Of Books and Roses: First California Symposium on Catalan Studies

“Of Books and Roses:  First California Symposium on Catalan Studies” grew from the idea of offering a point of reference on the west coast of the United States for scholars and students interested in Catalan Studies or related areas.  This year, we will hear presentations on urban cultures, literary studies focused on exile and historical memory, studies on Catalan phonology and syntax and research on language in digital communications.  Participants include speakers from Canada, Catalunya, Colombia and Valencia as well as the United States on the 24th and 25th of April at the University of California, Los Angeles.  And so, to be sure, the celebration will be accompanied by books, roses and good conversation.

Nota bene:  In keeping with the spirit of the traditional celebration of the Diada de Sant Jordi in Catalunya, attendees at the first day of the symposium will receive the gift of a book and a rose at our afternoon reception.

All events are free and open to the public.  Full program appears below image.  Limited seating.

–With the generous support of the UCLA Department of Spanish & Portuguese, the UCLA Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, the Institut Ramon Llull, the UCLA Center for European and Russian Studies, the UCLA Department of Linguistics, the UCLA Center for Digital Humanities and the Casal dels Catalans de Califòrnia.

Monday, April 24 – UCLA Royce Hall Room 306

8:30-9:00

Coffee and Registration

9:00-9:15

Welcome                                                                                                

—Hector Enrique Calderon Valle, Chair, Department of Spanish & Portuguese, UCLA

—John Dagenais, Professor, Department of Spanish & Portuguese, UCLA

—Gemma Repiso Puigdelliura, Director, Catalan Language Program, Department of Spanish & Portuguese, UCLA

9:15–10:45

Session I:  Urban Barcelona: Literature and Cultural Representations

Moderator: Isabel Villanueva (UCLA, Universitat Internacional de Catalunya) 

 

“A la sombra se cobija el amo y señor de esta ciudad muerta”: l’urbanisme assassí de Ciutat morta.                                               

—Alba Marcé (University of California, Davis)

La necessitat i la dificultat de ser traduït a l’anglès.                                                   

—Francesc Borrull (Universitat de Vic) 

Un Raval Imaginat.                                                                               

—José Antonio Jódar Sánchez (University at Buffalo-SUNY)

10:45-11:00

Coffee Break

11:00–12:30

Session II:  Catalan Syntax and Phonology                                                            

Moderator: Victoria Mateu (UCLA)

Lateral Darkness in Barcelonan Catalan: What Has Become of the ela catalana?                                                                         

—Justin Davidson (University of California, Berkeley)

Non-Personal Catalan Clitic Pronouns: Language Change in Progress?

—Adriana Soto-Corominas (Western University) 

La restricció dels sintagmes nominals escarits postverbals en els verbs psicològics catalans. Una explicació des del punt de vista informatiu.

—Carles Royo (Universitat de Barcelona)

 

12:30–13:30

Lunch for Program Participants

13:30-15:00

Session III:  Catalan Collective Memory: War, Exile and Dictatorship

Moderator: Elizabeth Warren (UCLA)

Forbidden Behavior and Cultural Spaces in Jordi Grau’s Film A Love Story (1966).

—Hugo Pascual Bordón (University South Carolina)

“Fugida” y “Homenaje a Cataluña” dos relatos testimoniales del exilio y de la huida catalanes durante la Guerra Civil Española.                                                                           

—Carlos Arturo Arias Sanabria (Pontificia Universidad Javeriana)

 

15:00–15:15

Coffee break

15:15–16:15

Session IV:  Communication and Language                                                                                  

Moderator: Javier Moreno (UCLA)

The Catalan Language and Electronic Communication.                                          

  —Anna I. Montesinos López (Universitat Politècnica de València) 

Digitalización e internacionalización de la cultura catalana: los casos de Opera Oberta y Catalunya Música.   

— Isabel Villanueva Benito (UCLA, Universitat Internacional de Catalunya)

 

16:15-18:00

Sant Jordi Celebration: Books, Roses and Refreshments

Poster: What do UCLA students know about Catalan?

—Carla de Aguilar-Amat (UCLA)

 

Tuesday, April 25 –  UCLA Rolfe Hall, Lydeen Library

9:30–11:00

Session V:  Catalan Syntax and Phonology II                                                                     

Moderator: Ji Young Kim (UCLA)

Argument Structure of Nouns in Catalan: A Descriptive Approach.

—Elga Cremades (Masaryk University)

What We Don’t Know about Catalan Pronoun Clusters, and Why We Need to Know It.

—Adriana Soto-Corominas (Western University)

Schwa-Zero Alt[ə]rnations Cat[ə]lan Singular Determin[ə]rs.

—Calvin Cheng (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3)

11:00–11:30

Coffee break

11:30-13:00

Session VI:  History, Literature and Culture                                                                           

Moderator: John Dagenais (UCLA)

Seasonal Economic Patterns in the Medieval Catalan Pyrenees: The Example of Puigcerdà (1321-1322).

—Elizabeth Comuzzi (UCLA) 

Grotesque Europeanization in Bigas Luna’s La teta y la luna.                           

—Elizabeth Warren (UCLA)

Yearnings, Failures, and the Recuperation of Memory: Re-Writing Gender in Margarita Aritzeta’s  L’herència de Cubaand in àngeles Aymar i Ragolta’s La indiana.                                                    

—Jennifer Monti (University of California, Los Angeles)

13:00–14:00

Closing Discussion, Remarks and Brindis offered by Prof. Hector Calderon, Chair, Department of Spanish & Portuguese, UCLA

Advanced registration not required. No fee. Limited Seating.

More details at http://ofbooksandroses.weebly.com