We are pleased to announce a conversation between Pedro Meira Monteiro (Princeton University) and Leila Lehnen (Brown University). This event will be moderated by Profs. Mauricio Acuña and Ingrid Brioso Rieumont, from the Department of Spanish and Portuguese.

The dialogue will address critical issues emerging at the intersection of literature and ancestral knowledge within the framework of contemporary theoretical debates in Brazilian Studies. Centering on Um rio sem fim by Afro-Indigenous author Verenilde Pereira—a recently republished novel—this discussion examines how contemporary Brazilian literature engages with Afro-Indigenous epistemologies to formulate a contra-colonial ethics and aesthetics. Informed by Afro-Indigenous knowledges and storytelling, Um rio sem fim weaves a refracted counter-colonial narrative that brings to the surface submerged perspectives in the Amazonian extractive zone (Gómez-Barris 2018).

Convened during the week preceding the United Nations Climate Conference in Brazil (COP 30, November 10–21), this conversation emphasizes Afro-Indigenous perspectives in recent literary and artistic works, contributing significantly to ongoing scholarly efforts to reconsider pluriversal modes of being in the world and to foreground diverse, often underrepresented, modes of knowledge.

This event will enhance the intellectual life of our campus community, fostering rich interdisciplinary dialogue across the fields of literature, critical theory, environmental studies, critical race theory, government, and Indigenous studies. 

Friday, November 7th, 2025. 4:30-6:00pm. Dartmouth Hall 105.