Episode 5: Prof. Valencia from Department of Modern Languages and Literatures

To begin its second-semester journey of its “Focus on Faculty” Project, the Gould Center held an inspiring interview with CMC Professor of Spanish and Portuguese Norman Valencia. Professor Valencia’s area of expertise is Brazilian literature and culture and their ties to Spanish-speaking Latin America. Through conversations about several interesting topics, from Brazilian history to the role of powerful publishing houses in the development of Brazilian literature, the “Focus on Faculty” project team hopes to provide CMC students with greater insight into Professor Valencia’s deep connection to Brazil. 

Professor Valencia began with insightful comments about his passion for drawing connections between Spanish-speaking Latin America and Brazil, the basis for much of his research and courses. He described Brazil’s history as “rich” and conducive towards his encouraging of students to “make comparisons between their own native countries,” including Mexico, India, and even Hawaii. He mentioned that through these comparisons, a two-way street of knowledge is created: he teaches his students about Brazilian culture, and his students actually teach him about their own  as “[he is] not an expert in their cultures.”

In line with his comments about drawing comparisons between cultures, Professor Valencia elaborated on his experience of having a Colombian identity while teaching about Brazilian cultures. Throughout his years of teaching and research, he has learned that unlike Brazil, a country with a unique (and problematic) imperial past, Colombia did not possess a similar “sense of unity, destiny and pride” during the era of independence and nation building (the 19th century), something that had lasting historical consequences. Because of their different histories, Colombia and Brazil have very distinct cultural mindsets, and they are perceived very differently in the world. Nonetheless, looking into the cultural differences between the two nations has provided Professor Valencia with valuable lessons about open-mindedness and cultural appreciation.

Given that soccer has been widely recognized as a major pillar in Brazilian culture, Professor Valencia provided a captivating narrative of the sport. He described soccer as a “perfect example of how Brazilian culture is perceived in a way that needs to be deconstructed.” Brazilian soccer is often perceived as a beautiful game due to the common perception of Brazil as a harmonious nation. Valencia argued, however, that “the truth of the matter is that Brazilian soccer also reveals a history of racial discrimination and even corruption” that to some extent remains hidden due to the idea of Brazil as an alleged “racial democracy,” a national myth that emerges from the country’s history and that has a great cultural influence, even today. He expressed that these underlying details make the dominance of soccer in Brazilian culture such a fascinating topic. 

In shifting the conversation’s focus to his work on Contemporary literature, Professor Valencia described his experience of studying contemporary Latin American literature as “challenging and fascinating.” He explained that unlike dealing with twentieth-century literary texts, that have very established theoretical frameworks, the study of contemporary Latin American literature has forced him to “imagine new ways of approaching literature” in his analyses, ways that include historical, economic, and political perspectives. He also mentions the importance of Brazil for Contemporary Latin America. I found his motive in doing so very inspiring: “I always want to bring Brazil to the table…You can’t study contemporary Latin American culture without referencing Brazilian culture. Or you can, but you would miss many valuable opportunities.” 

Professor Valencia also raised thought-provoking points about the impact of neoliberalism and the development of Latin American contemporary writing. He expressed his concern that “neoliberalism is often presented as purely economic.” He believes that while neoliberalism does have economic implications, it “creates a world view, an ethics, and ideas about reading and writing” and thus warrants further exploration. He added that another factor that has majorly influenced contemporary Latin American literature is the publishing-house system. In Spanish, the most successful literary pieces must be published by two large publishing houses (Planeta or Penguin-Random House, this last one owned by the international media company Bertelsmann), which are based in European countries (Spain and Germany). In Brazil, the largest and more prestigious press, Companhia das Letras, is also controlled by Penguin-Random House/Bertelsmann. More surprisingly, the most effective way for one to have their piece popularized is to receive “literary prizes,” which are often granted by the publishing houses themselves. In a rapid-round of questions, Professor Valencia elaborated on this, arguing that if publishing houses are successful in forming monopolies, “it will be a disaster for culture…[as] these publishing houses are not conducive to cultural plurality.”

To conclude the interview, Professor Valencia provided advice to all CMC students: “CMC has an amazing offering of courses on humanities and cultures. You will learn a lot from them. When you read literature, you find other forms of being in the world and thinking about yourself. Please take advantage of it.” This was personally impactful, and I strongly believe that this interview with Professor Valencia demonstrates that there is so much to gain from deep-diving into an unfamiliar culture, especially through a beautiful outlet of knowledge like literature.

To be continued