Carleton News: Estill Speaks at the Biennial U.S. Latina/o Literary Theory and Criticism Conference

Adriana Estill, associate professor of American Studies and English, delivered a paper entitled, “‘A prettier white’: The Role of Beauty in Who Would Have Thought It” at the 1st Biennial U.S. Latina/o Literary Theory and Criticism Conference in New York. The conference hosted a range of literary critics and theorists to discuss how U.S. Latina/o literary scholarship offers new dimensions to the study of “American” literature. Estill’s talk focused on Maria Amparo Ruiz’s 19th century novel, Who Would Have Thought It, which told the story of a young Mexican girl named Lola. The story raises a number of questions about the ways in which Hispanic women were seen in the 19th century and how their beauty was judged. Estill argues that the meanings of race are unstable, and that beauty also embodies an unstable set of categories. Together, the two become an important site of political and moral meaning and knowledge.