Landsmoder - Paperback

by Elena Salamanca (Author)

Landsmoder, by the Salvadoran poet, historian, and performance artist Elena Salamanca, is a searing, and sometimes grotesque, exploration of the intersections between nationalism, dogma, patriarchy, and violence. Originally read aloud from the oldest standing monument in San Salvador's centro histórico, the performance poems in Landsmoder retool the laudatory pomp of patriotic ceremony to protest the weaponization of national myth as a mask for erasure, cruelty, and neglect at the hands of the state. This unflinching collection, whose title comes from a Norwegian word that Salamanca translates as "madre de la patria" -- or "mother of the nation/homeland/fatherland"-- is a work of feminist grief, rage, and irony populated with churning wombs, bloodied flags, and ratteboned she-wolves. Appearing now in a bilingual edition nearly a decade after it was first performed, Landsmoder remains an urgent subversion, loud as ever, both on and off the page.

Author Biography

Elena Salamanca (San Salvador, 1982) is a writer and historian. She has published La familia o el olvido (2017 and 2018), Peces en la boca (2013 and 2011), Landsmoder (2012), and Último viernes (2017 and 2018). Her most recent books, Claudia Lars: La niña que vio una salamandra (2020) and Prudencia Ayala: La niña con pajaros en la cabeza (2021) are the first two volumes of her "Colección Siemprevivas" series dedicated to the stories of more than 40 women who were born or lived in El Salvador between the XVIII and XX centuries. Her work has been translated into English, French, German, and Swedish. Since 2009, she has combined literature, performance, memory, and politics in public space. She is a doctorate candidate in History from the Colegio de México, and her thesis investigates the relationships between Central American unity, citizenship, and exile. She earned her masters in History from El Colegio de México (2016) and the Universidad de Huelva, Spain (2013).