Event Description
Gloria E. Chacón will share a chapter from her forthcoming book, Metamestizaje: Indigeneity, Migration, and Diasporas: Challenging Cartographies, which examines Indigenous identity and migration from Mesoamerica to the United States. Through three interconnected themes, Chacón explores the complex relationships between Indigeneity, migration, philosophy, cosmology, and ceremonial practice. The presentation begins by examining contemporary Maya philosophical thought, particularly focusing on cosmolectics and their intricate connections to numerical systems and calendrical traditions. Chacón will then share the compelling story of a spiritual leader in the Indigenous diaspora community of Los Angeles — a “day keeper” who guided his community before his untimely death from COVID-19 in the early months of the pandemic. The talk concludes with a consideration of the role of ceremony and the practical aspects of Maya philosophies.Speaker
Gloria E. Chacón (Maya Ch’orti’ and campesino origin) is an Associate Professor of Literature at UC San Diego. She is a scholar of Indigenous philosophies and literatures in Mesoamerica. She is interested in theorizing Indigenous literatures outside Eurocentric traditions and temporalities. She regularly teaches courses on Contemporary Indigenous literatures from Abya Yala, late twentieth century Latin American literature, Central American literature, Chicanx/Latinx literatures, and Latin American literatures in translation. Chacón’s research explores questions around national canons, literary theory, and Indigenous cultural productions in Latin America/Abya Yala. Her first book, Indigenous Cosmolectics: Kab’awil and the Making of Maya and Zapotec Literatures (UNC Press 2018), broke ground for literary studies, Mesoamerican studies, and Latin American studies. She has also been co-author of books such as: Indigenous Interfaces: Spaces, Technology, and Social Networks in Mexico and Central America (U of A Press 2019), Teaching Central American Literature in a Global Context (MLA Press 2022), and Abiayalan Pluriverses: Bridging Indigenous Studies and Hispanic Studies (Amherst College Press 2024).
Co-sponsorship
Co-sponsored by the Department of Comparative Literature, the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, and the Multicultural Community Center.