The creation of a feminist archive: decolonial feminisms in the testimonial work of the publishing collective sisters in the shadows and the searchers of El Fuerte

In a key work for literary studies, Myth and Archive (1990), González Echevarría demonstrates the fundamental presence of history, between myth and archive, in Latin American literature over the centuries. What he omits, however, is the role of female voices and writing in this narrative construction. In this article, we address the question of the relationship between literature, testimony and archive from a decolonial feminist perspective in order to investigate what the archive might mean for women in Latin America today. To approach the question of the archive in contemporary women's literary production, we focus on two Mexican collectives (connected through a collaborative project) whose work centres on the writing of imprisoned women and the search for their disappeared relatives, respectively: the Colectiva Editorial las Hermanas en la Sombra and the Rastreadoras de El Fuerte. Analysing three of their testimonial texts through two conceptual and practical frameworks – theories of testimony and the archive from Latin America, the United States and Europe, and decolonial feminist Latin American feminist theories-praxis – we offer a reconceptualisation of what we call the "archiva" (the feminine and feminist archive) founded on a communal, collective, subjective, affective, and bodily labour

Love & law: The aura of prison writing in Mexico, from the 1800s to the present

Prison writing has largely been excluded from the literary canon of the Spanish-speaking world, even though it encompasses key names that extend as far back as Cervantes in Spain and Lizardi in Mexico: two of the pioneers of what is now called the “novel”. Building on seminal analyses of Latin American literature by Roberto González Echevarría, Ángel Rama and Doris Sommer, this article addresses the following questions: What is the power of prison writing? How might we interpret its status as a genre, both in historical and contemporary terms? And what do contemporary forms of prison writing share with much older examples? To answer these questions, we analyze prison narratives from the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries, including well-known novels by José Joaquín Fernández de Lizardi and José Revueltas, and narratives by emerging writers from Susuki Lee, Águila del Mar, and Amatista Lee to Julio Grotten. Through an “auratic quality” that, we argue, derives from their ability to develop powerful counter-truths through the experience of confinement, these narratives reveal and resist the subjugation of the subject by the state as the latter intervenes violently in politics and private life. Our contention is that the power of prison writing lies in its ability to turn legal, state-sponsored discourse on its head through the production of alternative stories narrated from within prison and from below; and that these are simultaneously founded on legal discourse and its affective underside; on law and love

Paediatric CBCT protocols for image-guided radiotherapy; outcome of a survey across SIOP Europe affiliated countries and literature review

BACKGROUND: Implementation of daily cone-beam CT (CBCT) into clinical practice in paediatric image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) lags behind compared to adults. Surveys report wide variation in practice for paediatric IGRT and technical information remains unreported. In this study we report on technical settings from applied paediatric CBCT protocols and review the literature for paediatric CBCT protocols. METHODS: From September to October 2022, a survey was conducted among 246 SIOPE-affiliated centres across 35 countries. The survey consisted of 3 parts: 1) baseline information; technical CBCT exposure settings and patient set-up procedure for 2) brain/head, and 3) abdomen. Descriptive statistics was used to summarise current practice. The literature was reviewed systematically with two reviewers obtaining consensus RESULTS: The literature search revealed 22 papers concerning paediatric CBCT protocols. Seven papers focused on dose-optimisation. Responses from 50/246 centres in 25/35 countries were collected: 44/50 treated with photons and 10/50 with protons. In total, 48 brain/head and 53 abdominal protocols were reported. 42/50 centres used kV-CBCT for brain/head and 35/50 for abdomen; daily CBCT was used for brain/head = 28/48 (58%) and abdomen = 33/53 62%. Greater consistency was seen in brain/head protocols (dose range 0.32 - 67.7 mGy) compared to abdominal (dose range 0.27 - 119.7 mGy). CONCLUSION: Although daily CBCT is now widely used in paediatric IGRT, our survey demonstrates a wide range of technical settings, suggesting an unmet need to optimise paediatric IGRT protocols. This is in accordance with the literature. However, there are only few paediatric optimisation studies suggesting that dose reduction is possible while maintaining image quality

Developing a collaborative agenda for humanities and social scientific research on laboratory animal science and welfare.

Improving laboratory animal science and welfare requires both new scientific research and insights from enquiry in the humanities and social sciences. Whilst scientific research provides evidence to replace, reduce and refine procedures involving laboratory animals (the ‘3Rs’), work in the humanities and social sciences can help understand the social, economic and cultural processes that enhance or impede humane ways of knowing and working with laboratory animals. However, communication across these disciplinary perspectives is currently limited, and they frame questions, generate results, engage users, and seek to influence policy in different ways. To facilitate dialogue and future research at this interface, we convened an interdisciplinary group of 45 life scientists, social scientists, humanities scholars, non-governmental organisations and policy-makers to generate a collaborative research agenda. This drew on other agenda-setting exercises in science policy, using a collaborative and deliberative approach for the identification of research priorities. Participants were recruited from across the community, invited to submit research questions and vote on their priorities. They then met at an interactive workshop in the UK, discussed all 136 questions submitted, and collectively defined the 30 most important issues for the group. The output is a collaborative future agenda for research in the humanities and social sciences on laboratory animal science and welfare. The questions indicate a demand for new research in the humanities and social sciences to inform emerging discussions and priorities on the governance and practice of laboratory animal research, including around: international harmonisation, openness and public engagement, ‘cultures of care’, harm-benefit analysis and the future of the 3Rs. The process underlines the value of interdisciplinary exchange for improving mutual understanding of different research cultures and identifies ways of enhancing the effectiveness of future research at the interface between the humanities, social sciences, science and science policy

The IMPROVE guidelines (Ischaemia Models: Procedural Refinements Of in Vivo Experiments)

Most in vivo models of ischaemic stroke target the middle cerebral artery and a spectrum of stroke severities, from mild to substantial, can be achieved. This review describes opportunities to improve the in vivo modelling of ischaemic stroke and animal welfare. It provides a number of recommendations to minimise the level of severity in the most common rodent models of middle cerebral artery occlusion, while sustaining or improving the scientific outcomes. The recommendations cover basic requirements pre-surgery, selecting the most appropriate anaesthetic and analgesic regimen, as well as intraoperative and post-operative care. The aim is to provide support for researchers and animal care staff to refine their procedures and practices, and implement small incremental changes to improve the welfare of the animals used and to answer the scientific question under investigation. All recommendations are recapitulated in a summary poster (see supplementary information)

The creation of a feminist archive: decolonial feminisms in the testimonial work of the Publishing Colective Sisters in the shadows and the Searchers of El Fuerte.

En una obra clave para los estudios literarios, Mito y archivo (1990), Roberto González Echevarría demuestra la presencia fundamental de la historia, entre el mito y el archivo, en la literatura latinoamericana a lo largo de los siglos. Lo que omite, sin embargo, es la voz y la escritura femenina en esta construcción narrativa. En este artículo, abordamos la cuestión de la relación entre literatura, testimonio y archivo desde una perspectiva feminista descolonial para investigar lo que puede significar el archivo para las mujeres en América Latina en el día de hoy. Para aproximarnos a la cuestión del archivo en la producción literaria femenil contemporánea, nos adentramos en dos colectivos mexicanos (conectados a través de un proyecto colaborativo) cuyo trabajo se centra en la escritura de mujeres encarceladas y en la búsqueda de sus familiares desaparecidos, respectivamente: la Colectiva Editorial Hermanas en la Sombra y las Buscadoras de El Fuerte. Analizando tres de sus textos testimoniales a través de dos marcos conceptuales y prácticos – teorías del testimonio y del archivo desde América Latina, Estados Unidos y Europa y teoríaspraxis descoloniales feministas hispanoamericanas– ofrecemos una reconceptualización de lo que denominamos la “archiva”, fundada en una labor colectiva, afectiva, y corporal.In a key work for literary studies, Myth and Archive (1990), Roberto González Echevarría demonstrates the fundamental presence of history, between myth and archive, in Latin American literature over the centuries. What he omits, however, is the role of female voices and writing in this narrative construction. In this article, we address the question of the relationship between literature, testimony and archive from a decolonial feminist perspective in order to investigate what the archive might mean for women in Latin America today. To approach the question of the archive in contemporary women's literary production, we focus on two Mexican collectives (connected through a collaborative project) whose work centres on the writing of imprisoned women and the search for their disappeared relatives, respectively: the Colectiva Editorial Hermanas en la Sombra and the Buscadoras de El Fuerte. Analysing three of their testimonial texts through two conceptual and practical frameworks – theories of testimony and the archive from Latin America, the United States and Europe, and decolonial feminist Latin American feminist-praxis – we offer a reconceptualisation of what we call the “archiva” (the feminine and feminist archive) founded on a collective, affective, and bodily labour

La creación de una archiva: Feminismos descoloniales en la obra testimonial de la Colectiva Editorial las Hermanas en la Sombra y las Rastreadoras de El Fuerte

En una obra clave para los estudios literarios, Mito y archivo (1990), Roberto González Echevarría demuestra la presencia fundamental de la historia, entre el mito y el archivo, en la literatura latinoamericana a lo largo de los siglos. Lo que omite, sin embargo, es la voz y la escritura femenina en esta construcción narrativa. En este artículo, abordamos la cuestión de la relación entre literatura, testimonio y archivo desde una perspectiva feminista descolonial para investigar lo que puede significar el archivo para las mujeres en América Latina en el día de hoy. Para aproximarnos a la cuestión del archivo en la producción literaria femenil contemporánea, nos adentramos en dos colectivos mexicanos (conectados a través de un proyecto colaborativo) cuyo trabajo se centra en la escritura de mujeres encarceladas y en la búsqueda de sus familiares desaparecidos, respectivamente: la Colectiva Editorial Hermanas en la Sombra y las Buscadoras de El Fuerte. Analizando tres de sus textos testimoniales a través de dos marcos conceptuales y prácticos – teorías del testimonio y del archivo desde América Latina, Estados Unidos y Europa y teoríaspraxis descoloniales feministas hispanoamericanas– ofrecemos una reconceptualización de lo que denominamos la “archiva”, fundada en una labor colectiva, afectiva, y corporal. ABSTRACT IN ENGLISH: In a key work for literary studies, Myth and Archive (1990), Roberto González Echevarría demonstrates the fundamental presence of history, between myth and archive, in Latin American literature over the centuries. What he omits, however, is the role of female voices and writing in this narrative construction. In this article, we address the question of the relationship between literature, testimony and archive from a decolonial feminist perspective in order to investigate what the archive might mean for women in Latin America today. To approach the question of the archive in contemporary women's literary production, we focus on two Mexican collectives (connected through a collaborative project) whose work centres on the writing of imprisoned women and the search for their disappeared relatives, respectively: the Colectiva Editorial Hermanas en la Sombra and the Buscadoras de El Fuerte. Analysing three of their testimonial texts through two conceptual and practical frameworks – theories of testimony and the archive from Latin America, the United States and Europe, and decolonial feminist Latin American feminist-praxis – we offer a reconceptualisation of what we call the “archiva” (the feminine and feminist archive) founded on a collective, affective, and bodily labour