More Palestinians live today away from their territories than in them. Many live in Latin American but it is in Chile where these migrants and their descendants –old and new– constitute the largest Palestinian community outside of the Arab World. However, while at the beginning of the 20th century the elders assimilated so that their children would not suffer discrimination, and while their sons and daughters thrived as regular Chileans with an Arab surname, in the 21st century their grandsons and granddaughters are actively searching for their origins, becoming identified with a forgotten past and “returning” to the land. Contrary to the Zionist wishes –that the elders would die or leave and their children would forget—the Palestinian identity has resurfaced and acquired a new vitality. This conference examines documentary films and other non-fictional works that confirm the political importance of Palestinian dissemi-nation.
Lina Meruane is an award-winning Chilean writer and scholar from Chile, teaching at Global Liberal Studies Program, New York University, since 2011. She has authored several non-fiction books, among which is her scholarly work on the impact and representation of the AIDS epidemic in Latin American literature, Viral Voyages (Palgrave McMillan 2014). As a fiction writer she has published five novels and a host of short stories. Meruane has received the prestigious Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Novel Prize (Mexico 2012), the Anna Seghers Prize (Germany, 2011) as well as grants from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
In accordance with the measures against the spread of the coronavirus, this seminar session will be held virtually. Depending on approval by the speakers, the Berliner Seminar will be recorded. All audio recordings of the Berliner Seminar are available via the account of the Forum Transregionale Studien on Soundcloud.