Historia in Spanish has different meanings and can be translated to English as a story or history. What makes a personal story history? What stories are part of history? What voices and stories are not included in history? “History is written by the victors” is a common phrase used to describe how structures of power assign value to different stories that serve as the framework for the formation of what is considered “official history.” My Digital Scholarship & Publishing Summer Fellowship project explores the intersection of storytelling and history through a podcast.
Before I continue, let me introduce myself. My name is María G. Marroquín Pérez—a candidate in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. My research interests include Mexican literature, Latina/o/x literature, stories of migration, (un)belonging, citizenship, and placemaking. Throughout my studies, I have been interested in how underrepresented communities are represented in literature and media, especially Latinas/Latinos/Latinxs. Part of my dissertation research on Latina/o/x nightlife experiences in the rural Midwest includes conducting oral history interviews with Latinas/os/xs in my hometown Marshalltown and Iowa. During the interviews, people share their family backgrounds, work experiences, migration stories, and many more stories. I kept on thinking that these stories hold immense value and should be more accessible. Since the oral history interviews are audio recordings only, I decided to create a podcast that would showcase stories and experiences of Latinas/os/xs in Iowa and the Midwest.
“Memorias del corazón” is a bilingual podcast in English and Spanish that provides a space for Latina/o/x voices to tell their own stories and experiences of living in Iowa and the Midwest. The episodes will include a range of topics including migration, meat packing work experiences, seasonal agricultural labor, community, family, (un)belonging, placemaking, and more. I am aware of the time it takes to write, record, and produce a podcast. This is why I have decided to dedicate time during the summer fellowship to learning recording practices, audio editing, and post-production work.
The first half of my time as a summer fellow has been focused on reviewing the oral history interviews that would become the first two episodes of the podcast focused on the 2006 immigration raid in Marshalltown, Iowa. I have selected parts of the interviews to be included in the episodes, researched information about the raid, and written supplemental narration. So far, I have struggled with maintaining each episode between 20-30 minutes. The interviews hold so many rich narratives that it is difficult to narrow down audio clips. Nonetheless, the process has been a joy and I hope to soon share “Memorias del corazón.”
María G. Marroquín Perez
Ph.D. Candidate in Spanish
Department of Spanish and Portuguese