Danielle Spratt

Rooted in the recovery and validation of marginalized voices, this exhibit serves to present a collection of cultural artifacts relating specifically to literature from Middle Eastern, Native American and Spanish cultures. In particular, the featured objects represent a complex societal dialogue between ethnic minorities and the ways in which their works get construed (or misconstrued) and distributed by other people. A common theme amongst all four artifacts is that of cultural transmission, interpretation or translation. Our panel and archival objects focus on works that deal with the integration of multiple cultures through literature, and we question what happens to the authenticity of original works when they are translated or transcribed for another group of people. Featured artifacts include: an article of aphorisms considering poetry in translation,the second English translation of Don Quixote de la Mancha,  an anthropological account of Laguna Pueblo oral traditions, as well as an English text analyzing illustrations of a medieval Persian epic poem.