Book Presentation: Writer, There Is No Path: Transcultural Performativity of Mexican Women Travellers

Speaker: Dr Lourdes Parra Lazcano

Dr Lourdes Parra Lazcano holds a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Leeds. She specialises in Mexican travel literature and is an active member of the Women in Spanish and Portuguese Studies Association (UK). She currently lectures at the University of Aberdeen, within the School of Language, Literature, Music and Visual Culture.

Abstract:

The presentation of Writer, There Is No Path: Transcultural Performativity of Mexican Women Travellers invites us to journey through Mexican women’s travel writing from the nineteenth century to the present day, tracing the voices of writers who challenged and reshaped the cultural norms of their time.

From a feminist and transcultural perspective, Lourdes Parra Lazcano delves into the narratives of Laura Méndez de Cuenca, Elena Garro, Rosario Castellanos, María Luisa Puga, Esther Seligson, and Myriam Moscona. This presentation explores how these authors’ experiences in countries such as Spain, Germany, Kenya, England, Israel, and Bulgaria influenced the construction of their identities and their perception of “the Other.”