Nogales Baena Wins BUCH Award
José Luis Nogales Baena, a doctoral student in our Hispanic Language & Literatures program, has won a graduate student award from the BU Center for the Humanities, for his work on relationships between Mexican and Soviet intellectuals during the Cold War.
Great work, José!
José tells us about his work:
In my dissertation, I explore the relationship between Mexican intellectuals and Soviet Russia through editorial practices in the immediate aftermath of World War II. The unifying thread of my study is the main publication of the Mexican-Russian Institute of Cultural Exchange (Instituto de Intercambio Cultural Mexicano-Ruso): the journal Cultura Soviética (1944-1955), replaced in 1955 by Intercambio Cultural (1955-1958). Through the study of these publications and the context in which they were immersed, I intend to clarify the ideological panorama of intellectuals in Mexico in relation to the Soviet Union in the forties and fifties.
Although Cold War Studies have recently focused attention on Latin America, and have in particular pointed out Mexico as a key node in the regional and international networks of this transnational conflict, there has not been specific study on Cultura Soviética and its relationship with the Soviet Union. There is no extended research on journal editorial practices in Mexico, nor even on the period (1944-1956).
My dissertation also highlights the role of journals in the movement of ideas within transnational contexts. From an interdisciplinary perspective, it studies journals as a dynamic space where different discourses interact in a state of constant tension, showing how culture is not an alternative to politics, but rather a key player in political processes. This way I will to contribute to the debates on the importance of the journal genre regarding the dynamics between culture and politics.