November 17th, 2022 (4:30pm Boston)
Hybrid* | RSVP: https://bit.ly/RSVP-Observatorio or info-observatory@fas.harvard.edu
This session will discuss Judeo-Spanish language and culture, reviewing their origins and current situation in their different contexts, with special attention on North America. Antonio Barbagallo will open the panel focusing on aspects of the language of the Sephardim in his presentation "Ladino o judeoespañol: la lengua española como se hablaba en el siglo XV"; Andrés Enrique-Arias will then follow with his talk “Sobre la fortuna del judeoespañol en los EE. UU.,” providing an update on the situation of the Sephardic language and culture in the U.S. context. After these presentations, two speakers of different variants of Judeo-Spanish, Gloria Ascher (Ladino) and Alicia Sisso (Haketia), will share about their personal experiences in conversation with the lecturers. The session will also include live and recorded performances of Sephardic music.
Antonio Barbagallo, Professor of Modern Languages at Stonehill College (MA), specializes in Cervantes and linguistics, on which he has published numerous articles in prestigious academic journals. He is also an expert in poetry, as the author of two collections of poems and as a researcher, with a book on Antonio Machado’s work. He has conducted field research in Greece and the United States in order to study the essence of Judeo-Spanish. Andrés Enrique-Arias is a professor of Spanish Language at Universitat de les Illes Balears (Majorca, Spain) and is the author of numerous publications on the history of Spanish, medieval biblical translation, and the history of Spanish-Catalan contact in Majorca. He directed the documentary film Once Upon a Time at 55th and Hoover on the Sephardic community of Rhodes that settled in Los Angeles (California).
Language: Spanish and Judeo Spanish
*The event will end around 6pm (Boston) and will be followed by coffee and drinks for in-person attendees.