Lecture title: ‘Wales discovers Patagonia, and Argentina discovers the Welsh: Reassessing Gŵyl y Glaniad, the Festival of the Landing’

Date: Thursday 18 April 2013

Time: 4.00 pm

Venue: Conference Room (B03), Basement Floor, Callaghan Building, Swansea University

Admission: Admission is free and all welcome

Speaker information:

Geraldine Lublin is a Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol lecturer in Spanish at Swansea University. Her primary research area is Patagonian identity and the ‘special’ standing of the Welsh community in Chubut in relation to the region and the rest of Argentina.

Her wider research interests relate to Latin American identities, diasporic groups and the processes involved in building regional, national and state narratives. She is also committed to developing and expanding Welsh-medium provision in Hispanic Studies through the Coleg Cymraeg network.

Lecture summary:

Commemorating the arrival of the first contingent of Welsh settlers to Patagonia on 28 July 1865, Gŵyl y Glaniad [the 'Festival of the Landing'] was the first public holiday enacted by the brand new Province of Chubut in 1958. However, what can be described as the quintessential Welsh-Patagonian festivity had been celebrated in Welsh-settled areas in Chubut since the early days of the settlement. Still celebrated today, the Festival's nature and context have changed radically over the years. This presentation will discuss the different readings of the commemoration and reassess its present significance.

Contact: To book a place or for further information please email: r.s.perez-tattam@swansea.ac.uk