Poetics of the body in Jopara literature

This workshop is an invitation to read and write through immersion in the works of two Latin American authors: Susy Delgado, from Paraguay, and Paz Solís Durigo, from Argentina. 

Through the reading of their works, we will delve into the fascinating world of jopara literature—a blend of Spanish and Guaraní that predominates in Paraguay and in some areas of northwestern Argentina. We will also explore key aspects of Guaraní culture and worldview, and how they are reflected in this literature. 

We will see how both authors—whose texts selected for this workshop fall within a poetics of the body—choose prose and poetry in their narratives as ways of inhabiting the languages that affirm their identities and the spiritual bonds that connect them to Guaraní ancestry. 

Workshop structure: The session will last two hours. It will begin with a lecture-style introduction, after which participants will be encouraged to write their own texts following writing exercises suggested by the instructor. Participants will then share their creations. A guide with a selection of the literary texts covered in the workshop will be provided. 

The workshop will be led by Iliana Franco Alvarenga, a translator and linguistic activist specializing in Guaraní and its varieties. She translates into Guaraní, Spanish, English, and occasionally Portuguese. Her passion for books and languages from an early age led her to pursue the impossible—also known as literary translation. Her journey through the world of oral narratives, tales, legends, and historical documents has taken her to participate in various humanitarian, artistic, linguistic, and literary projects related to the Indigenous languages of Paraguay and Argentina. She has collaborated with award‑winning authors such as Gabriela Cabezón Cámara on Las niñas del naranjel, and Javier Viveros on Fantasmario, among others.