Poets writing during wartime have earned a special place in the literary canon. Jennifer Oriola’04 (Abington, Pa.), a government and foreign languages major, collaborated this summer with Michael Jordan, assistant professor of foreign languages and literatures, to examine the literary contributions of a group of Latin American poets during the Spanish Civil War.
“The focus of my project was a book-length comparative study of the Spanish Civil War texts of several notable Latin American poets — César Vallejo, Pablo Neruda, Octavio Paz, Vicente Huidobro, and Nicolás Guillén — a poet from Haiti named Jacques Roumain, and Langston Hughes, with particular emphasis on the question of identity politics,” explains Jordan.
He adds, “While these poets are all considered to be major literary figures, scant attention has been paid to their works relating to the Spanish Civil War (Vallejo is the one exception).”
A modern Latin American literature specialist, Jordan has been part of the Lafayette faculty since 1998. Teaching with an emphasis on poetry, his research interests include questions of ethics and social justice in literature. He is a member of the International Affairs Advisory Committee, and a very strong proponent of the study abroad program.
“I researched and examined each poet and their reaction to the war as well as the different themes that were underlying these poems, such as race and national identity,” says Oriola. “Since there is relatively little research about the literature published by these poets outside of Spain, I examined and compiled the available works as part of the first steps towards the study.”
Oriola’s interest in the topic grew, in part, after studying abroad in Madrid, Spain this past spring. There she developed an interest in the literature both of Spanish and Latin American poets.
“In Spain, even now, the impact of the Civil War is still visible, and the pain and memories are still very fresh. This motivated me to learn more about the war as well as the world’s reaction to it,” she says.
She had an added cultural experience by studying abroad during a time when the U.S. was attacking Iraq.
“It was interesting to see how the world viewed the current war and to view that outside the United States. I became interested in how outsiders viewed major events like a civil war, especially one as devastating as the Spanish Civil War,” she says. “My love of Spain, poetry, the Spanish language, and the very visible lasting impact of the civil war all became my motivation for this research.”
She credits her mentor with guiding her in the project.
“Professor Jordan was tremendously helpful. He helped me improve my research skills, and the challenges presented during this research will no doubt help me in graduate school and beyond,” she says. “It helped reinforce and advance my skills in speaking, reading, and understanding the language as well as deepen my understanding of the turbulent time period, 1936-1939, during which our research was focused.”
Lafayette is a national leader in undergraduate research. Oriola and Jordan collaborated through Lafayette’s distinctive EXCEL Scholars program, in which a student receives a stipend to assist a faculty member in research. Many of the 180 students who participate each year go on to publish papers in scholarly journals and/or present their research at conferences.
For his part, Jordan was thrilled to work with a student of her caliber.
“Jennifer did a phenomenal job,” says Jordan. “She combed through scholarly publications, helping me identify and catalogue the critical treatment of these texts. She helped me categorize, summarize, and subsequently analyze the pertinent sections of text that we identified. It was great to have someone so committed and capable help me on this project.”
Oriola cites this EXCEL research as one of many positive experiences she has had at Lafayette. In particular, she notes the spirit of community that she finds on campus.
“I am very lucky to have had this opportunity and I was excited to face the challenges of the project. I plan to extend the research into an independent study in the fall semester,” she says.
She adds, “Lafayette provides a valuable source of information for the project as well as many opportunities to access other resources from nearby colleges and universities. Living here during the summer with other EXCEL scholars created a great and enjoyable environment to work in, qualities that are essential to keeping motivated and enthusiastic about the research. In general, the college has given me many opportunities to advance my academic career and access to incredible professors who have taught me many of the skills that will be essential after college, as well.”
A graduate of Abington High School, Oriola is a sister in the Alpha Phi sorority and participates in the America Reads Program. She also performed in the Lafayette production of the Vagina Monologues.
As a national leader in undergraduate research, Lafayette sends one of the largest contingents to the National Conference on Undergraduate Research each year. Over the past five years, more than 130 Lafayette students have presented results from research with or under the guidance of faculty mentors at the conference.
Jennifer Oriola ’04 researched the literary contributions of a group of Latin American poets during the Spanish Civil War with Michael Jordan, assistant professor of foreign languages and literatures.