Elisabet Pallàs

Elisabet Pallàs is a doctoral candidate in Hispanic Literatures and Cultures at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She holds a B.A. in Humanities from the Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona) as well as two master’s degrees in Publishing (from the Universitat de Barcelona, 2013) and Peninsular literatures and cultures (from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2015). Interested in visual cultures, her current work focuses on contemporary Iberian theatre and film. Her dissertation, tentatively entitled “Expropriating Affect: Displacement and Reoccupation in Barcelona’s Ciutat Vella District (1975-2010)” delves into the analysis of theater and film documentaries that illustrate the population’s forced displacement from Barcelona’s oldest district, Ciutat Vella. Grounded on a theoretical perspective that combines sociology and city studies, Elisabet’s project reflects on states’ mechanisms to enforce and legitimize territorial, cultural, and corporeal expropriations by deploying tactics that include, among other strategies, the criminalization of poverty and the passing of local laws restricting the use of public spaces.