Nican Mopohua: A Foundational Text of Latin AmericaMaster ClassIn-Person
Friday, Jan 30, 2026
9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m
Cervantes Institute
211-215 E 49th
New York, NY 10017
The mission of Instituto Cervantes is to promote Spanish language teaching as well as that of Spain’s co-official languages.
Esta clase magistral, impartida en español, explora el Nican Mopohua (“Aquí se narra”), el poema en náhuatl del siglo XVI que relata la aparición de la Virgen de Guadalupe. Escrito por Antonio Valeriano, el poema se sitúa en el punto de encuentro entre las tradiciones indígenas y europeas y se ha convertido en una piedra angular de la identidad mexicana, aunque sigue estando ausente de la mayoría de los programas educativos. El reconocido novelista mexicano Álvaro Enrigue guiará a los participantes a través del texto, examinando lo que él llama “la frontera entre la diosa y la virgen”, y mostrando por qué esta obra fundamental de la literatura americana merece un lugar en nuestras aulas.
ESPAÑOL, ESTUDIOS SOCIALES, HISTORIA
This master class, conducted in Spanish, examines the Nican Mopohua (“Here It Is Told”), the 16th-century Nahuatl poem that tells the story of the Virgin of Guadalupe's apparition. Written by Antonio Valeriano, the poem stands at the collision point of indigenous and European traditions and has become a cornerstone of Mexican identity—yet it remains absent from most curricula. Celebrated Mexican novelist Álvaro Enrigue will lead participants through the text, exploring how it marks, in his words, "the border between the goddess and the virgin," and why this foundational work of American literature deserves a place in our classrooms.
SPANISH, SOCIAL STUDIES, HISTORY
Open to teachers of all subjects and to Spanish teachers of all levels.
Álvaro Enrigue
Álvaro Enrigue is an associate professor of Romance languages and literatures at Hofstra University, specializing in baroque literatures. He was a Cullman Center Fellow and a fellow at the Princeton University Program in Latin American studies, and has taught at New York University, Princeton University, the University of Maryland, and Columbia University. His work has appeared in the New York Times, The Believer, The White Review, n+1, London Review of Books, and El País, among others. His novels have won the prestigious Herralde Prize in Spain, the Elena Poniatowska Ibero-American Novel Prize in Mexico, and the Barcelona Prize for Fiction, and have been translated into many languages. Enrigue was born in Mexico and lives in New York City.