Allison Guzman has traveled as far as Spain and Ecuador for her work and is now on her way to Kleymeyer Hall to discuss the Spanish Civil War and its portrayal in contemporary Spanish literature.
The adjunct assistant professor of Spanish at Providence College in Rhode Island will speak at 7 p.m. on Wednesday as part of this year’s Berger Lecture Series.
The Liberal Arts department takes turns each year finding and sponsoring speakers for the lecture series which honors Sydney Berger, an Evansville lawyer who fought for Civil Rights and social justice.
Guzman will discuss historical memory, Spain’s history starting from the Second Republic until now and the relationship between Spain and Germany during the Spanish Civil War and World War II, Berger said.
“Many people in the U.S. may admire the ‘exotic,’ but we don’t immerse ourselves in other cultures,” she said. “Mainly because we don’t have the opportunity to do so and we don’t tend to seek out people with different viewpoints.”
Most people from other countries are generally aware of events taking place in the U.S., but few Americans are familiar with foreign affairs that aren’t relayed from corporate-sponsored media, Guzman said.
“People from Hispanic Countries will say that U.S. citizens think they are ‘el ombligo del mundo,’ literally ‘the belly-button’ or center of the world,” she said.
By studying Spanish languages and cultures, Guzman said, people can draw comparisons between the Spanish Civil War and the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States today, women’s rights movements and social reform.
Unlike World War II, the Spanish Civil War, which ended in 1939, did not end fascism, Associate Professor of Spanish, David Hitchcock said.
“Two generations of Spaniards only knew this very closed authoritarian rule in which state censorship was a given and which basically half of Spain, the half that had lost the Civil War, were silenced,” he said.
Guzman will focus her speech on the lasting legacy of the Spanish Civil War and the generations born and raised after the war ended, Hitchcock said.
“The war wasn’t something you talked about even if you were on the winning side,” he said. “You knew that there was this constant tension that was unspoken.”
A person might never learn what happened to a family member who went missing during the war and wouldn’t be allowed to ask questions, Hitchcock said.
Guzman, who completed her Ph.D. only four years ago, has already written 12 academic publications.
“I think she’s got a lot of fresh ideas to share about this topic,” Hitchcock said,.“And I think it’s really a tremendous asset to our college of Liberal Arts here to be able to combine this with the play performances that’ll be coming up the next few days.”
FAST FACTS:
What:”The Memory of the Spanish Civil War in Contemporary Society and Theater”
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday
Location: Kleymeyer Hall
Cost: Free
