Mauricio Espinoza-Quesada won the 2008 Mid-America American Studies Association Katzman-Yetman Prize for his paper entitled “Dying to be Here(oes): A Semiotic Analysis of the Construction of Latino Heroism Discourses in Post-911 Armed Conflicts and Border Security Rhetoric in the United States.” The prize this year recognized the outstanding graduate student paper as presented at Nuestra America in the U.S.?, a Latino/a Studies conference hosted by the University of Kansas in February 2008 and co-sponsored by the Mid-America American Studies Association (MAASA).
For Espinoza, winning this award is of great significance. “First, it is a very nice honor to receive such recognition at a national conference that attracted graduate students from many institutions. Second, this award will give me the opportunity to publish my research in a refereed journal of great reputation such as American Studies,” he said.
From colonial characters such as Zorro to modern figures such as Iraq war soldiers; from civil and labor rights crusaders to sports heroes, Espinoza’s research deals with Latino heroic figures and heroism discourses in the United States. More specifically, he is interested in finding out which figures (real or fictitious) have been “elevated” to the category of heroes, by which processes they have been constructed as heroes, who or what groups have legitimized their heroic status, and for whom they have been constructed as such.
Originally from Costa Rica, Espinoza is a graduate student in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at The Ohio State University pursuing a PhD in Latin American Literatures and Cultures. His research interests deal primarily with underrepresented populations in the Americas, particularly on processes of identity construction/negotiation and the politics of representation.
Espinoza’s publications include Nada más que silencio. His translations of poems by Costa Rican writer Eunice Odio have appeared in a number of literary journals, including Modern Poetry in Translation and Mid-American Review.
Congratulations, Mauricio, for receiving this award!
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