“Religious Writing and Proto-Nationalist Discourse in the Vida of Juana de Jesús (1662-1703)”

Dr. Catalina Andrango-Walker, Associate Professor in the Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures at Virginia Tech, will deliver the lecture: “Religious Writing and Proto-Nationalist Discourse in the Vida of Juana de Jesús (1662-1703)”

Dr. Andrango-Walker's talk will focus on the vida (life) of Sor Juana de Jesús María y Joseph, a Quiteña nun, which was written by her confessor, Franciscan Antonio Fernández Sierra, at the beginning of the eighteenth century. She will explore how Juana’s life showed the world not only her exemplary life, but also, both works highlight the social problems that Quito, as a peripheral region of the Spanish empire, had to face during the first half of the eighteenth century. In this regard, the religious discourse contributes to the painting of a fuller picture of a city devastated by earthquakes, droughts, epidemics, and other disasters, but also a city deeply affected by policies of the Spanish crown that demanded more taxes from its inhabitants. Moreover, Juana’s life stands out not only for the exemplary virtue of its protagonist, but most of all for the proto-nationalist discourse that started developing in Quito in the eighteenth century, which was the seed for the creation of independence movements in the nineteenth century.

This event is sponsored by the Department of Hispanic Studies, the Mead-Swing  Lectureship, and the Oberlin Center of Languages and Cultures.