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Al-Andalus / Spain from the Other Shore: The Chilean Pacific
From January 20, 2014 until January 26, 2014
Presentation of the book by Rosa-Isabel Martínez LilloJanuary 22, 2014 - MADRID
Conceived as part of a large project on the perception of Al-Andalus from abroad (in other words, from the shores of the Eastern Mediterranean ‒Syria, Lebanon and Palestine‒ and from the Atlantic coast ‒Brazil y Argentina‒), this book sets its sights on the case of the Pacific coast in Chile. It is therefore a literary study on the views of Al-Andalus/Spain by Chilean writers of Arab origin from the early twentieth century and up to today. Most notable amongst them are Benedicto Chuaqui, Matías Rafide, Emilio Mohor, Mahfud Massís, Olga Lolas, Andrés Sabella and Jaime Halles. These are authors who, with the exception of the first, Benedicto Chuaqui ‒born in the Syrian town of Homs and considered to be the pioneer‒ see the light for the first time on Chilean soil and live an experience of integration amongst their peoples.
On the occasion of the publication of this book, an event is being held to present it at Madrid’s Casa Árabe headquarters with participation by the author and by Teodosio Fernández, Professor of Spanish-American Literature at the UAM, and Jorge-Roberto Mihovilovic, a professor, sociologist and historian educated at the University of Chile. Presenting the event is Eduardo López Busquets, the General Director of Casa Árabe.
The event will be taking place on January 22 at 7:00 p.m. at our auditorium in Madrid (at Calle Alcalá, 62). Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.
Rosa-Isabel Martínez Lillo
A professor of Arabic Language and Literature at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, in the Translation and Interpretation Section, in which she is also the Academic Secretary, Ms. Martínez Lillo holds a doctorate from the same university, as well as having completed postgraduate studies at the Arabic universities of ’Ayn Al-Shams, Cairo and the Jordanian University of Amman.
As an educator, in addition to working at the UAM, she has taught at various Italian universities including La Sapienza, the University of Florence, the University of Lecce, the University of Salento and the University Institute of Naples; and in Chile, at the University of Chile and Adolfo Ibáñez University. As a researcher, her main line of research revolves around the Arabic language, contemporary Arabic literature, literary translation, Al-Andalus, the Mahyar (emigration literature) and Mediterranean poetry.
Amongst her most important publications are Four Authors of the “Literary League” (1994), “The Translation of Modern Arab Literature” in Translating from Arabic (2004), Amal Dunqul: That Deceptive Joy (2009) and “Artistic Expression in the Arabic Language: Adonis and Mahmud Darwish” in Literary Tours Through Intercultural Europe (2012). As a translator, in addition to her translation so f Salah ’Abd Al-Sabur, Abd Al-Wahab Al-Bayyati and Mahmud Darwish, as well as other poets, her most notable works include: First Body... Last Sea (2007) –nominated for the National Translation Award‒ and History Tearing Itself Apart in a Woman’s Body (2012), by Syrian-Lebanese poet Adonis, and Except Me (2010) by Palestinian poet Fatena Al-Gurra.
