Open letter: speaking of dialogue...
...our conference at UC Davis ... will allow an open and productive dialogue between writers of different ethnicities on fundamental issues about their intellectual production. read the letter »
The conference “Discursive Practices: The Formation of a Transnational Indigenous Poetics” brings together scholars and writers from México, U.S., Canada, Bolivia, Colombia, Guatemala, that engage and/or produce indigenous literary creations. By making indigenous literature central to indigenous peoples concerns, the organizers hope to dispel the conventional idea that the indigenous experience needs mediation. The conference will provide a fertile continuation of dialogue for future scholarship in this area as well as a space for indigenous writers and intellectuals to know each other’s works. To a great degree, indigenous literary projects connect to social movements centered on cultural (re)vindication and human and cultural rights. And yet, the notion of “Writing Indians” continues to be perceived as an anomaly. The conference wants to facilitate the opportunity of dialogue between the indigenous writers of the Americas and re-establish their legitimate leadership as aesthetic creators of their own destiny.