Deep Traces of Islamic Culture in Mexican Life
When and Where
Speakers
Description
We are delighted to invite you to the third and last event of our "Islam & Latin America" series for Winter 2021, a lecture by renowned Mexican author Alberto Ruy Sánchez in which he shares his journey of appreciation and creative renovation of the deep imprint of Arabo-Andalusian culture in Mexico.
About the Presentation
After visiting Morocco for the first time, Ruy Sánchez realized that Islamic culture has a big influence in Latin American cultural life - a contribution that is not always known or appreciated in the region. This realization began a life long obsession to erect "un puente de arena", a bridge of sand to unite these cultures in his imagination.
Join us for a trip through the origins of the Spanish language, an examination of the influence of Islamic applied arts (ceramics, textiles and architecture) in Mexico, and an argument on Orientalism as applied to Latin American countries. Ruy Sánchez will also share the ways in which the Arabo-Andalusian applied arts techniques shaped the narrative structures of five of his novels known as "The Mogador Quintet".
About the Presenter
Alberto Ruy Sánchez is an acclaimed Mexican author of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. He was the managing editor of Vuelta, one of the most important cultural phenomena in Spanish, from 1984 to 1987. Since 1988, he has been the chief editor and founding publisher of Latin America's leading arts magazine, Artes de Mexico.
He took writing seminars from his thesis director Roland Barthes, Michel Foucault, Jacques Rancière and André Chastel and received a PhD from the University of Paris.
This event is co-organized by the Latin American Studies program in the Department of Spanish & Portuguese and the Institute for Islamic Studies at the University of Toronto. We are grateful for the support of the Office of the Vice-President, International for the organization of this series, running from 2019 to 2022.