A Country of Shepherds: Cultural Geographies and Pastoralism in Contemporary Spain
For centuries, pastoralism has occupied a key place in cultural narratives about the Iberian Peninsula, and the traditional locales and travel ways of shepherding hold deep significance for the collective imagination of Spaniards today. Drawing on archival materials, popular culture, and interviews with shepherds and their advocates, Kathleen Myers shows how that pastoral world is being reconfigured, rearticulated and even remarketed to a new generation. Emerging cultural geographies and narratives are now shaping local, regional, national and pan-European economic and environmental initiatives as shepherds, bureaucrats, and the general public engage ideas about sustainability and national patrimony to frame their own roles in the development of a new cultural and environmental national project. Myers’ work joins the active conversation between the humanities, environmental sciences, and government policy-making.
Kathleen Myers is a professor in Spanish and Portuguese at Indiana University. A specialist on the Spanish New World, Myers has published numerous books and articles, and has been recognized with the Distinguished Scholar Award from the Office of Women’s Affairs. More recently, Myers has also ventured into curation: “In the Shadow of Cortés: From Veracruz to Mexico City” has been exhibited at University of Kansas, Michigan State University, University of Miami-Ohio, Hanover College, and the Lubeznik Center for the Arts, Michigan, as well as other locations.
The College of Arts