Presenting at the LALISA Conference

​I had quite an interesting weekend, and I'd love to tell you a bit about it. I spent this past Friday and Saturday at the LALISA conference hosted at the beautiful Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. LALISA (Latin American, Latino, and Iberian Studies Association of the Pacific Northwest) is a group of scholars that presents their investigations into various literary, anthropological and cinematic themes at an annual conference hosted by the group. I was invited to present, and chose to share an investigation that I had completed during my fall term at Portland State University. In this investigation I delved into the work of Lope de Vega, Spain's  prolific playwright of the Golden Age, and took a close look his brilliant 1615 play, El perro del hortelano.

In my investigation, entitled "Las mujeres ingeniosas de Lope de Vega: Un 'examen para las ciencias' del personaje de Diana en El perro del hortelano de Lope de Vega", I analyzed the strong female lead, Diana, in one of Lope's well known plays, The Dog in the Manger. In my investigation I argue that Diana, the play's fearless and headstrong female lead, could in fact have been classified with a "sanguínea" temperament, rather than the "flemática" classification that she would have been afforded at the time that Lope's play was published in 1615.

Throughout the investigation, I compare the play with the Examination of Men's Wits, the scientific treatise written by Juan Huarte de San Juan in 1575 and widely circulated during Lope de Vega's time. This treatise describes the four possible temperaments (sanguíneo, flemático, colérico and melocólico), but interestingly, the only temperament afforded by Huarte to the women of the time was the "flemático" temperament, which hardly describes the headstrong Diana, the Countess of Belfor.

If you haven't yet had a chance to read Lope de Vega's brilliant play El perro del hortelano, you should really take a look! And don't forget to view the gorgeous 1996 film El perro del hortelano by director Pilar Miró. Miró's unique vision for the bold female lead of Diana is unforgettable. This weekend was such an enlightening and fascinating experience - I can't wait for next year's conference.