Spanish Professors Present in Mexico

HIGH POINT, N.C., April 25, 2007 -- High Point University Spanish professors Drs. Claudia Femenias and Mari-Cruz Rodriguez, attended the VI International Conference of Hispanic Literature March 7-10 in Riviera Maya, Mexico. 

Rodriguez presented a paper entitled, "Aggressive Sprouts: The Juvenile Violence in the Film "Taxi" by Carlos Saura and the play "Ominous Stare Puppies"Ominous by Paloma Pedrero. The paper discusses the reasons for the rise of juvenile violence in Spain, examining its origins in social changes, immigration, unemployment, racism, and how this type of violence is represented in modern Spanish film and media. 

"Pedrero and Saura's works analyze the minds of young skinheads and attempt to expose the irrationality of their premises, which justifies their violent acts," said Rodriguez.  "The reader realizes how violence surrounds us in modern society and, as a result, we are either victims or aggressors."

"La Desesperanza by Jose Donoso: A critical examination of the role of art and the artist in an authoritarian society," was presented by Femenias. In the paper, she examined how the novel participates in the cultural conversation occurring in the late 1980s Chile under the military regime.  

"I discuss how the novel interacts with the most controversial issues of the period: the lack of dialogue, lack of freedom of speech, the silencing of political parties and the stagnation of ideas," Femenias said.  "In his novel, Donoso questions art, whose only purpose is to reproduce a political discourse, and the protagonist presents the idea that art and artists should question all dogmatic discourses by creating stories, developing and openly discussing ideas and keeping alive the collective memory the regime was trying to erase."  

The conference was organized by Lock Haven University in Pennsylvania.

At High Point University, every student receives an extraordinary education in a fun environment with caring people. HPU is a liberal arts institution with approximately 3,000 undergraduate and graduate students from 50 countries and 44 states at campuses in High Point and Winston-Salem. It is ranked by US News and World Report 15th among comprehensive universities in the South and in the top 100 nationally. The university offers 68 undergraduate majors, 33 minors and seven graduate-degree programs. It is accredited by the Commission of Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and is a member of the NCAA, Division I and the Big South Conference.

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