 different countries. However, a decade later, this momentum seems to have been halted by barriers raised by escalating costs and clashing ideologies. Struggles to keep moving forward have become mired in economic, educational and cultural policies as well as more general issues around precarity, violence and migration. And yet, despite these barriers, the work of individuals and groups deeply invested in both scholarship and praxis around children\u2019s literature, pushes ahead \u2013 the latter often within communities experiencing these challenges. This talk will present a case study that has both national and transnational implications for the development of the field of children\u2019s literature more widely, as it proposes procreative and collaborative ways of surmounting barriers and crossing borders. It is based on the perspectives of experts involved in the field and a personal journey of scholarship from Mexico to the United Kingdom throughout which one of the aims has been to build bridges, not only between these two countries, but also more widely between Latin American and a wider international community.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n

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SARA VAN DEN BOSSCHE<\/p>\n

Sara Van den Bossche<\/strong> es Profesora Adjunta de Culturas y Literaturas Juveniles en la Universidad de Tilburg (Pa\u00edses Bajos). Sus principales temas de ense\u00f1anza e investigaci\u00f3n son la diversidad \u00e9tnica y cultural, el feminismo, la cr\u00edtica de la ideolog\u00eda, la cr\u00edtica cognitiva, la canonizaci\u00f3n, la adaptaci\u00f3n, los libros ilustrados y la literatura transversal. Desde 2019, imparte clases en el M\u00e1ster Internacional Erasmus Mundus \u00abLiteratura infantil, medios de comunicaci\u00f3n y cultura\u00bb (CLMC). Ha sido coeditora de n\u00fameros especiales de Children’s Literature Association Quarterly<\/em>, DiGeSt<\/em> y Barnboken <\/em>sobre enfoques cognitivos y diversidad en la literatura infantil. Es autora de los libros editados por Routledge Engagements with Children’s Literature<\/em> (con Lydia Kokkola) y Pippi Longstocking, Critically<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Redes sociales: @SaraZweeds<\/span><\/p>\n

\nClick aqu\u00ed para detalles sobre la charla de Sara<\/strong><\/summary>\n

Creative Counterventions: Liminality, Positionality, and Activism in Dutch-Language
\n<\/strong><\/span>Children\u2019s Literature (Studies)<\/strong><\/span>
\nSara Van den Bossche<\/strong><\/p>\n

Trigger warning: This talk will address derogatory, racist, and dehumanising world views.<\/p>\n

In Dutch and Flemish children\u2019s culture, early December is a highlight for many, due to the tradition of Saint Nicholas, who rewards obedient children with presents and sweets. This lore has proven highly controversial, though, because of the traditional depiction of Saint Nicholas\u2019 sidekick, Pete, as a Black servant. As it reproduces a racist, colonial, and exclusionary understanding of the world, this tradition has been protested vehemently.<\/p>\n

One form of dissent is the figure of Queen Nikkolah, created and portrayed by activist Laura Nsengiyumva. Queen Nikkolah is a Black woman dressed in red and donning a mitre-shaped hairdo, echoing Saint Nicholas\u2019 attire. Since 2017, she has organised a celebration for all children. She also features as the protagonist of a picturebook written by Black author Zarissa Windzak (2024). This case exemplifies how debates surrounding racism, colonialism, and inclusion present in the Dutch-language field of children\u2019s literature and culture.<\/p>\n

This character and her story also illustrate a recent trend of \u201ccounternarratives\u201d (Smith 2006; Thomas 2019) emerging in the Dutch-language children\u2019s literary landscape, which is predominantly White (De Bruijn et al. 2021). As I have shown (2023), lately, several authors and illustrators of colour have intervened in that landscape creatively, with imaginative counterstories \u2013 hence the phrase \u201ccreative counterventions\u201d.<\/p>\n

The positionalities of these authors and illustrators are particularly relevant against the backdrop of White prevalence in literature and the strong pull to the right in politics; their counterventions are coming from within communities of colour. In my work as a White scholar investigating diversity and inclusion in children\u2019s literature and culture, positionality, too, becomes pertinent. Therefore, identity is one of the main topics I tease out in this talk. I start by addressing my own positionality and how that influences my interpretations. I unpack some of the cultural narratives about people of colour that permeated my childhood and subsequently flesh out the non-normative counterdimensions to my identity.<\/p>\n

The second, main part centres on the aforementioned counterventions. First, I discuss the context in which they have arisen. Second, I argue that these counterventions are highly liminal in nature. These authors and illustrators of colour cast young Black protagonists as superheroes in visual narratives of a speculative kind. Their stories engage with the liminal by granting the characters superhuman status and by interspersing magical, supernatural elements in an otherwise realistic setting. In creating alternative narrative universes governed by powerful Black characters, the lecture demonstrates, these counterventions \u201ccenter the margin\u201d (Martin and Washington 2018: 85) and thereby create a \u201ccounter-reality\u201d (Delgado in Sands-O\u2019Connor 2018: 55).<\/p>\n

References:<\/strong><\/p>\n