This presentation provides critical reflections on how indigenous societies are currently understood and represented. It discusses prevailing notions that associate indigenous peoples with nature, cosmovision, and a static idea of culture, which date back far in history but still are reproduced in current theoretical currents (such as decolonial studies) and in exhausted political models such as multiculturalism. This proposal arises from a research trajectory that has studied indigenous intellectual practices, so this analysis will include in a central way how some indigenous authors and artists interpellate those representations from the plane of aesthetics and writing.
Bio of Claudia Zapata
Claudia Zapata is an academic at the center for Latin American Cultural Studies at the University of Chile. She specializes in Contemporary Latin American History, indigenous movements and Lain American critical thought. In 2015 she received the Ezequiel Martínez Estrada Essay Prize from Casa de las Américas, Cuba, for her book „Intelectuales indígenas en Ecuador, Bolivia y Chile. Diferencia, colonialismo y anticolonialismo.“
This lecture forms part of the lecture series "Intersectionality from the Americas: Theories, Processes, Approaches, Practices", taking place throughout the winter semester 2024/25. Supported by the ScienceCampus and organised by Anne Brüske with Minerva Peinador, Bárbara Aranda and Joanna Moszczyńska of DIMAS, this series will feature talks and an artistic performance. Further details on the lecture series can be found here (external link, opens in a new window).
The presentation will be held in Spanish with translation of the main content into English. The discussion will be offered in Spanish and English.
