We are very happy to share that one of our BA students, Ysabella Pachano Contreras, has been awarded the Premi Arcadi Oliveres a Treballs de Fi de Grau de transformació per a la Justícia Global.
Supervised by Dr Cristina Pividori, Pachano Contreras’ dissertation, “The American’t Dream: The Roles of Irony, Magical Realism and Empathy in George Saunders’ Short Fiction “The Semplica Girls Diaries” and “CivilWarLand in Bad Decline,” examines the idea of the American Dream and the New Sincerity Movement in twenty-first-century George Saunders.
The project explores the extent to which Saunders uses different forms of irony—situational, verbal, dramatic and cosmic—together with elements of magical realism, such as ghosts, to subvert the American Dream and foster empathy in readers. It argues that “CivilWarLand in Bad Decline” and “The Semplica Girls” expose the alienation, exploitation, and violence embedded in the pursuit of commodified ideals within capitalist American society. In doing so, Saunders’s short fiction challenges the core tenets of the American Dream –equality, liberty and the pursuit of happiness—by revealing the contradictions through irony, magic realism, and empathy.
Promotional Poster
The award ceremony for the 9th edition of the Arcadi Oliveres Award will take place during the Jornada amb Impacte Social on Tuesday, 28 April, at 10.00 in the Sala de Cinema at UAB.