Dr. Ignacio Sarmiento
Department of World Languages and Cultures Assistant Professor Ignacio Sarmiento recently signed a book contract with the University of Arizona Press to publish his first monograph, “Specters of War: The Battle of Mourning in Post-Conflict Central America.”
Dr. Sarmiento’s book studies representations of mourning in postwar El Salvador and Guatemala through the analysis of museums, sites of memory, theatre and fiction. Some content in the book has been incorporated two courses that he teaches: HIST/ETHN 293: Latin America: Revolution and Reform, and SPAN 375: Central American cultures.
“In the former, students learn about the civil wars in El Salvador and Guatemala and the struggles for justice and memorialization in both countries, something I discuss in the first chapter of the book,” Sarmiento explained. “In the latter course, students read and discuss some short stories I analyze in my book, like Eduardo Halfon's ‘Mañana nunca lo hablamos,’ studied in Chapter 5.”
Sarmiento also gave a talk, "Justice, Memory, and Mourning in Post-Authoritarian Latin America," in ETHN 225: Intro to Latinx History and Culture,” taught by another World Languages and Cultures faculty member.
