Special Session

World Literatures and Comparative Studies / Spanish and Portuguese

Francesc Galera (Autonomous University of Barcelona)
fran@****.com (Log-in to reveal)

This panel focuses on the literary and cultural production of minoritized languages in the Iberian Peninsula—Catalan, Basque, Galician, and Asturian—approaching them as sites of negotiation between language, identity, and power. Rather than treating these traditions as peripheral to dominant national cultures, the session invites contributions that foreground their centrality in shaping Iberian literary and cultural dynamics.

The Iberian context offers a particularly rich terrain for examining how non-hegemonic languages engage with processes of standardization, minoritization, revival, and institutionalization, while also participating in broader transnational and comparative frameworks. These languages operate within complex sociopolitical conditions marked by asymmetrical relations with dominant state languages, but also by vibrant traditions of literary production, translation, and cultural resistance.

In line with PAMLA’s interest in the intersections of language, literature, and power, this panel seeks to explore how texts in Catalan, Basque, Galician, and Asturian negotiate visibility, legitimacy, and circulation. Particular attention may be paid to the role of translation (direct or indirect), self-translation, and multilingual writing as strategies for crossing linguistic and cultural boundaries.

We welcome papers that address literary, cultural, historical, or theoretical approaches to Iberian minoritized languages, including but not limited to:

Literary production in Catalan, Basque, Galician, or Asturian Translation, self-translation, and multilingual writing Language and identity in minoritized contexts Cultural resistance, revival, and language activism Relations between minoritized and dominant languages Circulation of texts within and beyond Iberia Comparative approaches across Iberian linguistic traditions Institutional frameworks and their impact on literary production Digital and media contexts of minoritized languages

This panel aims to foster dialogue among scholars working across Iberian linguistic traditions, encouraging comparative and cross-linguistic perspectives that challenge monolingual and nation-centered approaches to literary study.