Considering the many critiques of the “canon” as a way to categorize literary traditions, cultures, and ways of knowing, this roundtable seeks to explore how literary texts in Iberian languages (Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, etc.) have been structured and read accordingly. Furthermore, we aim to address the category of canon (which is itself political and contested), along with its possibilities and limitations as an organizing system. Because Iberian languages are not beholden to the Peninsula, the question of canon formation has manifested itself in contexts as diverse as the 19th-century Catalan Renaixença, the 16th-century Goan printing press, and compilations of “lecturas clásicas” by Mexico’s Secretaría de Educación Pública in the early 20th century. By taking canonicity seriously as a framework of reading, this roundtable hopes to interrogate the not-yet-exhausted question of the literary canon through concrete cases situated in and beyond the Iberian Peninsula.

We welcome proposals addressing, but not limited to, the following questions:

How useful is the idea of a literary canon as a way of organizing and valuing literary texts?

In which ways does canon formation support or undermine national and linguistic autonomy?

How should we approach gaps or exclusions from the canon? By creating alternative canons? By adding previously excluded texts to existing canons?

What is the relationship between canon formation and racial formation in the context of Iberian colonialisms?

To what end does translation trouble or corroborate the category of canon?

Is canonical status always belatedly conferred? That is, does canon formation always necessitate a recuperative act?