Thinking from the Roots

Yásnaya Elena A. Gil gives a two-session seminar, together with the mapuche linguist Elisa Loncon and the aymara researcher Elvira Espejo, in which she proposes that we imagine beyond monolingualism and the European tradition of thought.

«Diversity is natural to humanity; what is artificial and requires effort is monoculture», says linguist and thinker Yásnaya Elena A. Gil, who often uses the farming tradition of her land as a metaphor for the world in which we live. Her work dismantles hegemonic imaginaries, showcasing the structures and norms that underpin them, and revealing their flaws, violence and exclusions. In this seminar, divided into two sessions, the Mixe linguist invites us to reflect on and imagine worlds beyond monolingualism and the tradition of the European Philosophy, taking the idea of diversity as a natural state of things.

Session 1: Language is a Territory

8 October, 11.00 – 13.00, Mirador

Yásnaya Elena A. Gil and Mapuche linguist Elisa Loncon reflect on different strategies for revitalizing the diversity and defence of linguistic rights in a context of increasing threat to minority languages. How do we inhabit a language? And what about diversity? How can we stop their mass disappearance?

Moderators: Miquel Cabal and Diana Roig.

Session 2: Other Knowledge

14 October, 18.00 – 20.00, Aula 1

Yásnaya Elena A. Gil and the Aymara artist and researcher Elvira Espejo reflect on notions such as nature, art and technology from the viewpoint of Mixe, Quechua and Aymara traditions of thought, which European rationality has often called myths or legends. How can we recover their value, which has been undermined for centuries? What alternative worlds to European tradition open up?

Moderator: Diego Falconí.