The Center for Latin American Studies (ZILAS) coordinates the entire field of research on Latin America at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt (KU), advocates interdisciplinary relations and promotes their productivity. The three research lines described herein were defined in accordance with the research interests currently pursued by the members of the center in their respective subjects and disciplines. Thus, they reflect the already existing interdisciplinary network and show a profile offering perspectives for further cooperation in research – both within the KU and beyond. The outlined research projects refer to fields of interest between different subjects and disciplines providing a context for potential interdisciplinary research proposals. The center pursues the three following research lines:

Since the European colonization of Latin America, the societies in this global region have been significantly marked by processes of transculturation, which have increasingly and perceptibly developed into a symbol of our present times. A fundamental process within such transculturation, although by far not the only one, is Christianization. The encounter of indigenous, European and African cultures in Latin America manifests itself in various different forms and areas; this also includes the many different traditions of one individual continent of those three which meet on Latin American soil. In general, transculturation never leads to stable conditions. Instead, tensions characterize the encounter between the original cultures and the newly emerging societies and must be endured and handled.

From all three continental perspectives, there has been an attempt to transfer the perceptions of contrasts and tensions into their own systems of knowledge. In many cases, the aim was to stabilize the own identity, while the perceptions of otherness defied one’s own epistemic orders. In other words, the aim was to maintain one’s own entitlement to universality – to expand on these orders, to enrich them and to shift them within the tension between empirical curiosity and the axiom of the unshakable one’s own superiority. The production, circulation and transfer of knowledge from and towards Latin America include both historical and contemporary situations. The research practice focuses on institutions and parties involved as well as on knowledge media and the relationship between knowledge as a resource, state power and (post-)colonial settings.

Involved disciplines

More information on the involved disciplines and associated researchers can be found on the German website. 

Dating back to the subjugation of indigenous people and the implementation of forced labor by Spanish and Portuguese colonial rulers, Latin America offers a rich selection of illustrative material for research on the dynamisms of violent conflicts and post-conflict situations as well as processes of peace building and reconciliation. In the 19^th century, the formation of political nations was accompanied by civil wars and border conflicts on the one hand and the negotiation of peace building measures on the other. In the 20^th century, the subcontinent was shaken by revolutions, guerrilla fighting, drug wars and above all by numerous military dictatorships – and the people of Latin America have only begun to process these experiences in the most recent years. In contrast to hegemonic cultures of memory, the concept of memoria seeks to encourage a critical analysis of the past and its significance for present times. It focuses on dealing with traumatic experiences, as is done in the official non-judicial truth commissions and on processing the details, causes and consequences of human rights violations and recording such atrocities in literary witness reports (testimonios), which can be found everywhere in Latin America’s media landscape. Beyond the processing of a conflictual past, memoria also includes symbolic orders, institutions and practices within the realm of cultural memory, in which social groups can refer to a common past and a shared cultural heritage. The fact that the shared past cannot be traced back to a common origin due to the historical, ethnic and cultural diversity of Latin American societies constantly leads to renegotiations of the cultural and historical memory which play a major role in the conflict between governments, indigenous groups and social movements.

Involved disciplines

More information on the involved disciplines and associated researchers can be found on the German website. 

The continued existence and reproduction of multiple forms of violence, inequality and authoritarian sociocultural hierarchies indicate that there are still major problems when it comes to the consolidation of Latin American democracies. These dynamism strongly influence the conditions of political negotiation and participation and not only have a limiting effect, but also serve as an opportunity for attempts of social transformation. It is precisely these correlations in which social movements, governmental institutions and other national and inter- or transnational players become active in order to implement own ideas of citizenship, development, nature, ethnicity, gender etc. – be it with an alternative, preserving or restorative intent. Despite, or because of its difficult circumstances, Latin America has repeatedly proven to be a global pioneer when it comes to sociopolitical creativity and innovation.

The activities within the ZILAS research line C focus on these phenomena. They not only look at political participation from the classical institutionalized point of view but also take into account informal and every-day practices of negotiation. In line with the interdisciplinary concept of the center, numerous artistic and literary forms of expression as part of the political visibility and participation spectrum of the different players are considered. Such attempts at transformation do not take place in spatial or temporal isolation, but are to be understood as products of historical and contemporary ‘glocalized’ learning and exchange processes. It is thus of major importance for our research to work both within and on alternative epistemologies (decolonization of knowledge, Southern Theories, alternative historiographies etc.) and their effects on reality.

Involved disciplines

More information on the involved disciplines and associated researchers can be found on the German website. 

Americana Eystettensia

With the Americana Eystettensia, the Institute has its own series that enables it to publish research results and congress reports. Since 2019, the editors and publishers are Prof. Thomas Fischer and Prof. Miriam Lay Brander. The series is published by Verlag Vervuert, Frankfurt a.M., where it is also distributed in a promotionally effective manner. An overview and further information about the individual issues can be found directly on the publisher's website.

The following works have been published since 2015:

• Agustina Carrizo de Reimann: Una historia densa de la anarquía posindependiente la violencia política desde la perspectiva del pueblo en armas (Buenos Aires-México, 1820). 2019. Americana Eystettensia 26. 
• Christian Wehr (eds.): Clásicos del cine mexicano : 31 películas emblemáticas desde la Época de Oro hasta el presente. 2016. Americana Eystettensia 25.
• Friedhelm Schmidt-Welle and Christian Wehr (eds.): Nationbuilding en el cine mexicano. Desde la Época de Oro al presente. Americana Eystettensia 24. 2015.