Mount talk to examine Venezuelan writer Ramos Sucre’s love of Latin language

Victor Azuaje (right), associate professor of Hispanic Studies, will present “The Latin of the Medieval Papal Chancery and the Venezuelan writer José Antonio Ramos Sucre” on Thursday, September 21 at 4 pm.

The talk, part of the Mount’s Investigating Research on Campus (iROC) series, will take place in the Kaplan Family Library and Learning Center at the Mount, 330 Powell Ave., Newburgh. It is free and open to the public.

José Antonio Ramos Sucre, born in Venezuela in 1890, was a professor, diplomat, and scholar. He is considered one of the great Venezuelan writers of the 20th century and mastered Latin at an early age. As a scholar, he was celebrated for his translations of Latin texts; as a writer, he was accused of an unreadable style. To this he replied: “I write Spanish from a Latin base.”

For almost 100 years, critics have examined whether Ramos Sucre, as a writer, was explaining his virtuosities or hiding his shortcomings.

In his upcoming talk, Azuaje will discuss a possible solution by examining how Ramos Sucre adopted a writing style used by the Papal Chancery between the 11th and 14th century, known as Cursus Curiae Romanae. To illustrate the problems raised by this approach to Ramos Sucre’s texts, Azuaje will consider analogous cases in English literary studies.

Azuaje made a similar presentation at the IV Conference of the Venezuelan section of Latin American Studies Association in Caracas, Venezuela last November.

The goal of the college’s iROC is to “provide a forum for Mount faculty, staff, and students to showcase their research endeavors with both Mount Saint Mary College and the local community in a manner easily understood by attendees,” explained series coordinators Evan Merkhofer, assistant professor of biology, and Jennifer Park, assistant librarian for access and outreach services. Presentations include research proposals, initial data collection, and completed research projects.