A native of Ecuador, Juan Cabrera is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences studying linguistics and minoring in fine arts and anthropology. When not cracking the books, he works at the Kelly Writers House as a webmaster, archivist, and designer. He speaks English and Spanish, understands Italian, and plans to learn Quechua. His research interests lie in narrative analysis, historical linguistics, phonology, phonetics, writing systems, and indigenous languages of South America, primarily Quechua, Yucatec Maya, and Nahuatl. Other interests include watching and critically thinking about animated movies and learning new languages. Juan has many addictions and obsessions: drinking taro bubble tea, learning the International Phonetic Alphabet system, watching Digimon and Scandal, learning songs in different languages, and playing video games, nostalgic and new.
Juan Cabrera
Andrew W. Mellon Undergraduate Fellow in the Humanities
2014—2015 Forum on Color
Juan Cabrera
Linguistics
(De)colonizing Representations: Influence of 20th Century Indigenous/Indigenist Art in Ecuador, Peru, and Mexico
How has 20th century Indigenous/Indigenist art influenced the ways in which Indigenous peoples of Ecuador, Peru, and Mexico were viewed? By comparing painting’s representative qualities and photography’s manipulation of reality, we can begin to understand what the art evoked in the public sphere, and how it functioned to change the public’s perceptions of Indigenous peoples in these areas. Shifting representations and the concept of (de)colonizing representations will illuminate the ways in which people have viewed varying degrees of indigeneity.