Our previous activities
GUMELAB panel at the 6th World Conference of the International Federation for Public History (IFPH), Aug. 16-20, 2022
The 6th World Conference of the International Federation for Public History (IFPH) was held at the Free University of Berlin from August 16-20, 2022. The GUMELAB project organized a panel entitled "History Transfer through Telenovelas and Series in Latin America" on Friday, Aug. 19, 2022, and presented its first research findings on the reception of telenovelas de la memoria. Prof. Dr. Stefan Rinke moderated the panel and June Carolyn Erlick (David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, Harvard University), author of the book Telenovelas in Pan-Latino Context commented on the presentations of Dr. Mónika Contreras Saiz, Hannah Müssemann and Holle Meding. The conference program can be found here.
Visit of the guest scientist Tatjana Louis, 15.06.2022-15.07.2022
With Prof. Dr. Tatjana Louis of the Universidad de los Andes (Bogotá – Colombia) we were able to develop theoretical categorizations of the thematic blocks of historical consciousness and memory images. This helps to understand the influence of telenovelas and series on viewers and their understanding of history.
Presentation of the research project GUMELAB at the Latin America Institute, 13.07.2022
In this event, the students could learn which research projects are currently being carried out at the Latin America Institute, on which thematic focuses research is being conducted there and how they can get involved in the research projects, e.g. by doing an internship or writing a master's thesis in the GUMELAB project.
Visit of the guest scientist Omar Rincón, 01.06.2022.-30.06.2021
The research visit of Prof. Dr. Omar Rincón of the Universidad de los Andes (Bogotá - Colombia) focused on the mediation and reception of entertainment media. The focus was on political communication strategies in series and telenovelas depicting the recent Colombian past.
Image Credit: © César Sánchez Carreño, El Tiempo. Link: https://capsulas.com.co/win-no-hay-mas-omar-rincon-el-tiempo/
Presentation of the GUMELAB project at the inaugural symposium of the Ada Lovelace Center for Digital Humanities, 03.06.2022
The Ada Lovelace Center for Digital Humanities is an interdisciplinary institution of Freie Universität Berlin. It combines projects from the departments of history and cultural studies, philosophy and humanities, mathematics, and computer science that work with digital methods. At the opening symposium, GUMELAB was able to present its research method for collecting and analyzing data from tweets and YouTube comments. There was also an exchange on working with artificial intelligence with our cooperation partners from aureka and other projects of the Freie Universität Berlin, such as the research group Kolleg cinepoetics. The program of the event can be found here.
Visit of the guest scientist Carolina Galindo, 03.05.2022-03.06.2022
Together with Prof. Dr. Carolina Galindo from the Universidad del Rosario (Bogotá, Colombia), it was possible to develop theoretical conceptualizations of political education during her research stay. This helps GUMELAB to understand the influence of telenovelas and series on political values.
Digital conference "Series ficcionales, historia y memorias sobre el pasado reciente en América Latina"
Our project director, Mónika Contreras Saíz, together with our research partner Lorena Antezana Barrios and the professor Luis Manuel Fernández Martínez, leaded the online conference Series ficcionales, historia y memorias sobre el pasado reciente en América Latina, which was organized by the Universidad a Distancia de Madrid. The conference was held on Thursday, July 7. The conference discussed how fictional series about the recent past in Latin America influence the public's historical consciousness and their and political education.
Presentation by Holle Meding "Propaganda, Sensationalismus, Entertainment. Die Colonia Dignidad als mediales Phänomen", 16.6.2022
Within the framework of the publication of the interview platform "Colonia Dignidad. A Chilean-German oral history archive", our colleague Holle Meding, spoke about the way in which Colonia Dignidad is portrayed in the media.
More information about the event here.
BMBF Network Meeting "Crisis and Reorganization" (GIGA Institute, BMBF, University of Hamburg), 12-14.06.2022
At the network meeting "Crisis and Reordering", organized by the University of Hamburg, the German Institute for Global and Area Studies and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research from 13-14 June 2022 in Hamburg, we were able to engage in a lively exchange with other third-party funded projects funded by the BMBF and exchange ideas on appropriate transfer measures. GUMELAB presented a poster on past dialogue tours (Dialogreisen) in Chile, which can be found here.
More information about the event.
Gumelab participated in the third episode of VoxPopuli.
We participated in this project of our partners German-Colombian Peace Institute- CAPAZ. Mónika Contreras Saiz, one of our project leaders, and Julián Román, Colombian actor and activist, answered questions from citizens about the relationship between Telenovelas, memory, and the historical education that has been created in Colombia thanks to the entertainment industry.
You can watch the full episode here.
Gumelab participated in the Latinamerika Film Forum. 06.05.22
We talked in the film forum about the different representations of the 1985 siege of the Palace of Justice in Colombia in the series Pablo Escobar el Patron del Mal and Narcos .
Forum for discussion and telenovelas: Entre la realidad y la ficción: Telenovelas y conflicto en Colombia 07.04.22
Together with our cooperation partners German Colombian Peace Institute - CAPAZ, the Asociación Nuevo Agrupamiento por la Paz D.C. - ANA and the Universidad del Rosario, we organized a forum of conversation and telenovelas under the title “Entre la realidad y la ficción: Telenovelas y conflicto en Colombia” on April 7, 2022 at La Roja - Casa Cultural in Bogotá. After a screening of individual scenes from the Colombian telenovela Tres Caines, the discussion addressed the question of how the Colombian guerrillas are portrayed.
Remembering & travelling #2: “Los 80 in Santiago’s downtown – protests and the economic model”
Together with students of the fields film, communications and journalism from the Universidad Academia de Humanismo Cristiano and the Universidad Santiago de Chile, as well as with our cooperation partners of the Institute of Communication and Image at the Universidad de Chile, the second dialogue journey took place in Santiago’s city center on Thursday, March 24, 2022. The subject was the Chilean series Los 80 and the role of each setting for the fictional plot, as well for Chile’s history and present. More information here.
Workshop “Telenovelas and memory images in Latin America” at the Institute of Communication and Image at the Universidad de Chile, 21.-22.03.22
Together with our partners from the Institute of Communication and Image at the Universidad de Chile, we organized a workshop on “Telenovelas and Memory Images in Latin America” in Santiago de Chile during March 21-22, 2022. The goal of this interdisciplinary workshop was to present and discuss the first results of our research. In particular, the workshop addressed the issue of how memory images can be analyzed within the South American context, as well as how they are addressed by Latin American telenovelas. Among other things, it was about the treatment of the Chilean and Brazilian military dictatorships in telenovelas such as Los 80 or Anos Rebeldes, as well as how Colombian history is addressed in national and international productions. The participants were researchers and cooperation partners from Chile, Brazil, Colombia, Germany and Spain.
Click here for the full program (Spanish).
Remembering & travelling #1: “(In)visible images of the Dictatorship in Tocopilla”
On Wednesday, March 16, 2022, in collaboration with the Universidad de Chile, the first dialogue journey took place in Tocopilla, under the title “Remembering & Traveling: (In)visible Images of the Dictatorship in Tocopilla”. With students of the Liceo Polivalente Domingo Latrille, different places in the city were visited and we discussed the representation of the history of the Chilean North in telenovelas and series. More information here.
Presentation: Cultures of Digital Memory - 8th annual meeting of the Digital Humanities Association in the German speaking world
We gladly participated in the Cultures of Digital Memory conference for the 8th annual meeting of the Digital Humanities Association in the German-speaking world. The conference was organized by the University of Potsdam and the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam. At the poster session on Thursday, March 10th, 2022, we presented our research project with the presentation Analysis of the reception of telenovelas and series about Latin American history through algorithms. On this occasion, we focused the presentation on our work with digital methods. Click here for the program.
Presentation: De los 80 al presente
As part of GUMELAB, scenes from the Chilean series "Los 80" were screened at the La Peña Cultural Center on the 24th of February in a discussion event, to which the Chilean community in California was invited. The screening was followed by a conversation about the experiences, memories, and opinions of those present regarding Chile's recent history.
CAPAZ School of Online Courses
Together with our cooperation partners from the Universidad de los Andes, the Universidad del Rosario in Bogotá, Colombia, and the Interdisciplinary Network for Memory Studies in Latin America - MemoriAL, GUMELAB participated in the CAPAZ School of Online Courses. We have designed the course "Historical Cultures in Germany and Colombia: Memory Processes, History Didactics and Political Education". The course started on 18 February 2022.
Presentation at the Miami Dade College, 15.02.2022
During a seminar unit "Introduction to Sociology" by Dr. Alejandro Angee, the GUMELAB project was presented. Together with students from Argentina, Spain, Colombia, Cuba and Venezuela, we discussed the influence of series and telenovelas on historical consciousness.
Presentation at the Organisation Hola Cultura in Washington D.C., 15.02.2022
GUMELAB was invited by the Washington D.C.-based organization Hola Cultura to present the project and give an interview for Hola Cultura's Arts & Humanities Storytelling Group. The non-profit organization works to preserve and promote Latinx culture in the Washington D.C. area. Click here for the interview.
"Telenovelas de la memoria and the melodramatization of recent history". Lecture by Mónika Contreras Saiz 10.12.21
At the Central Institute for Latin American Studies (ZILAS) semester-long lecture series: LATIN AMERICA IN MOVEMENT, Dr. Mónika Contreras Saiz (Freie Universität Berlin) spoke on "Telenovelas de la memoria and the Melodramatization of Recent History in Latin America".
Workshop on the intercultural reception of Pablo Escobar-El Patrón del Mal, 07.12.2021
Together with Gicela Andrea Aguirre García and Roberto Abdala Júnior, Pablo Escobar-El Patrón del Mal was examined from an international perspective during a joint viewing. The focus was on actions and cultural narratives.
Visit of guest researcher Roberto Abdala Júnior, 15.11.-15.12.2021
Roberto Abdala Júnior's research stay at GUMELAB focused on the cultural contexts of Brazilian telenovelas and series in the post-military dictatorship period, as well as a comparison to Colombian narratives in audiovisual formats.
International Academic Exchange "Political Formation for a Sustainable and Peaceful Development"
GUMELAB participated in the International Academic Exchange "Political Formation for a Sustainable and Peaceful Development" that took place from October 24 to 29, 2021 at the Seccional Oriente of the University of Antioquia, Colombia. This event was organized by the University of Giessen, the University of Antioquia, the German-Colombian Institute for Peace - CAPAZ and the DAAD. Dr. Mónika Contreras Saiz moderated the panel on Political Education in Germany and Latin America and participated in the round table: "Education and Peace", discussing the relationship between telenovelas and series that narrate the recent Latin American past and political education.
"At the Cutting Edges of Knowledge Production: Borders and Black Holes in Academic Dialogue"
The digital network conference "At the Cutting Edges of Knowledge Production: Borders and Black Holes in Academic Dialogue" took place on 09.11.2021. We were pleased to report on our experiences in the international and interdisciplinary project GUMELAB in the slot on "Successes and Breakdowns in Science Communication" ("Erfolge und Pannen in der Wissenschaftskommunikation").
X. International Colloquium Diversidadade das Culturas (Diversity of Cultures) 22.11-26.11
Within the framework of the X. Coloquio Internacional Diversidadade das Culturas, organized by the Doctoral Program in Social Sciences of the Universidad Nacional de Jujuy, Argentina, and the Postgraduate Program in History of the Universidade Federal de Goiás, Brazil, Mónika Contreras Saiz presented the topic Learning the recent history of Latin America through soap operas and series?
Start of the doctor tandem Santiago de Chile - Berlin on 21.10.2021
The second doctor tandem between Hannah Müssemann (Freie Universität Berlin) and Consuelo Ábalos (Instituto de la Comunicación e Imagen de la Universidad de Chile) started in mid-October. They will support each other in research on transnational memory images.
Lecture by Prof. Dr. Stefan Rinke at the 53rd German Historians Conference, 05.10.2021: The Struggle for Concepts. Treatment of the dictatorship in the Chilean public discourse since 1990
The lecture retraced the transformation of dictatorships as a concept in historical narratives and dealt with the controversial balance between atonement and reconciliation in the public discourse of remembrance in Chile.
To the conference report.
Workshop with Lorena Antezana Barrios and Wolfgang Fuhrmann on the ad-hoc reception of Narcos, 01.10.2021
Together with the communication scientist Lorena Antezana Barrios and the film scholar Wolfgang Fuhrmann, the workshop focused on the ad-hoc reception of an episode of Narcos (Colombia) and the methods for analysing memory images.
Visit of guest researcher Lorena Antezana Barrios, 12.09.-12.10.2021
Her research fellowship at GUMELAB was focused on conceptualizing specific terms of work and on preparing various transfer activities.
Television Fiction, History and Memories. Challenges for International Cooperation in Research" (Institute of Communication and Image, University of Chile). Colloquium of the Institute of Communication and Image at the University of Chile
Our collaborators from the Institute of Communication and Image at the University of Chile spoke at the Research Colloquium on "Television Fiction, History and Memories. Challenges for International Research Collaboration", which took place on Wednesday, September 22 from 19:30 to 21:00 (UTC) (14:30 - 16:00 in Chile).
Start of the doctor tandem Santiago de Chile - Berlin on 09.08.2021
Start of the doctor tandem between Holle Ameriga Meding (Freie Universität Berlin) and Juan Pablo Sánchez Sepúlveda (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile/ Instituto de la Comunicación e Imagen de la Universidad de Chile), 9.8.2021
Visit of the visiting scientist Karen Genschow 26.07.-06.08.2021
Dr. Karen Genschow is a literature and cultural studies scholar with a regional focus on Latin America (with a thematic emphasis on cultural memory, trauma, gender) in literature, film, and popular cultural objects such as comics and series. She is an expert on Chilean series about the military dictatorship such as Mary y Mike, Ecos del desierto, and Argentine telenovelas with historical reference such as Montecristo. Various working meetings and internal workshops have been held on genre decoding and narrative elements of Latin American telenovelas and series.
Panel at the conference of the Memory Studies Association, Conference 2021 in Warsaw on 07.07.21
“Convergences between Entertainment Media and Memory Processes in Digital Spaces in Latin America” (Chair: Mónika Contreras Saiz; participants: Holle Meding, Evelyn Hevia Jordán, Andrea Cagua, Mónika Contreras Saiz)
The following video was made for the conference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86s60Kw8UKU
Presentation of GUMELAB at Centre for Memory, Narrative and Histories PGR on 01.07.2021
Presentation “The transmission of transgenerational memories through telenovelas of memory (telenovelas de la memoria) and the impact on the collective historical consciousness” by Hannah Müssemann at the Centre for Memory, Narrative and Histories PGR Conference 2021, ‘Transgenerational Memory’, University of Brighton, 1.7.21
Teaching unit: „Colonia Dignidad between media, politics of memory and historical culture“
During the seminar „Colonia Dignidad: Von der Mustersiedlung zum Folterlager?“ (FU Berlin, Prof. Stefan Rinke, Prof. Ingrid Kummels), 22.6.21
Kick-Off-Meetings with GUMELAB’s German partners on 18.06.2021
Kick-Off-Meetings with GUMELAB’s USA partners, 17.06.21
Presentation in the Universidade Estadual de Campinas on 21.05.2021
Presentation of the project GUMELAB as well as Hannah Müssemann’s and Holle Meding’s doctoral projects at the Universidade Estadual de Campinas in the PhD colloquium at the Centro de Humanidades Digitais (directed by Prof. Thiago Lima Nicodemo), 21.5.21
Kick-Off-Meeting with GUMELAB’s Latin American partners, 06.05.21
