10/02/2024
Two events this week in Colorado that you are welcome to attend in person:
1. «Now You See It, Now You Don’t!»: Early Film and Photography in the Poetry of José María Eguren
Dr. Chrystian Zegarra Benites (Colgate University)
Thursday, October 3, 6-7 pm
Prosperity Room, UNC Campus Commons
«Now You See It, Now You Don’t!»: Early Film and Photography in the Poetry of José María Eguren
In this talk, I will examine the work of Peruvian poet José María Eguren from an intermedial perspective, namely, by looking at the relationship between early cinema (c. 1895-1907) and poetry. In doing so, I rely on Tom Gunning’s notion of the ‘cinema of attractions’ as well as the connection between cinema and magic that early filmmakers developed through a method called ‘trick film.’ I see this analytical framework as especially productive because of the stylistic similarities between Eguren’s poetry and both this theory and this practice. These ‘attractions’ tend to focus more on the spectacle of the presentation instead of a well-thought-out plot. Likewise, Eguren’s poetry emphasizes the apparently arbitrary movements of people and objects and de-emphasizes narrative development. Additionally, his innovative poetic works skillfully seized on the tricks and technical contributions of some of the most renowned filmmakers of his time, like Georges Méliès and Segundo de Chomón. This approach should further secure Eguren’s place as a founder of the twentieth-century Peruvian poetic tradition and pioneer of the ‘cinematic’ poetry that flourished in the 1920s and 1930s.
Chrystian Zegarra studied Latin American Literature at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú and received a PhD in Hispanic Literature from the University of California, Los Angeles. He is currently an Associate Professor of Spanish at Colgate University (Hamilton, New York), and SAMLA’s Second Vice President. He published the monograph El celuloide mecanografiado: la poesía cinemática de E. A. Westphalen. His articles and essays on film and literature have appeared in refereed journals and in volumes published in Europe, Latin America, and the United States. He edited two books on the poetic, narrative, and journalistic works of Peruvian writer Luis Valle Goicochea. He has also co-edited the collective volumes Partera de la historia: violencia en literatura, performance y medios audiovisuales en Latinoamérica, and Estruendo mudo: cine silente y sonoro en la literatura iberoamericana. He contributes bibliographical annotations on Peruvian poetry to the Handbook of Latin American Studies.
2. Exploring Silent and Sound Cinema through Literature
Date: Friday, October 4, 2024
Time: 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Location: Room 640, Tivoli Building, Auraria Campus
Join us for an engaging discussion on the influence of silent and sound cinema on Ibero-American literature. Featuring editors and researchers Enrique Bernales, professor at University of Northern Colorado, and Chrystian Zegarra, professor at Colgate University, authors of the volume Estruendo mudo: cine silente y sonoro en la literatura iberoamericana (1895-1947), this conversation will be moderated by Roberto Forns-Broggi, Professor in the Department of World Languages at MSU Denver.
Explore how the transition from silent to sound cinema impacted literary narratives in the Spanish speaking countries and gain insights from this recently published book.
Don’t Miss Out!
This panel is a unique opportunity to delve into the intersection of cinema and literature and hear from experts of the field about their groundbreaking work.
Free Admission.
We look forward to seeing you there!
