Hacettepe University, Centre for British Literary and Cultural Studies Presents The Making of Anglo-Ottoman Diplomacy Through Correspondence

The interaction between diplomacy and literature functions in various ways. Diplomacy does not merely appear in non-fictional and fictional literature as thematic material, but also shapes form, while literature, in search of aesthetic representation, depicts diplomatic activity. This seminar aims to discuss diplomacy as a practice of communication and semiotic exchange and the representation of diplomatic activities in literature in the sixteenth century during Queen Elizabeth’s and Sultan Murad III’s reigns. Gifts and letters exchanged in abundance as part of the diplomacy between the Ottoman Empire and the English sovereignty in the sixteenth century provide an invaluable evaluation of diplomatic poetics in early modern literary studies and in redefining Europe.

SPEAKER: Dr Gül Kurtuluş, Acting Chair

                   Bilkent University, Department of English Language and Literature
DATE: 02 May 2013 Thursday

TIME: 13:30
VENUE: Mehmet Akif Ersoy Hall, Beytepe

A Fantastic Lecture to Inspire Interest in Women Writers in Latin American Literature Assoc. Prof. Dr. RoseAnna Mueller, “Women Narrating Latin American Women’s Lives”

On Wednesday, April 3, the Department of English Language and Literature presented a lecture by Assoc. Prof. Dr. RoseAnna Mueller, a faculty member at the Columbia College Chicago in Humanities and Foreign Languages, Department of Humanities, History and Social Sciences. She worked as the Humanities Coordinator from 1996 to 1999, and is currently the Director of Women’s/Gender Studies Minor.

       Our guest Professor Mueller came a long way from Chicago to introduce “Women Narrating Latin American Women’s Lives” with the goal of inspiring the interest of the Bilkenters in Latin American Literature. Firstly, Mueller talked about the Venezuelan author Teresa de la Parra’s Three Lectures: Women’s Influence in the Formation of the American Soul (1930), which defined women’s active roles in Latin American History.  De la Parra believed that it was her duty to inform her audience about women’s contributions to Latin American History through action in the past and writing in the future. Secondly, Mueller discussed an important literary genre, testimonio which allows women, excluded from the society because of class, race and gender distinctions, to have a voice among public. Mueller delivered an overview of three melodramatic testimonies of Rigoberta Menchú (Guatemala), Domitila de Chungarra (Bolivia), and Reyita de los Santos (Cuba). In these testimonies, three upper-middle class women depict the harsh lives of three ordinary women, who faced race, class and gender distinctions as well as financial problems in their patriarchal societies. Finally, Muller talked about the importance of film-making in the depiction of women’s lives. The Argentinian filmmaker María Luisa Bemberg’s movie Yo la peor de todas is about the life of the intellectual colonial Mexican nun Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, and the movie Camila  tells us the dramatic story of Camila O’Gorman, who fights against her family and society to be with her Lover.

     At the end of the Seminar, a lively discussion started with the contributions and questions of many interested- participants. The discussion also brought up the significant issues of magical realism, post-modernism and postcolonial literature. The interaction between the very large number of enthusiastic participants and Assoc. Prof. Dr. RoseAnna Mueller, remarkably eager to lecture, proves that the goal of inspiring interest in Latin American Literature is successfully achieved.  We offer sincere Gratitude to Assoc. Prof. Dr. RoseAnna Mueller and all the participants for the effective seminar.

(Yeşim Kurşunlu ELIT IV)