Candela Marini, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

  • Milwaukee WI UNITED STATES
  • Grohmann Museum: GM216
  • Humanities, Social Science and Communication

Dr. Candela Marini’s areas of expertise include Latin American Studies and Visual Culture.

Contact

Education, Licensure and Certification

Ph.D.

Romance Studies

Duke University

2018

M.A.

Romance Studies

Duke University

2014

M.A.

Latin American Studies

Freie Universitat - Berlin

2012

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Biography

Dr. Candela Marini is an assistant professor in the Humanities, Social Science, and Communication Department at MSOE. She is the coordinator of the Spanish minor and the co-director of the MSOE University Scholars Honors Program. She offers courses on US and Latin American history, cultural and visual studies, and, Spanish. Her research focuses on Latin American literature and visual culture, with a specialization in the Southern Cone. Her current book project, War, Photography, and Visual Citizens: Territorial and Visual Expansion in the Construction of Chile and Argentina, spotlights the role and impact of photographers within an expanded public sphere and growing state power. Forthcoming projects also include attention to contemporary reflections on violence and historical memory, particularly in Gothic-oriented graphic novels, short stories, and films.

Areas of Expertise

Spanish
History
Illustrated Press
Photography
Visual Culture
Latin American Studies
Cultural History
War Studies
19th Century
Service-Learning
Literature

Accomplishments

Caxton Club Fellowship

Rare Book School, 2021

Honorable Mention – Best Dissertation in the Nineteenth Century

Latin American Studies Association – LASA., 2019

Evan Frankel Fellowship for Ph.D. Students in the Humanities

Duke University, NC, 2017-2018

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Affiliations

  • Latin American Studies Association (LASA): Member
  • Midwest Modern Language Association (MMLA): Member
  • American Comparative Literature Association (ACLA): Member

Languages

  • Spanish
  • English
  • French
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Social

Media Appearances

Host- Latin American Studies and "Historia" Channels

New Books Network  

Candela Marini hosts the Latin American Studies channel of the New Books Network and the "Historia" channel of the New Books Network-Spanish.

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Event and Speaking Appearances

Arte para un imperialismo criollo: la pintura chilena a mediados del siglo XIX

Midwest Modern Language Association (MMLA),  Loyola University, Chicago, IL, November 14-17, 2019

Empty Battlefields. Bate & Ca.’s photographic rendering of the Triple Alliance War

Latin American Visual Culture Symposium  Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, November 8-10, 2019

Panel Respondent: “Teatralidades populares y subjetividades (in)visibles en el Río de la Plata

Latin American Studies Association (LASA)  Universidad Tres de Febrero, Buenos Aires, July 10-13, 2019

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Research Grants

Research Travel Award

Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies Program, UW – Madison

2020

Summer Faculty Development Grant

MSOE

2019

Summer Research Fellowship, Graduate School

Duke University, NC.

2016

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Selected Publications

The Paraguayan War Imagined (1865 - 1870)

Latin American Literature in Transition, Vol. II, 1800-1870

Eds. Peluffo, A. and Briggs, R.

2022
Cambridge University Press

War Photography: Diaz & Spencer's Coverage of the War of the Pacific (1879-1883)

FOTOCINEMA: REVISTA CIENTÍFICA DE CINE Y FOTOGRAFÍA

Marini, C.

2021

In the study of 19th-century Latin American photography, the photographic capture of war and military operations has implicitly been equated with the eye of national states, understanding that photographers would want to show a positive portrayal of the military forces. However, war photography as a language of state power was not the point of departure. In most of the earlier examples of war photography, it was private photographers who first ventured into military conflicts almost as soon as the new visual technology was made available. They saw war as both an important historical event and a commercial opportunity. Experiencing with a technology that forced them to produce images of war stripped of battle action while trying to capitalize on the diverse interests in these conflicts, most photographers offered a rendering of war of ambiguous political meanings. In this essay, Dr. Marini argues that the photographs of the War of the Pacific taken by the studio Díaz & Spencer are one of the first examples of the successful use of war photography for nation-building purposes, that is, as national propaganda. Photographers had the challenge to create impressive, apologetic and heroic captures of the military forces, and Díaz & Spencer succeeded in creating a visual narrative congruent with Chilean official discourses, consolidating, rather than challenging, the Chilean state view of the war. Equally important, this alignment of political views was accomplished on account of Díaz and Spencer’s initiative—not that of Chilean state officials.

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Muertos-vivos pop en tiempos de crisis: El zombi en la literatura caribeña contemporánea

The Latin Americanist

Marini, C.

2018

Tradicionalmente pertenecientes al mundo de las novelas y películas de terror, en los últimos años los zombis han logrado franquear también estos límites y convivir más que nunca con los vivos: en marchas políticas, performances de protesta, libros, historietas, televisión y cine. Su difusión metafórica se debe en buena medida a la maleabilidad que define al zombi. El zombi es un disfraz, una estrategia para llamar la atención, una figura ahistórica y estetizada. Se trata de un cuerpo vacío (susceptible de ser condimentado según las circunstancias) y de un objeto sin consciencia, ni voluntad (se puede hacer de él lo que se quiera). Paradójicamente, aprovechándonos de estas condiciones continuamos su condena, reproduciendo los gestos de explotación que nos horrorizan, usando las características que lo vuelven víctima y monstruo.

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