Collective residencies / Negotiating Non-Motherhood / Olot
DOVILE KUZMINSKAITE
From Monday, 14 March 2022 to Monday, 21 March 2022
Bio
Dovile Kuzminskaite is an assistant professor in Vilnius University, Faculty of Philology, Institute for Literary, Cultural and Translation Studies, member of Comparative Literature Studies’ group. She has a phd in Latin American literature and teaches the courses of Spanish Language, History of Latin American Literature, Contemporary Literature in Spanish Speaking Countries, Contemporary Women’s Literature in Spanish Speaking Countries, Academic Writing, and she also performs as supervisor for BA thesis. Her main interests are contemporary literature with especial focus on literature from Spanish speaking countries, Latin American literature, experimental literature and arts, gender studies and identity problems depicted in literary works.
Project
Dovile Kuzminskaite is an assistant professor in Vilnius University, Faculty of Philology, Institute for Literary, Cultural and Translation Studies, member of Comparative Literature Studies’ group. She has a phd in Latin American literature and teaches the courses of Spanish Language, History of Latin American Literature, Contemporary Literature in Spanish Speaking Countries, Contemporary Women’s Literature in Spanish Speaking Countries, Academic Writing, and she also performs as supervisor for BA thesis. Her main interests are contemporary literature with especial focus on literature from Spanish speaking countries, Latin American literature, experimental literature and arts, gender studies and identity problems depicted in literary works.
The Project
The MotheNet Project offers deeper analysis and understanding of motherhood involving interdisciplinary approaches from humanities, social sciences, and medicine. The project tries to answer some crucial questions, in particular “What does it mean to be a mother in Europe today? The lived experience of motherhood has changed dramatically over the past generation, and this research explores how discourses and ideologies of motherhood reflect these changes. The research aims to shed light on the experiences of mothers who are marginalized, on maternal voices that have been silenced and the pressures on women to conform to normative ideas of motherhood. It is a European project involving 3 universities, Maynooth (Ireland), Upsala (Sweden) and Vilnius (Lithuania).
The stay in Olot was a great opportunity for the working group exploring “Negotiating Childness” to work on the proposed and accepted monograph on the issue. We had writing morning sessions and afternoon meetings to shape and discuss the different chapters that we have proposed. The volume called Negotiating Non-Motherhood: Representations, Perceptions, and Experiences and it is expected to be published next year.
Wonderful Stay at FaberLlull Residency in Olot
Four of the “Negotiating Childness” group researchers spent wonderful 5 days in Olot during which we wrote in the mornings and have very productive online meetings with the rest of the group in the afternoon. It has been a wonderful opportunity for us to dedicate 3 full days entirely to research (the other 2 were partly used for travelling). Olot is a great place, and the Residency is just perfect. The people, the facilities, the food, the location, the human warmth, just great. Thank you so very much!!!!!!