Media Advisory

Conference focuses on the Latin American literary ‘boom,’
works of novelist Carlos Fuentes, May 4-5

Cal State L.A. free event gathers experts, public to explore ancient Mexico,
modernity and the literary avante-garde

WHAT:         

2012 Conference on Carlos Fuentes: Ancient Mexico, Modernity, and the Literary Avant-Garde at Cal State L.A.

 

WHO:            

Carlos Fuentes, an award-winning novelist, is often sought after by scholars and

dignitaries to answer questions regarding Mexico’s national identity, historical

origins, Mexico’s capital as a “megacity,” and the unresolved conflicts that define

the country as a modern nation. The conference features distinguished speakers

who are world scholars in the field of Fuentes studies.

 

WHEN:         

Friday and Saturday, May 4-5.

 

WHERE:        

Golden Eagle Ballroom, other locations, on the CSULA campus. The University is located at the intersection of the 10 and 710 freeway. Campus map and directions are available at www.calstatela.edu/univ/maps/.

 

INFO:            

Call (323) 343-2195 or go to http://conferenceoncarlosfuentes.blogspot.com/.

 

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Why has Latin American philosophy haunted philosophers in the Americas during most of the 20th century? How are art, literature and culture interconnected? What is the relationship between modernity and critical theory?

To find out more, reporters are invited to the 2012 Conference on Carlos Fuentes: Ancient Mexico, Modernity, and the Literary Avant-Garde” at Cal State L.A. Friday and Saturday, May 4-5. 

Journalists may also arrange advance interviews (in English or Spanish) with conference organizer Roberto Cantú and keynote speaker Georgina García Gutiérrez Vélez, Centro de Estudios Literarios del Instituto de Investigaciones Filológicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. (Call CSULA Public Affairs office at (323) 343-3050 to request for photos or interviews.)

The conference, free and open to the public, offers five sessions on the novels, short stories, and essays of Fuentes:

·         “The 50th Anniversary of The Death of Artemio”

·         “Carlos Fuentes’s Imperial Narratives: Terra Nostra and The Buried Mirror”

·         “Tradition and Innovation in Mesoamerican Cultural History”

·         “Carlos Fuentes and the Gothic Literary Tradition”

·         “Carlos Fuentes, Modernity, and Mexico’s Post-Boom Writers”

 

The two-day event also includes a special library exhibit and a full staging of one of Fuentes’ play, Orquídeas a la luz de la luna (1982). The performance features actresses Alejandra Flores and Cristal González playing the roles of Mexican film icons María Félix and Dolores del Río, respectively, and performing artist Ricardo Salcido in the role of the fan.

Fuentes, born on November 11, 1928, ranks as the most acclaimed modern novelist in Mexico and one of the central figures in Latin America’s literary “boom,” a generation that consists of Julio Cortázar, Gabriel García Márquez and, among others, Mario Vargas Llosa. Fuentes was raised in a family that represented Mexico’s economic and diplomatic interests in Latin America and in the United States.

For conference details: http://conferenceoncarlosfuentes.blogspot.com/. 

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Working for California since 1947: The 175-acre hilltop campus of California State University, Los Angeles is at the heart of a major metropolitan city, just five miles from Los Angeles’ civic and cultural center. More than 20,000 students and 220,000 alumni—with a wide variety of interests, ages and backgrounds—reflect the city’s dynamic mix of populations. Six Colleges offer nationally recognized science, arts, business, criminal justice, engineering, nursing, education and humanities programs, among others, led by an award-winning faculty. Cal State L.A. is home to the critically-acclaimed Luckman Jazz Orchestra and to the Honors College for high-achieving students. Programs that provide exciting enrichment opportunities to students and community include an NEH-supported humanities center; a NASA-funded center for space research; and a growing forensic science program, housed in the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center. www.calstatela.edu

 

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