When Anne Hunt '04, from St. Louis, Mo., read Lazarillo de Tormes as a sophomore in high school, she had no idea it would profoundly influence her senior year of college.
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"This was the first book I ever read in Spanish," says Hunt, who is a Spanish major. "Because the author is unknown, there's a certain amount of mystery about it. It's also historically significant, but I didn't understand it very well when I was in high school."
For her senior thesis, Hunt examined how the book, written in 1554, exploits food to tell a compelling story. She argues that Lazarillo, the main character, uses food to garner sympathy for his case before the Spanish Inquisition. Hunt believes that through references to food during the course of the story, often accompanied by themes of poverty and violence, the reader has a better understanding of, and more compassion for, Lazarillo.
"There are 70 references to food in just the first chapter," she says. "This was a new way to discuss the book. Hunger had been done, but I thought that food was a stronger theme."
While researching, Hunt found an appropriate academic conference, called Food Representation in Literature, Film, and the Other Arts. She submitted her abstract and was accepted to participate in the meeting, held last February in Texas. Mistaken by the conference organizers as a faculty member, Hunt attended as the first undergraduate to present a paper there.
"Everyone there was so supportive," she says. "I was on a two-person panel, and the other person talked about food in classic Spanish paintings, like those by Goya and Velásquez. Another professor, who organized the conference, talked with me, and that helped me not be nervous."
Hunt says the experience at the conference rates right up there with her experience at the National Library of Spain in Madrid. "Someone from President Wright's office wrote a letter to help me get permission to access their 16th- and 17th-century manuscripts and archives. Not only could I research Lazarillo, I could also look at and read other books and historical papers from this time. I actually handled a sketch by El Greco."
She received support from the Dickey Center for her travels to both the conference and the National Library of Spain. Her thesis advisor, assistant professor of Spanish Alina Sokol, also provided guidance and inspiration throughout the project.
"Professor Sokol embodies the spirit of accessibility," says Hunt. "Whenever I needed to meet, she made herself available to me. This thesis would not have happened without her."
- By Susan Knapp
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