221 Allen Hall
University of Oregon
Sephardic Literature & Folklore Series
“Contemporary Voices in Ladino Poetry”
Monique R. Balbuena
April 21, 6:30 at 221 Allen, UO
Departing from a rhetoric of death that surrounds any conversation about Ladino (vernacular Judeo-Spanish) today, Monique Balbuena will look at contemporary poetry in Ladino. She will observe the different poetic projects that the language has been used to carry, and the new values it has acquired. Because it is a diasporic language, the perspective taken in an initial survey is necessarily transnational, with the focus narrowing onto Latin America, that has proved a fertile ground for Ladino. The adoption of Latin American genres and translation of Latin American texts, as well as the history of oppression and dictatorships in the continent are part of the context in which the minor, diasporic and Jewish Ladino becomes an option for writers, poets and songwriters in the continent.
“Crypto Judaism and the Question of Human Agency in 16th Century Sephardic Literature”
April 28th
David Wacks – Professor of Spanish at the University of Oregon, where he has worked since receiving his PhD at the University of California, Berkeley in 2003. He was a Starr Fellow in Judaica at Harvard University. Author of “Framing Iberia: Frametales and Maqamat in Medieval Spain”and “Double Diaspora in Sephardic Literature: Jewish Cultural Production Before and After 1492” which won the 2015 National Jewish Book Award in Sephardic Culture. He blogs on his current research at http://davidwacks.uoregon.edu.
“The MeAm Loez in History and Literature”
May 5th
Jonathan Seidel – Spiritual Leader of Or haGan in Eugene.
He received his PhD at the University of California Berkeley, in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, and teaches Religious Studies at Lane Community College. A student of Ladino Rabbinic Literature for many years, he performs Sephardic music along the west coast – singing in many genres, both folkloric and liturgical.
May 12th – Film Presentation (title to be announced at a later date)