Association of Marquette University Women: The Distinguished Eleanor R. Boheim Lecture

“Aguanile”: Critical Listening, Mourning and Anti-colonial Healing

Presented by Dr. Frances R. Aparicio, 2019-20 AMUW Women’s Chair in Humanistic Studies

"Music and fiction allow communities to mourn and heal after a tragic event. Focusing on “Aguanile”, a canonical Salsa song first performed by Héctor Lavoe in the 1970s, I trace its shifting meanings as the song circulated from the oppositional meanings of its local performances in the Bronx, to its mainstreamed reception in American television. Along with a detailed reading of the eponymous short story written by Afro-Puerto Rican writer, Amina Gautier, I conclude that critical listening is a key practice that allows music and fiction to heal Puerto Ricans as we mourn the numerous deaths of loved ones after Hurricane María in 2017. The presentation concludes with a personal testimonio to the decolonizing role of Latinx Studies as a field that provided me with a sense of collective belonging as a Puerto Rican feminist scholar who has embraced Latinidad in the United States.” ~ Frances R. Aparicio

Wednesday, Oct. 30

5:30 p.m. Registration
6:00 p.m. Lecture
Reception to follow

Raynor Memorial Libraries
Beaumier Suites
1355 W. Wisconsin Ave., Marquette University campus

Register by Friday, Oct. 25 for the AMUW Boheim Lecture.

The lecture is free and open to the public.

Please direct any questions or special needs to Vicki Clancy, Comm '17, at victoria.clancy@marquette.edu or (414) 288-4733.