All posts by Susanna Sharpe

Area Studies, Benson Latin American Collection, Humanities & Liberal Arts

Benson Collection Acquires Archive of Andrés Caicedo

April 15, 2025 Susanna Sharpe Leave a comment

By ADRIAN JOHNSON

The Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection is pleased to announce the acquisition of literary and family archives of Colombian writer Andrés Caicedo. This collection joins other important regional literary collections of writers such as César Vallejo, Augusto Roa Bastos, and Julio Cortázar, increasing the importance of the Benson as a destination for students, faculty, and researchers from the United States, Latin America, and beyond.

Front page of an open book. On the right, inside a black border, a drawing in black ink of a young man with 1970s-style hair, a large chin and pursed lips, and clothing, dark sunglasses, a chain brandished in one hand and a large, bloody knife in the other. He stands in front of a graffitied wall that has a large area of its outer coating missing. His thin legs, in jeans, are in a wide stance. The title of the book, El Atravesado, is written vertically bottom to top along the left-hand side of the border in rough, handwritten all capitals; the name of the author, Andrés Caicedo, is written in the same style along the right-hand side. — Title page of “El Atravesado.” Benson Latin American Collection.

Within a decade of the publication of 100 Years of Solitude, which propelled Gabriel García Márquez and Colombia to the forefront of the Latin American literary scene, a 21-year-old Caicedo was self-publishing his first novela. El Atravesado (1975) was printed with a stamp opposite the title page reading Pirata Ediciones de Calidad (Pirata Quality Editions). Adorning the cover is a Ramones-esque sketch that the author had copied and enhanced from a bootlegged Rolling Stones album cover: a sunglasses-clad rebellious youth in front of a deteriorating and graffitied wall, a chain in one hand and a bloody knife in the other, ready for a fight. The story is one of youth in street gangs who have lost all faith in adulthood, living in the chaos of urban disorder, brawls, and parties, who yearn for a better world.

Inside cover of a book, with author's name, title, and publisher's seal. There is messy handwriting all over the page. On the left, you can see the dark illustration of a man, similar to that of the cover, from the previous page bleeding through. — Inside cover of “El Atravesado,” with handwritten dedication and Ediciones Pirata seal. Benson Latin American Collection.

An intellectually curious lover of movies and letters, Caicedo began writing at the age of 10 and never stopped. He wrote plays, published stories in newspapers, and published Ojo al Cine, a film magazine that ran from 1974 to 1976. On March 4, 1977, at the age of 25, just after receiving the editor’s copy of his first published full-length novel, Que viva la música, Caicedo died by suicide. Que viva la música went on to become his best-known work, and would give voice to a generation of Colombia’s youth, offering a socially realistic alternative to the magical realism of García Márquez and other writers of the Latin American Boom.

A magazine cover features a very faded and large image of a woman's eyes, nose, and mouth—close-up of a face, in pale grays. The title of the magazine, "Ojo al Cine" is printed in bold black type, all lower-case, along the bottom, in addition to the number 5 in a circle. Along the borders of the cover are names of authors and other writing, including the magazine's subtitle, "La crítica cinematográfica en Cuba y América Latina." — Cover of issue 5 of the film criticism magazine “Ojo al Cine.” Benson Latin American Collection.

Caicedo already had a loyal following by the time of his death, but most of his writing was never published, or was limited to local and serial publications. His father, with whom he had fraught relations, discovered many of his manuscripts several years after his death. He led the creation of a family foundation dedicated to preparing and publishing the entire corpus of Caicedo’s writing. Caicedo’s renown has continued growing as publications are translated and published until today.

Yellowed newspaper clippings from a film review in Spanish are arranged on a white background show the large title of a review of the Godfather Part 2 by Andrés Caicedo with the made-up onomatopoeic word "uuuuuuuuggf" in it. The title of the publication, at top, is El Pueblo Estravagario, dated Sunday, October 19, 1975. — Review of “The Godfather 2” by Andrés Caicedo, including creative use of onomatopoeia, published in El Pueblo Estravagario.

The Andrés Caicedo Collection contains materials collected by the author’s sister, Rosario Caicedo, and includes manuscripts, photographs, correspondence, rare publications, press clippings, and family photo albums. Some of the most important documents in the collection are letters to and from his parents, Carlos Alberto and Nellie Estela, and his sister, Rosario, in the last years of his life. Several folders in the collection document Caicedo’s involvement in the Cine Club de Cali, including issues of the magazine Ojo al Cine. Finally, family photo albums of his parents and grandparents document the life of his family in the first decades of the twentieth century.

A yellowed sheet of unlined paper, edges badly damaged with stains in some areas, contains a typewritten letter from the author to his father, whom he addresses are Carlos Alberto. It is signed in blue pen. — Letter from Caicedo to his father, signed ‘Tu Hijo (Que te pesa)’. Benson Latin American Collection.

This collection supplements the Archivo Andrés Caicedo, donated by the family to the Biblioteca Luis Ángel Arango in Bogotá, Colombia, and helps present a side of Caicedo that brings a wider understanding to his life and his literary corpus. View the contents of the archive at Texas Archival Resources Online.

En español: Read “El Segundo archivo de Andrés Caicedo llega a Texas” by Yefferson Ospina, UT Austin Graduate Research Assistant who worked on processing the archive.

Adrian Johnson is Head of User Services at the Benson Latin American Collection, and Librarian for the Andean Region.

Benson Latin American Collection, Collections, Collections Highlight, Humanities & Liberal Arts

Archive of Cristina Rivera Garza, Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Acquired by Benson Latin American Collection

March 28, 2025 Susanna Sharpe Leave a comment

By LAUREN PEÑA, PhD

The Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection is pleased to announce the acquisition of the literary archive of distinguished Mexican author and professor Cristina Rivera Garza, a recipient of the Pulitzer Prize and MacArthur Fellowship. This archive enhances the Benson’s extensive collection of materials that embody Latin American literary tradition, intellectual thought, and leadership, reflecting the stature of the library and the University of Texas at Austin campus as an invaluable resource for students, faculty, and researchers globally.

Cristina Rivera Garza, born in 1964 in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, is one of the most influential and innovative contemporary Mexican authors. She has been the recipient of Mexico’s most prestigious literary accolades, including the Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize, which she won twice. Her writing defies traditional literary genres, blending historical research, speculative fiction, and linguistic experimentation to challenge dominant narratives and conventional storytelling.

Three women with dark hair sit on the ground. The mother is at the far left, smiling. The daughter in the middle has wavy dark hair, wire-rimmed glasses, and overalls. Her sister, on the right, has short, dark hair and a moody expression. — The author Cristina Rivera Garza, center, with her mother, left, and her sister Liliana Rivera Garza. Undated photo. Cristina Rivera Garza Papers, Benson Latin American Collection.

Rivera Garza’s works, including Nadie me verá llorar (1999), Dolerse: Textos desde un país herido (2011), El mal de la taiga (2012), and El invencible verano de Liliana (2023), engage deeply with themes of gender violence, loss, and memory. Through these narratives, she explores Mexico’s complex socio-political landscape, giving voice to silenced histories.

The Benson Latin American Collection presents An Evening with Cristina Rivera Garza on Monday, April 14, 2025. Find details here.

Rivera Garza grew up along the U.S.–Mexico border, a region rich in cultural traditions and marked by the fluidity of languages, identities, and experiences. This liminal space shaped her literary and academic sensibilities, fostering a transnational perspective that permeates her work. She studied urban sociology at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), a premier academic institution, and later earned a doctoral degree in Latin American history from the University of Houston. This academic background plays a crucial role in her writing, allowing her to seamlessly weave together fiction, poetry, and scholarly research.

Rivera Garza’s acclaimed novel Nadie me verá llorar (1999) exemplifies her unique ability to fuse historical research with fiction. Set in a mental health institution in early-twentieth-century Mexico, the novel tells the tragic love story of Joaquín, a photographer and addict, and Matilda, a rebellious patient whose life defies social conventions. However, the novel transcends this romantic premise. It has become a powerful meditation on how medical discourse and institutional power define sanity and madness in Mexico’s tempestuous historical past. Through her prose, Rivera Garza captures the fragility of memory while critiquing the oppressive systems that define these mental states.

English translation of a page of No One Will See Me Cry in page proofs, with handwritten query in the right-hand margin. — Page proof of English translation of No One Will See Me Cry, with query. Cristina Rivera Garza Papers, Benson Latin American Collection.

Language itself has become a central theme in Rivera Garza’s work. She experiments with form, voice, and narrative structure, often incorporating archival fragments, poetic interludes, and hybrid genres. In works like Dolerse: Textos desde un país herido, La muerte me da, and El invencible verano de Liliana, the author uses language not only as a medium of expression, but as a tool of resistance. She gives voice to the grief and trauma of gender-based violence, while simultaneously interrogating the silences imposed by official histories and institutionalized narratives.

Two young women stand outside a house. The one on the left, Liliana, is wearing white and looking down. The one on the right, Cristina, is laughing and looking at the camera, her hands in the pockets of her brown pants. — Cristina Rivera Garza, right, with her sister Liliana Rivera Garza. Undated photo. Cristina Rivera Garza Papers, Benson Latin American Collection.

El invencible verano de Liliana (2021, published in English as Liliana’s Invincible Summer in 2023) is one of her most intimate and politically charged works. This book serves as a tribute to her younger sister, Liliana Rivera Garza, who was murdered by her ex-boyfriend in the summer of 1990. Written decades later, the text functions both as an act of remembrance and a form of literary justice. Through its narrative, Rivera Garza reconstructs Liliana’s life and the circumstances surrounding her death by utilizing her sister’s personal writings, diary entries, letters, and official documents. In doing so, she transcends traditional literary classifications and crafts a work that challenges the conventions of genre. In prose that encapsulates the intimacy of sisterhood, she deploys precise language that condemns the systemic impunity and gender-based violence that persists in Mexico.

Image from book cover. The title, El Invencible Verano de Liliana is written in green, blue, and pale lime-green. Below the title and the author's name is a photograph of a young woman with a hoop earring visible in one ear, wearing a pinkish button-down shirt. Behind her is mostly dark, although a blurry forest appears toward the top of the frame. — Cover, “El invencible verano de Liliana.”

Rivera Garza captures the essence of the women’s resistance movement against gender violence in a deeply personal yet politically charged reflection. When she writes, “These grassroots movements have attracted more and more women, younger women, women who grew up in a city, and a country, that harasses them every step of every day, never leaving them alone or offering respite. Women always about to die. Women dying and yet alive” (Liliana’s Invincible Summer, p. 9). The repetition of the word women underscores the collective suffering, while the paradox—“women dying and yet alive”—conveys the precarious existence of women living under constant threat, trapped in a liminal space between life and death.

Integrating her sister’s voice through preserved writings becomes Rivera Garza’s ultimate act of resistance—one that not only prevents the erasure of victims, but also critiques the sanitized language of legal and forensic reports, exposing the dehumanizing bureaucracy that often surrounds cases of femicide. By capturing the complexity of mourning and the struggle for justice, Rivera Garza denounces a broader social epidemic while issuing a powerful call to remember, fight, and resist.

Through her bold and experimental body of work, Cristina Rivera Garza has redefined the boundaries of Latin American literature. Her writing follows in the footsteps of a constellation of authors such as María Luisa Puga, Gloria Anzaldúa, and Alicia Gaspar de Alba, whose archives are also held at the Benson, offering readers a powerful lens through which to examine the intersections of personal and collective memory, violence, and resistance.

Cover of a literary magazine with the title in yellow and red. A thin line drawing adorns most of it. — Student literary publication from UNAM. Cristina Rivera Garza Papers, Benson Latin American Collection.

Poetry by Cristina Rivera Garza printed on the yellowing pages of a student literary magazine. — Poem published during her time at UNAM. Cristina Rivera Garza Papers, Benson Latin American Collection.

The Cristina Rivera Garza Papers, now part of the Benson Latin American Collection at the University of Texas at Austin, contains poetry, photographs, essays, correspondence, and manuscripts. Among the highlights of the collection are letters between the author and her sister, Liliana Rivera Garza. This rich archive offers scholars and students an unprecedented opportunity to engage with Rivera Garza’s creative process from conception to completion. Her literary contributions will undoubtedly continue to shape contemporary literature for generations to come.

Lauren Peña, PhD, is head of collection development at the Benson Latin American Collection.

Benson Latin American Collection, Collections, Libraries, Open Access, Texas Digital Library

Latino USA Radio Program Episodes Published

February 17, 2025 Susanna Sharpe Leave a comment

The digitized episodes have been made available online by the Benson Latin American Collection

More than 160 digitized episodes of Latino USA, the newsmagazine of Latino news and culture founded at UT in 1993, have been published by the Benson Latin American Collection. Published records include metadata and transcriptions for the episodes, which are available to the public on the open-access University of Texas Libraries Collections Portal. The publication and transcription of the episodes was made possible by a grant from the Latin Americanist Research Resources Project (LARRP).

The selected episodes, which total 168, span the years 1997–2000. They are part of a larger archival collection held by the Benson—Latino USA Records, which documents the history of the radio program from early planning stages in the late 1980s through the program’s first seventeen years (1993–2010).

A newspaper page with the title On Campus features a large black-and-white photograph of people in a radio station. In the foreground, four people are in the control room—Christina Cuevas speaks on the phone, Frank Contreras holds a reel-to-reel tape, María Martin smiles and holds papers in front of a microphone on a boom stand, and Dolores García has headphones on and is smiling and looking at something. Behind the soundproof glass, a room with other people can be seen. On the wall are the words Latino USA. The people are smiling and looking into the room that is being photographed. — OnCampus feature on Latino USA’s 200th program. Latino USA Records, Benson Latin American Collection.

The newly published episodes consist of over 80 hours of material covering Latin American and Latina/o topics, including interviews with figures such as labor activist Dolores Huerta, singer Little Joe Hernandez, San Francisco mayor Willie Brown, and writers Claribel Alegria, Américo Paredes, and Sandra Cisneros. Prior to their digitization by UT Libraries, these episodes had only existed in a legacy audio cassette format known as DAT, which made them inaccessible to the public.

The published episodes are accompanied by complete transcriptions, funded with a grant from the Latin Americanist Research Resources Project (LARRP). The transcriptions meet accessibility requirements of the digital collections platform, expanding access for the hearing impaired and people with better reading than listening knowledge of English.

Transcriptions can also provide expanded searching and digital scholarship opportunities for researchers and support additional use of these recordings in instructional settings. The transcriptions were provided by UT Austin’s Captioning and Transcription Services Team.

A stack of six audio tapes in clear plastic cases sits atop dozens more such tapes. Each one is labeled "LATINO USA" along with a number and other information. — Latino USA DAT audio tapes at the Benson Latin American Collection

The Latino USA Records at the Benson include nearly 900 program episodes that aired between 1993 and 2010, in addition to correspondence, photographs, ephemera, and other records documenting the program’s history. The Benson and University of Texas Libraries have digitized and transcribed additional episodes that they hope to publish in the future. Archival footage from the Benson was included in various episodes during the program’s 30th anniversary year in 2023, including a special episode dedicated to the anniversary and an episode that focused on the Benson. Latino USA’s special episode dedicated to the memory of the program’s founder, María Martin, also included archival footage and documents from the Benson.

Black-and-white close-up photo of journalist María Martin, who has dark hair, large hoop earrings, a beaded necklace, and a dark striped shirt on. She smiles broadly as she speaks into a large, metallic radio microphone that is suspended in front of her. — The late María Martin at the Latino USA studio. Latino USA Records, Benson Latin American Collection.

Over 30 Years of History

Launched on May 5, 1993, Latino USA is an award-winning weekly English-language radio journal created to fill a Latina/o-themed void in nationally distributed radio. It was initially produced by the Center for Mexican American Studies (CMAS) in collaboration with KUT at the University of Texas at Austin. Radio veterans María Emilia Martin and Maria Hinojosa joined the staff in the roles of producer and host, respectively, while CMAS director Gilberto Cardenas acted as the program’s first executive producer (Martin and Hinojosa would both eventually serve in this role). Latino USA moved to Futuro Media Group in 2010.

The program was established at a time when the U.S. Latina/o population was one-third of what it is today. As Maria Hinojosa notes, the show traces the history of this immense growth, as well as that population’s participation in all aspects of politics, culture, and society.

A black-and-white photo of journalist Maria Hinojosa. She has long, dark hair and is wearing a white top with a collar. She smiles fully. One hoop earring is visible on the left. — Latino USA co-founder and journalist Maria Hinojosa, undated photo. Latino USA Records, Benson Latin American Collection.

Among the staff members who worked in this project are two graduate research assistants (GRAs), Fernanda Agüero, a graduate student at the School of Information (iSchool), and Rosa de Jong, a dual-master’s student at LLILAS and the iSchool.

As LLILAS Benson Digital Initiatives GRA, Agüero worked on the project during fall 2024, giving her the opportunity to listen to a large majority of the Benson’s now-digitized collection.

“The Latino USA collection provides a distinct opportunity to observe the key events and cultural developments that defined Latin American identity through the turn of the 20th century,” Agüero said. “It covers significant moments such as the Elián González case, the Clinton-Gore campaign, and a large focus on the arts, including my favorite episode, which featured a compilation of Latin American female ballad artists. This collection serves as a historical record, allowing listeners to situate themselves within the specific timeframes in which these episodes were produced, offering insight into the political and cultural climate of the period.”

In this black-and-white photo, a row of five people of diverse ages sits at a rectangular table, each with a microphone. At the far end, journalist María Martin looks at the others, leaning her head on her chin. In the center, media scholar Federico Subervi looks down, smiling. A young woman in the foreground is speaking into her microphone. — Undated photo, Latino USA Records, Benson Latin American Collection

De Jong, a Special Collections Graduate Research Assistant, singled out her highlights in the newly transcribed episodes.

“I especially loved the episodes focused on Tejano and Chicano traditions and cultural workers. One that stands out is titled Tejano Literary Traditions, which features interviews with literary icons Sandra Cisneros and Américo Paredes. In the episode, the authors talk about how their experiences growing up and living in the U.S.–Mexico borderlands shaped their work.” The newly transcribed programs also focused on Puerto Rico, says de Jong. “I was also impressed by the depth and scope of the reporting on Puerto Rico. Covering topics such as the Independence Movement, Puerto Rican political prisoners, and the 1999 Vieques Island protests, Latino USA episodes provide varied and rich accounts of the complex and evolving socioeconomic, political, and cultural contexts both on the Island and within the diaspora. Two episodes that highlight this reporting are Latino USA Program 275, Week #39-98 and Latino USA Program 348, Week #51-99.”

Benson Latin American Collection, LLILAS Benson

Ernesto Cardenal’s Centennial

January 17, 2025 Susanna Sharpe Leave a comment

The papers of Nicaragua’s beloved poet-priest-politician reside at UT’s Benson Latin American Collection; January 20, 2025, is the centennial of his birth

Admired and controversial, Ernesto Cardenal was a towering figure in Central American culture and politics. As Nicaragua’s minister of culture under the Sandinista government, which took power in 1979, he oversaw a national program that taught poetry to Nicaraguans of all ages and all walks of life.

A black-and-white photo shows many children in the background, facing the camera under a grassy roof open-air structure. In the foreground, several men are seated on a wooden floor. A microphone is being held above them to the left. The man on the left at the front of the photo is Ernesto Cardenal, wearing a black beret, wire-rimmed glasses and a simple collarless white shirt. He has shoulder-length white hair, and a full white beard and mustache. Another man to the right of him is speaking to an interviewer whose face is not visible. — Ernesto Cardenal (left of center) as Minister of Culture in Nicaragua. Undated photo, Benson Latin American Collection.

His relationship with the Sandinista government would eventually sour. As a result, the safety of his literary archive was in peril, leading to its eventual acquisition by the Benson in 2016.

In honor of Cardenal’s centennial, we link to previously published writings by UT Austin faculty and staff that examine various aspects of his life.

Ernesto Cardenal Papers

Ernesto Cardenal, photo by Sandra Eleta

“The archive features rare editions of Cardenal’s writings, translations of his poetry, interviews, photographs, videos, newspaper clippings, documentaries about his life and work, and hundreds of letters to and from key protagonists of Nicaraguan culture and politics.”
Read more: Papers of Nicaraguan Luminary Find a Home at the Benson Latin American Collection

Ernesto Cardenal Papers on Texas Archival Resources Online

Cardenal at LLILAS Benson

Color photo of Ernesto Cardenal at age 91, reading his poetry at the Benson. He is wearing his black beret, a dark jacket, wire-rimmed glasses, and his hair is white, covering his ears. He holds a piece of paper in one hand and gestures with the other. — Cardenal reads his poetry to a packed house at the Benson. Photo: Travis Willmann.

The opening of the Ernesto Cardenal Papers is celebrated at a roundtable and bilingual poetry reading at the Benson. At the event, Cardenal reads his own poetry, which is passionately interpreted into English by poet Celeste Mendoza.
Watch video (poetry reading starts at one-hour mark): “Ernesto Cardenal in Word and Action” Reading and Roundtable

Cardenal in Hard Times

LP cover for Cardenal's libro-disco recording of Oración por Marilyn Monroe and other poems. The cover features Andy Warhol's alterations of Monroe's photo (or a copy thereof), in color, four in a square. — Warhol-inspired libro-disco cover. Caracas, 1972. Benson Latin American Collection.

“[T]he voice of Ernesto Cardenal broke with our routine of studying a limited range of literary texts, mostly focused on intimate, politically inoffensive themes,” writes Professor Luis Cárcamo-Huechante. “In the midst of times of censorship and coercion, it was Cardenal’s verses that awoke me to an unexpectedly revelatory linkage between poetry and social issues, literary writing and collective history.”
Read Cárcamo-Huechante’s essay in English or Spanish

Interview in Managua and Digital Exhibition

Ernesto Cardenal, his arms aloft and outstretched, is saying mass in this black-and-white photo. He wears a poncho. One the table in front of him is a metal wine cup. He has shoulder-length whitish hair, beard, and mustache, and dark-rimmed glasses. Behind him hangs a white sheet illustrated with drawings. — Saying mass. Ernesto Cardenal Papers, Benson Latin American Collection

In spring 2016, José Montelongo, former Benson librarian, visited Cardenal in Managua. The occasion was the Benson’s recent acquisition of Father Cardenal’s personal papers. In these excerpts from their conversation, Cardenal talks about poetry, science, and religion, about the famous poetry workshops he helped create, about the successes and failures of the Nicaraguan Revolution, and more.
Watch the video (in Spanish with English subtitles)

The digital exhibition “Remembering Ernesto Cardenal: Selections from His Archive,” organized by Latin American Archivist Dylan Joy, traces key moments in the life of the poet, priest, revolutionary, liberation theologist, sculptor, and activist.
Visit the digital exhibition

Hasta siempre . . .

Black-and-white close-up of an older Ernesto Cardenal, who is looking directly into the camera. His black beret is visible. He wears wire-rimmed glasses. His white hair is in bright relief with a black background. — Ernesto Cardenal, undated photo. Benson Latin American Collection.

“Ernesto Cardenal was a fighter: for justice, against dictatorship, for equality, for his faith, and for the power of art and beauty to shine light in a dark world. He was tireless in this lifelong struggle, striving until his final days for a better Nicaragua and true justice for all people. LLILAS Benson is proud to help to carry on his legacy.”

— Virginia Garrard, Professor Emerita of History; former director, LLILAS Benson
Read the Obituary: “Ernesto Cardenal Is Dead at 95: The Nicaraguan Poet, Priest, and Revolutionary Chose the Benson Collection for His Archive”

Acquisitions/Foreign Travel, Benson Latin American Collection, Collections

Benson Acquisition: Augusto Roa Bastos Papers

November 25, 2024 Susanna Sharpe Leave a comment

The Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection is thrilled to announce the acquisition of the literary archives of César Vallejo and Augusto Roa Bastos, two giants of Latin American letters. These archives augment the Benson’s already significant collection of materials that represent the region’s writers, thinkers, and intellectual leaders, making the library, and the UT campus, an invaluable resource for students, faculty, and researchers from all corners of the globe.

By MELISSA GUY and DANIEL ARBINO

Paraguay’s most significant writer, Augusto Roa Bastos (1917–2005) is known for his contributions to the Latin American Boom and the post-dictatorship novel, particularly through his works Hijo de hombre (1960) and Yo el Supremo (1974). The latter is a historical fiction of the José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia dictatorship in the nineteenth century.

The book cover of a commemorative edition of "Yo, el Supremo" is a dark mustard-yellow and features a woodblock-print image of a black fist jutting across the page horizontally from the left. Falling from the hand is a large, bright-red drop of blood. — Cover of a commemorative edition of “Yo el Supremo,” published on the centennial of the author by the Real Academia Española.

Roa Bastos grew up in Iturbe, a provincial town where his father worked as an administrator on a sugar plantation. It was there that he was exposed to Guaraní, and developed a tremendous love for Paraguay’s most spoken Indigenous language. He later went to Asunción for his formative school years and, as a young man, served in the Chaco War as a medical auxiliary. Significant portions of his life were spent outside of Asunción, allowing the writer to have a deeper knowledge of the country at large.

Like the characters in Yo el Supremo, Roa Bastos was no stranger to the effects of dictatorship during his lifetime. In fact, he fled to Argentina in 1947 along with 500,000 other Paraguayans to escape the iron fist of President Higinio Morínigo. Roa Bastos would live over four decades in exile between Buenos Aires and Paris before returning to his homeland in 1989 after the fall of the Alfredo Stroessner dictatorship. However, his commitment to Paraguayan culture never wavered as his literary career, which produced short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays, and children’s literature, demonstrated a commitment to the South American nation through his themes: collective memory, bilingualism (Guaraní/Spanish), and Indigeneity. His style, which pulled from magical realist and neobaroque tendencies, blended different time periods (pre-colonial and contemporary) to interrogate Paraguayan society.

Two yellowing sheets of paper side by side have a handwritten list with items numbered 1 through 42. The left-hand sheet is titled Índice (Index). Each line has a short title written in cursive by the author. — Handwritten index related to “Yo el Supremo.” Augusto Roa Bastos Papers, Benson Latin American Collection.

“In acquiring the literary archives of the great Paraguayan writer Augusto Roa Bastos, the Benson Latin American Collection is today blessed with the author’s handwritten notes relating to Yo el Supremo, one of the region’s most exorbitantly ambitious, baroquely virtuosic, groundbreaking novels of the late twentieth century,” writes Professor César A. Salgado of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. “The novel was published in 1974 as part of an agreement among top Latin American Boom writers to produce ‘dictator novels’ that dissected authoritarian regimes in their respective countries. In a group that included Alejo Carpentier’s El recurso del método (1974), Gabriel García Márquez’s El otoño del patriarca (1975), and Carlos Fuentes’ Terra Nostra (1975), Yo el Supremo outdid these other immensely accomplished works by structuring its penetrating, thoroughly researched psychological portrait of José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia (Paraguay’s undisputed ‘enlightened despot’ from 1811 to 1840) as it were a lively philosophical debate about how dictation, writing, literacy, orality (including Guaraní traditions), absolute power, and impermanence could be both complicit and antithetical to each other. If the ludological radicality of Rayuela galvanized the Boom in 1962, Yo el Supremo brought it to a close in 1974 by showing how deep-seated mechanisms of supremacist rule, set up at the start of nation formation in Latin America, could easily resurface across its history. With Yo el Supremo, Roa Bastos thus launched a fully postmodern critical and creative agenda for the region.”

A yellowing sheet of paper, heavily creased in the middle, bears both typed notes and handwritten notes. Some of the typed lines are scribbled over with wavy lines written in pen. The elegant handwritten part looks to be written with an ink pen. — Handwritten and typed notes titled “Themes for Paraguayan Stories,” Roa Bastos Papers. Courtesy Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection.

The Augusto Roa Bastos Papers is a versatile collection that spans the author’s career. It contains poetry, speeches, essays, correspondence, and manuscript drafts. Among the jewels of the collection are letters between the author and his daughter, Mirta Roa Mascheroni, and handwritten comments regarding Yo el Supremo and his novel Madama Sui. This collection provides researchers with profound insight into the writer’s life, particularly his time during exile, and his creative process from beginning to end. It pairs well with the Miguel Ángel Asturias Papers for similar topics regarding exile and the Boom.

The Roa Bastos acquisition was made possible in part by the Drs. Fernando Macías and Adriana Pacheco Benson Centennial Endowment.

Melissa Guy is director of the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection.

Daniel Arbino is former Head of Collection Development for the Benson.

Acquisitions/Foreign Travel, Archives, Benson Latin American Collection, Collections Highlight, Poetry

Benson Acquisition: César Vallejo Papers

November 25, 2024 Susanna Sharpe Leave a comment

The Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection is thrilled to announce the acquisition of the archives of César Vallejo and Augusto Roa Bastos, two giants of Latin American letters. These archives augment the Benson’s already significant collection of materials that represent the region’s writers, thinkers, and intellectual leaders, making the library, and the UT campus, an invaluable resource for students, faculty, researchers from all corners of the globe.

By ADELA PINEDA FRANCO

Peruvian poet César Vallejo (1892–1938) is considered one of the most significant figures in twentieth-century Latin American literature. Born in the Andean city of Santiago de Chuco, he moved to Lima as a young university student, producing there his first collection of poems, Los heraldos negros (1919). Seeking wider cultural and intellectual opportunities, Vallejo left Peru for Europe in 1923, spending most of his remaining fifteen years in self-imposed, impoverished exile in France, with periods in Spain and two trips to Russia. He died in Paris in 1938 at the age of 46.

Close-up black-and-white photograph of a man with dark hair, wearing a dark suit. He is resting his chin on one hand and looking into the distance. — César Vallejo, undated. Benson Latin American Collection.

Vallejo’s poetry has no precedent in the history of modern poetry. Written during a period that witnessed the crude consequences of war, imprisonment, and displacement (1919–1922), his avant-garde masterwork, Trilce (1922), challenges the reader with compelling paradoxes, abrupt syntactical turns, irregular spellings, rarefied lexicon, and verses arranged in unfamiliar visual displays.

However, this experimental register goes beyond the drive toward the new that was characteristic of the avant-garde movements. Vallejo’s poetic language is also a consequence of his search for the stark concrete expression of human affect. This is why in Trilce abstract notions of time, space, and being are conflated with raw emotions. No other poet has given shape to the silence that sustains the remembrance of things past with such precision:

Aguedita, Nativa, Miguel,
cuidado con ir por ahí, por donde
acaban de pasar
gangueando sus memorias
dobladoras penas,
hacia el silencioso corral, y por donde
las gallinas que se están acostando todavía,
se han espantado tanto.
Mejor estemos aquí no más.
Madre dijo que no demoraría.

“Poema III,” Trilce, 1922

[Find English translations of the poems cited here at https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520261730/the-complete-poetry]

César Vallejo in Fountainebleu, France, 1926. Courtesy Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection.

On the other hand, Vallejo’s poems embody the collective rather than the egotistical self. Familiar references are always a window into the vulnerability of human nature and the resilience of collective struggle, both in his homeland of Peru and in the entire world. A poem on the death of a soldier in the Spanish Civil War reads:

Pedro también solía comer
entre las criaturas de su carne, asear, pintar
la mesa y vivir dulcemente
en representación de todo el mundo.
Y esta cuchara anduvo en su chaqueta,
despierto o bien cuando dormía, siempre,
cuchara muerta viva, ella y sus símbolos.
¡Abisa a todos compañeros pronto!
¡Viban los compañeros al pie de esta cuchara para siempre!

“Solía escribir con su dedo grande en el aire,” España, aparta de mí este cáliz,1939

Vallejo’s oeuvre is thus an affective journey through the troublesome history of the twentieth century. Evidence of this is his posthumous poetry, which pertains to his last years in Europe: Poemas humanos (Human Poems), grouped under this title by his widow Georgette María Philippart Travers in 1937; and España, aparta de mí este cáliz (Spain, Take This Cup from Me,1939), his testament of the Spanish Civil War. Both collections are a centerpiece of the Benson’s recent acquisition.

A yellowed sheet of lined notebook paper, bearing three holes along the right side. The paper is filled top to bottom with Spanish words written in pencil, most of them with commas after them. — “Poemas humanos” manuscript, César Vallejo Papers. Courtesy Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection.

Beyond the recurring debate as to whether Human Poems is an appropriate title for this posthumous corpus, it is certain that these poems are an honest and critical reflection on the role of the lettered poet in a world charged with misery and human suffering:

Un albañil cae de un techo, muere y ya no almuerza
¿Innovar, luego, el tropo, la metáfora?

“Un hombre pasa con un pan al hombro,” Poemas humanos, 1937

Vallejo’s poems will always be contemporary, as they shed light on the devastating consequences of societal fragmentation, displacement, and exile. At the same time, his poems remind us of the need to keep longing for human empathy and love, even in times of war. We celebrate the arrival of Vallejo’s papers.

Al fin de la batalla,
y muerto el combatiente, vino hacia él un hombre
y le dijo: “No mueras, te amo tanto!”
Pero el cadáver ¡ay! siguió muriendo.

Se le acercaron dos y repitiéronle:
“No nos dejes! ¡Valor! ¡Vuelve a la vida!”
Pero el cadáver ¡ay! siguió muriendo.

Acudieron a él veinte, cien, mil, quinientos mil,
clamando: “Tanto amor, y no poder nada contra la muerte!”
Pero el cadáver ¡ay! siguió muriendo.

Le rodearon millones de individuos,
con un ruego común: “¡Quédate, hermano!”
Pero el cadáver ¡ay! siguió muriendo.

Entonces, todos los hombres de
la tierra le rodearon; les vio el cadáver triste, emocionado;
incorporóse lentamente,
abrazó al primer hombre; echóse a andar . . .

“Masa,” Poemas humanos, 1939

The César Vallejo Papers consist of materials dated from 1918 to 1992, and include manuscripts, drafts, correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs, and some published copies of his written work.

This acquisition was funded in part by the Janet and Jack Roberts Peruvian Endowment.

Adela Pineda Franco is Lozano Long Endowed Professor in Latin American Literary and Cultural Studies, and director of the Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies (LLILAS) at The University of Texas at Austin. Biographical research on César Vallejo was contributed by Benson Exhibitions Curator Veronica Valarino.

Benson Latin American Collection, Collections Highlight, Exhibits, Libraries

Exhibition: VOCES Oral History Center at 25

September 30, 2024 Susanna Sharpe Leave a comment

A Quarter-Century of Giving Voice to the U.S. Latino and Latina Experience

By Veronica Valarino

The Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection is proud to join in celebrating the 25th anniversary of the VOCES Oral History Center, part of the School of Journalism at the Moody College of Communication, The University of Texas at Austin.

In honor of this important milestone, this Benson exhibition showcases VOCES’s extraordinary journey over the past quarter-century, and its profound impact in highlighting and recognizing the contributions of the U.S. Latino/a community in Texas and the rest of United States.

Two rows of young women nurses in white uniforms face the camera outdoors in front of a building with a row of connected windows. They are all wearing white flowered corsages pinned to their dresses and holding small white bouquets. — Graduation day. May 22, 1942, at Oak Park Methodist Church, Corpus Christi, Texas. Front row from left: Jeanie Mcpherson, Elenor Lacomb, Theresa Green, Mary Thomas, Bernice Hunter, Supervisor, Mrs. Elizabeth Moller. Back row from left: Margaret Moore, Apolinia Muñoz, Pat Bartholomeu, Betty Jorgenson, Dorothy Lewis. Voces Oral History Center Archive, Benson Latin American Collection.

Under the visionary leadership of founder and director Maggie Rivas-Rodríguez, VOCES has progressively expanded its original focus of documenting the experiences of Latino veterans and civilians in all branches of the military during World War II, the Vietnam War, and the Korean conflict.

Through relentless oral history documentation, VOCES has gradually broadened its scope to encompass a wide range of Latino/a experiences, including cultural contributions, political and civic participation, professional achievements, thereby establishing itself as a fundamental and invaluable institution and repository.

Five young men, all soldiers, pose outdoors in bare terrain during the Vietnam War. A forest with tall trees is visible in the background. The men pose in front of a small black apparatus equipped with guns. The machine has the words The Widow-Maker written on it with white paint, along with a skull. The two men standing on either side of the machine wear large crucifixes around their necks. They are white Latinos. Three men crouch in the foreground. Two are Black and one is white with red hair. The man to the right wears a helmet and holds a string of large bullets. — U.S. soldier Michael Treviño (top left), a soldier nicknamed “Red” (bottom left), soldier Nathan Garcia (middle), an unknown soldier, and Raymond Garcia (top right) from Army Unit G65 stand together in front of a M45 Quadmount called Widowmaker at FireBase Rifle in the Ashar Valley, Republic of South Vietnam, circa August 1969.

The VOCES Oral History Project Archive has been housed at the Benson Latin American Collection since 2005. By preserving this invaluable archive on our physical and digital shelves, we ensure that these stories endure for the future and for new generations as a unique resource for research and learning about the multifaceted narratives and cultural heritage of diverse Latino/a communities.

Join us in celebrating 25 years of the remarkable work of VOCES to elevate and honor Latina and Latino stories, as well as the significant impact of the Latinx community.

VOCES Oral History Center at 25 is on view in the Benson Latin American Collection’s second-floor gallery during library hours, through April 7, 2025.

Veronica Valarino is the Benson Exhibitions Curator.

Area Studies, Benson Latin American Collection, Exhibits, Global Studies, Humanities & Liberal Arts, Poetry

Poems, Magazines & Manifestos: Exploring Literary Vanguardism in Early 20th-Century Latin America

July 1, 2024 Susanna Sharpe Leave a comment

A new exhibition at the Benson Latin American Collection highlights the cultural production of the region’s avant-garde artists and thinkers

By Veronica Valarino

The early decades of the 20th century in major Latin American cities saw the explosion of publications and writers in a movement fueled by a growing access to publishing and an increasingly educated readership. The movement, known as vanguardismo, produced some of the region’s most celebrated writers, and reflected the dynamism and complexity of contemporary reality. These vanguardists embraced avant-garde techniques, experimental forms, and bold thematic explorations, capturing the turbulence of a rapidly changing society.

Two magazine covers side by side. On the left, the black-and-white cover of "Revista de Antropofagia" (Cannablism Magazine) displays an archival drawing showing almost naked Indigenous people wearing feathers and carrying spears. They are leading around naked European men and are also shown eating their body parts and preparing a cooking fire. On the right is the graphically bold cover of Klaxon, a monthly modern-art magazine. The layout of the cover features black letters, several bold fonts, and a large red A, which fits into several words on the cover, including the magazine's title. — Magazine covers from *Revista de Antropofagia* (Cannabalism Magazine) and *Klaxon*, a monthly modern art magazine. Both were published in São Paulo.

Excerpt of a poem by the Brazilian Mário de Andrade appears typed on a yellowing piece of paper superimposed upon a enlarged grayscale photo of the poet. His name appears signed at the bottom of the poem, as well as in two other places on the exhibition poster. — Brazilian poet Mário de Andrade, exhibition board and poem excerpt

The term vanguardism originates from the military concept of the vanguard, which refers to soldiers at the forefront of a formation. In the context of the arts, avant-garde, or vanguardia, denotes innovative and provocative artistic and literary movements that emerged in Europe and the Americas during the 1920s and 1930s. These movements arose amidst a tumultuous era marked by significant events such as World War I, the Russian Revolution, the Great Depression, and the Spanish Civil War. The combination of societal dissatisfaction, technological advancements, and political upheaval prompted reflections on the contemporary crisis and an uncertain future. Avant-garde artists, or vanguardistas, distinguished themselves by their pursuit of innovation and experimentation, deliberately breaking away from established artistic traditions.

Black and white photo of Peruvian poet Magda Portal wearing a broad-brimmed stylish hat across the top. Lower half shows the cover of the Peruvian literary journal Amauta, with a stylized figure of a pre-Colombian man on the cover who is planting seeds, along with a brief description of literary manifestos by Latin American vanguardist poets. — Top: Peruvian poet Magda Portal; below: cover of the Peruvian journal *Amauta*

A copy of Amauta magazine with old, stained and yellowing pages is open to the title page. Prominent on the righthand page below the magazine's title in large all-caps lettering is a large red-and-black head drawn in the style of the Incas. On the facing page there is a full-page ad for malt liquor, text only. — *Amauta* January 1928 issue, Lima, Peru. The issue contains an article by the magazine’s founder, José Carlos Mariátegui, a leading voice in the country’s avant-garde movement and an outspoken Marxist.

Latin American vanguardismo, characterized by its unified yet distinct cultural development, arose almost simultaneously in major cities across the region, like Havana, Lima, Mexico City, Montevideo, Santiago, São Paulo, and, especially, Buenos Aires. Vanguardists’ intellectual, artistic, and political debates were documented in numerous periodicals and magazines, which also provided a platform for vanguardist manifestos. These publications articulated expansive poetic visions, engaged in political activism, and advocated for social and political change.

Poster in background colors of white, pinkish, and blue pastels shows the covers of two publications and the photos of Cuban writer Alejo Carpentier and poet Nicolás Guillén along with biographical information about the two and pieces of text they authored. — Exhibition panel about Cuban vanguardists Alejo Carpentier and Nicolás Guillén

Latin American vanguardismo is a significant cultural movement that gave voice to a relatively unified and distinctly Latin American art. It is also part of a larger, international movement. Hence, Latin American vanguardismo should not be seen as a mere reproduction of the European avant-garde. It was a continent-wide development, simultaneously international and autochthonous in its orientation as it grew out of and responded to the continent’s own cultural and social concerns.

Magazine cover for "Revista de Avance" has black lettering and designs printed on an olive-green background. The cover is very graphically interesting, with all of the letters and numbers done in creative typefaces, using the black and green to offset each other in the design. — Magazine cover of *Revista de Avance*, 1930. The magazine was published in Havana, Cuba, between 1927 and 1930.

The Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection has steadily expanded its archival materials and rare books related to the cultural history of Latin America over the years. Recent additions, such as the collections of César Vallejo, Magda Portal, and Pablo Antonio Cuadra, have significantly enhanced the collection, making it an invaluable resource for research. This exhibition delves into a pivotal historical moment shaped by visionary literary luminaries. By exploring their poetic works, magazines, and manifestos, we celebrate these influential figures.

Poems, Magazines & Manifestos is on view in the Ann Hartness Reading Room at the Benson Latin American Collection (SRH 1), 2300 Red River Street, during summer and fall 2024.

Library hours: Monday–Friday, 9am–5pm. Closed July 4 and Sept. 2.

This exhibition was developed by Veronica Valarino, Benson Exhibition Curator.

Archives, Area Studies, Benson Latin American Collection, Black Diaspora Archive, Collaborations, Digital Humanities, LLILAS Benson

A Visit to Eldorado: Archivists Attend the Annual Gathering of Quilombolas in Brazil’s Vale do Ribeira

May 14, 2024 Susanna Sharpe Leave a comment

LER EM PORTUGUÊS

Ryan Lynch, Head of Special Collections and Senior Archivist at the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection, and Rachel E. Winston, Black Diaspora Archivist, attended the annual meeting of traditional Black communities in Eldorado, state of São Paulo, as guests of EAACONE, one of the Benson’s archival partners.

ONE OF THE PARTNERSHIPS that emerged from the LLILAS Benson Mellon-funded project “Cultivating a Latin American Post-Custodial Archival Community” involved extensive collaboration with EAACONE, Equipe de Articulação e Assessoria às Comunidades Negras do Vale do Ribeira, located in Eldorado, Vale do Ribeira, São Paulo, Brazil. (EAACONE’s name translates as Team for Articulation and Assessment of Black Communities of Vale do Ribeira).

A circle of women of various ages holds hands. They are wearing white blouses and multicolored floral skirts. A few of them wear straw hats. — Women from Quilombo Sapatu perform “Nha Muruca” at the Encontrão .

Digitized materials and metadata from the EAACONE archive are available in three languages on the Latin American Digital Initiatives Repository. LLILAS Benson’s collaboration consisted, in part, of training of EAACONE staff in digitization and metadata, as well as funding the purchase of equipment and the salaries of archival employees from the quilombola^* community. Additional funds covered the creation of a traveling exhibition for the purpose of introducing schoolchildren and other community members to the archive and to the history of EAACONE and MOAB, the anti-dam movement with which it is associated.

Three people stand in front of a chain link fence hung with vinyl posters, part of the traveling exhibition describing the EAACONE archive. On the left is a man, who is talking, in the middle, a woman whose t-shirt reads "Fight Like a Black Woman" (in Portuguese) and on the far right, another woman holds a yellow folder and is looking toward the man. — From left: Attorneys Fernando Prioste (Instituto Socioambiental, ISA) and Rafaela Santos (EAACONE) speak with Letícia de França (EAACONE).

EAACONE’s archive, titled Quilombos do Vale do Ribeira (Quilombos of Vale do Ribeira), consists of materials compiled from 25 years of EAACONE history and 35 years of MOAB (Movimento dos Ameaçados por Barragens, or Movement of Peoples Threatened by Dams), a grassroots movement protesting the construction of hydroelectric dams with negative impacts on the communities and environment of Vale do Ribeira. The dates of materials range from 1955 to the late 1990s.

Several members of the LLILAS Benson archival team have visited Eldorado during the years of the collaboration. Most recently, Ryan Lynch (Benson Head of Special Collections and Senior Archivist) and Rachel E. Winston (Black Diaspora Archivist) visited Eldorado to attend the XXVIII Encontro das Comunidades Negras do Vale do Ribeira (28th Meeting of Black Communities of Vale do Ribeira)—known as the Encontrão (Big Meetup)—on November 18, 2023. Documents from the EAACONE archives were on display on tables at the event, as were vinyl panels from a traveling exhibition about the archive and the history of the area’s Black communities.

A table display shows old newspaper clippings, photo albums, notebooks, and papers. A Black woman reaches toward the table, placing items. Two other young Black people—a man and woman—stand near her. In the background, there is a counter labeled "Bar" where people in hair nets appear to be setting up food. — Tânia Moraes (foreground), Letícia de França, and Andrey Pupo set up a display table with EAACONE archival materials.

“Attending the Encontrão helped me contextualize the work that EAACONE does with quilombo communities,” said Lynch. “Watching residents of the different communities see themselves, or their friends and relatives, in the documents, was an invigorating reminder of the importance of our work as archivists and post-custodial partners. Many of the people in attendance had made history and continue to make history. Thanks to the Mellon grant, their story is available not only to themselves and their descendants but also to K–12 students, researchers, and activists in other independent Black communities in the Americas.”

A large white vinyl sheet hangs from a chainlink fence. It is printed with information in Portuguese and photos from the EAACONE archive named Quilombos of Vale do Ribeira Collection. The photos and text are related to women's meetings. LLILAS Benson is cited at the bottom of the vinyl sheet as a sponsor. — EAACONE’s traveling exhibition, which draws on archival materials digitized in collaboration with LLILAS Benson, will be used in schools and at events. This panel describes women’s meetings and includes archival photographs.

The LLILAS Benson collaboration was included in the event via the use of the LLILAS Benson logo on exhibition materials, and Lynch noted that it was also mentioned multiple times by speakers. He and Winston were introduced as VIPs at the beginning of the proceedings, and Lynch was invited by organizers to deliver a few impromptu remarks.

“I look forward to exploring future partnerships that will allow us to continue to play a role in this important documentation and exchange of knowledge and experience,” he said.

In a large cinderblock room with high ceilings, rows of Black, white, and mixed-race people sit in white plastic chairs facing the front. At front, a white man with dark hair, beard, and glasses, wearing a white shirt and dark pants, holds a microphone and speaks. There are numerous large posters hanging on the wall that talk about EAACONE, MOAB, and quilombola communities. — Benson Head of Collections / Senior Archivist Ryan Lynch shared greetings from LLILAS Benson and discussed the collaboration with EAACONE.

In her role as Black Diaspora Archivist, Winston has visited more than one post-custodial partner in Latin America. Both she and Lynch had visited Eldorado previously. “Reconnecting with EAACONE colleagues in person, and meeting more community members (documented and represented in the EAACONE collection) was incredible,” Winston said.

Three middle-aged Black men stand in a circle singing. The man on the right is playing a guitar. In the background, a banner hanging on the wall talks about MOAB, the historic anti-dam movement that has been a source of activism among quilombola communities in Vale do Ribeira. — From left: Noel Castelo, Rodrigo Marinho Rodrigues da Silva, and José Rodrigues da Silva sing after the conclusion of the Encontrão. The banner hanging on the wall talks about MOAB, the historic anti-dam movement that has been a source of activism among quilombola communities in Vale do Ribeira.

“Being a part of this project and partnership with EAACONE from the beginning to the end has been a highlight of my career at the Benson,” Winston adds. “When there, the importance of the work becomes more salient. EAACONE has been and continues to be an important fixture in the Vale do Ribeira. The impact of their work is amplified by our collaboration and by the work we do to preserve their archive. To see the EAACONE materials in the place of creation, used and viewed by the community members represented in them, and to be in community with that community, is a remarkable experience, and a reminder of the power of post-custodial archival praxis.”

Large yellow letters placed on a green lawn spell out I Love Eldorado (in Portuguese). There is a fanciful outline of a bright red heart in the design. These letters are on a green lawn. The sky is wide an gray and cloudy in the background and above. — “I Love Eldorado” sign at the bus station in Eldorado.

*Quilombolas are Afro-descendant Brazilians who live in rural Black communities known as quilombos, which were originally established by enslaved people who fled enslavement to establish autonomous communities. There are 88 such communities in Vale do Ribeira, an area in the Brazilian states of São Paulo and neighboring Paraná. To read more about quilombolas in Vale do Ribeira, see Edward Shore, Brazilian Roças: A Legacy in Peril (2017) and The Quilombo Activists’ Archive (2019).

Black women of various ages (plus one man) dance in pairs. The women are almost all wearing white blouses. Some wear straw hats. Some wear colorful flowered skirts. — Dancing at the Encontrão. A group of women and girls from Quilombo Sapatu performed a circle dance, Nhu Muruca, before breaking into pairs. Here, others have joined.

A group of older and younger people, mostly women, smile broadly while watching a dance performance. They are wearing colorful clothing. — Dancing at the Encontrão. A group of women and girls from Quilombo Sapatu performed a circle dance, Nhu Muruca, before breaking into pairs. Here, others have joined.

Area Studies, Benson Latin American Collection, Black Diaspora Archive, Digital Humanities, LLILAS Benson

Visita a Eldorado: Arquivistas da UT marcaram presença no Encontro Anual das Comunidades Negras Tradicionais do Vale do Ribeira

May 14, 2024 Susanna Sharpe Leave a comment

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Uma das parcerias resultantes do projeto “Criando uma Comunidade Arquivística Pós-Custodial Latino-Americana”, financiado pela LLILAS Benson Mellon, incluiu uma colaboração intensa com a EAACONE, Equipe de Articulação e Assessoria às Comunidades Negras do Vale do Ribeira, entidade localizada no município de Eldorado, Estado de São Paulo, no Brasil.

Um círculo de mulheres negras de várias idades dança num espaço com paredes de bloco de concreto. A maioria delas usa blusa branca. Algumas usam chapéu de palha, outras, saias coloridas. — Mulheres e jovens de Quilombo Sapatu dançam “Nha Muruca” no Encontrão

O Repositório Latino-Americano de Iniciativas Digitais contém uma coleção de trabalhos digitalizados e metadados do acervo da EAACON, disponíveis em três idiomas. A colaboração LLILAS-Benson consistiu, em parte, de um programa de capacitação em digitalização e metadados para a equipe da EAACONE, assim como recursos financeiros para comprar equipamentos e pagar os salários dos colaboradores arquivistas da comunidade quilombola. Foram ainda disponibilizados recursos para cobrir a criação de uma exposição itinerante com a finalidade de apresentar para jovens estudantes de escolas e outros membros da comunidade não só o acervo completo como também a história da EAACONE e do MOAB.

Três pessoas conversam de pé na frente de uma cerca onde estão penduradas cartaz que falam sobre o acervo de EAACONE. — Advogados Fernando Prioste (Instituto Socioambiental, ISA) e Rafaela Santos (EAACONE) com Letícia de França (EAACONE

O acervo da EAACONE, intitulado Quilombos do Vale do Ribeira, consiste de trabalhos compilados durante os 25 anos de existência da EAACONE e os 35 anos de existência do MOAB (Movimento dos Ameaçados por Barragens). O MOAB é um movimento de base dedicado a protestar contra a construção de represas hidroelétricas com impactos negativos nas comunidades e no meio-ambiente do Vale do Ribeira. As peças do acervo são datadas de 1955 até o final da década de 1990.

Diversos integrantes da equipe arquivística da LLILAS Benson visitaram Eldorado durante os anos dessa colaboração. As visitas mais recentes foram de Ryan Lynch (Chefe de Coleções Especiais e Arquivista Sênior) e Rachel E. Winston (Arquivista da Diáspora Negra) que participaram do XXVIII Encontro das Comunidades Negras do Vale do Ribeira, também chamado de Encontrão, em 18 de novembro de 2023. Esse evento contou com trabalhos dos acervos da EAACONE exibidos em mesas, assim como painéis em vinil que integraram a exposição itinerante sobre acervos e história das comunidades negras da região.

Uma mulher negra coloca materiais como páginas de jornal, álbuns de fotos, papeis e pastas sobre uma mesa. Junto com ela, outra mulher negra e um homem negro. — Tânia Morais, Letícia de França e Andrey Pupo organizam uma exibição de materiais do acervo de EAACONE

“Participar do Encontrão me ajudou a contextualizar o trabalho que a EAACONE realiza com as comunidades quilombolas”, relatou Ryan. “Observar os residentes das diversas comunidades, como eles se percebem e percebem seus amigos e parentes, tudo refletido nos documentos, foi uma reflexão regeneradora que me fez revalorizar a importância do nosso trabalho como arquivistas e entidades pós-custodiais parceiras. Muitos dos participantes do evento já haviam feito história e continuam fazendo história. Graças a essa grant da Mellon, a história dessa gente se torna disponível não apenas para eles mesmos e seus descendentes mas também para os jovens estudantes de ensino fundamental e médio, pesquisadores e ativistas em outras comunidades negras das Américas”.

Um cartaz de vinil pendurado numa cerca. O texto fala sobre Encontros de Mulheres no acervo da EAACONE e mostra fotos tomadas nesses encontros. Em baixo, menciona o apoio de LLILAS Benson. — A exposição de EAACONE será utilizada em escolas e eventos especiais. Os materiais foram digitalizados em colaboração com LLILAS Benson no projeto Mellon.

A colaboração da LLILAS Benson foi incluída no evento por meio da utilização do logotipo LLILAS Benson nos materiais expositivos e Ryan observou que ela também foi mencionada diversas vezes pelos palestrantes. Ele e Rachel foram apresentados como VIPs na abertura dos trabalhos e Ryan foi convidado pelos organizadores para dizer algumas palavras a todos reunidos, o que ele fez de improviso.

“Tenho uma ótima expectativa para explorarmos parcerias futuras que nos permitam continuar a desempenhar um papel significativo nessa documentação tão importante e nesse intercâmbio de conhecimentos e experiências”, observou ele.

Muitas pessoas estão sentadas em filas e em cadeiras de plástico brancas, num auditório com paredes de bloco de concreto e teto alto. Na frente, um homem com barba e cabelo escuro, camisa branca e calça preta segura o microfone e fala às pessoas reunidas. Na parede tem vários cartaz que falam sobre EAACONE, MOAB e as comunidades quilombolas. — Arquivista Ryan Lynch compartilha saudações de LLILAS Benson e fala sobre a colaboração com EAACONE.

Como Arquivista para a Diáspora Negra, Rachel tem um histórico de visitas a entidades pós-custodiais parceiras na América Latina. Tanto ela quanto Ryan já haviam visitado Eldorado antes. “Essa reconexão com os colegas EAACONE ao vivo e agora a oportunidade de conhecer outros membros da comunidade (encontros documentados e representados na coleção EAACONE) foi incrível”, disse ela.

Três homens negros cantam juntos num círculo. O homem do lado direita toca violão. Na parede dá pra ver um cartaz que fala sobre a MOAB, grupo histórico que defendeu o Vale do Ribeira contra projetos de barragens. — Da esquerda: Noel Castelo, Rodrigo Marinho Rodrigues da Silva e José Rodrigues da Silva cantam após o fechamento do Encontrão

“Fazer parte desse projeto e dessa parceria com a EAACONE do início até o fim tem sido um marco importante da minha carreira na Benson,” adicionou Winston. “O fato de estar fisicamente no local destaca a importância do trabalho e o valoriza mais ainda. A EAACONE tem sido desde o início e continua a ser parte importante do Vale do Ribeira. O impacto do trabalho deles é amplificado pela nossa colaboração e pelo trabalho que nós fazemos para preservar seus acervos. Ver ao vivo as peças e trabalhos da EAACONE nos locais onde eles foram criados, utilizados e visualizados pelos membros da comunidade ali representados, e estar presente comunitariamente com eles e elas, é uma experiência marcante e nos faz re-avaliar o poder da práxis arquivística pós-custodial”.