Central American Literature and Culture (MMLA)
Chicago, IL
Organization: MMLA
Event: MMLA
Central America’s Republics after the Archive: Creative Responses to Archival Histories
Central America’s histories of colonialism, armed conflict, human rights violations, and U.S. intervention are richly documented in both national archives and international institutions, ranging from the U.S. National Security Archive to physical and digital collections maintained by academic libraries and nonprofits. This panel invites presentations that investigate creative responses to the content and control of the body of archived materials that collectively narrate the Central American experience. How have the creation, curation and control of access to these repositories shaped cultural production in the seven countries that make up this culturally and geographically diverse region?
Examples might include:
• poems addressed to former dictators and military figures in the wake of declassification
• Indigenous and Black self-representation and resistance in works of fiction, poetry and theatre
• testimonial novels that challenge or supplement official narratives
• films that document oral histories of civil wars, dictatorships, and their legacies of violence and economic injustice
If you are interested in participating in this in-person panel, please send an abstract (roughly 250 words) and a short biography to Stacy.Hoult@valpo.edu by April 25, 2026.
Stacy Hoult