Luis Díaz Viana facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Luis Díaz Viana
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| Born | June 1951 |
| Nationality | Spanish |
| Alma mater | University of Valladolid, BA, PhD |
| Known for | Contributions to the development of Popular culture, Ethnology and Cultural identity |
| Awards | Premio Castilla y León de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades 2015 |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Anthropology, writer |
| Institutions | Spanish National Research Council, University of Valladolid |
Luis Nicanor Pablo Díaz González-Viana (born in June 1951 in Zamora) is a Spanish anthropologist, a person who studies human societies and cultures. He is also a philologist, someone who studies language in historical texts, and a writer.
He is known as a pioneer in Spanish anthropology, especially for his work on popular culture, ethnology (the study of different cultures), and cultural identity. He works as a researcher at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), which is a big research organization in Spain.
Contents
Luis Díaz Viana's Journey in Academia
His Education and Early Teaching
Luis Díaz Viana studied 'Romance Philology' at the University of Valladolid. He finished his degree in 1977. In 1979, he earned his doctorate with a thesis about old Spanish songs called ballads from the Valladolid area. This work was later published.
He taught at a high school in Soria. Later, in 1992, he became a professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Salamanca, where he taught until 1995.
Working at the Spanish National Research Council
In 1995, Luis Díaz Viana joined the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) as a scientific collaborator. He became a research professor there. He worked in the Anthropology Department and later in the Institute of Language, Literature and Anthropology.
Since 2013, he has also been a research associate at the Institute of European Studies at the University of Valladolid.
Teaching Around the World
Luis Díaz Viana has also spent time teaching and researching in other countries. From 1982 to 1984, he was a research associate at the University of Berkeley in the United States. He has also been a visiting professor at Berkeley, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of California at Los Angeles. In Mexico, he taught at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).
His Research and Contributions
Studying Popular Culture
In 1978, Luis Díaz founded the 'Castellano Center for Folkloric Studies' in Valladolid. From 1984 to 1987, he was in charge of the 'Section of Ethnological Studies' for the government of Castile and León. During this time, he organized many courses on popular culture with the University of Valladolid.
He helped start the first 'Scientific Congress on Ethnology and Folklore of Castile and León' in 1985. In 1999, he promoted the first international meeting about chapbook literature (small, cheap books). He also led the organizing committee for a big anthropology congress in León in 2011.
Important Research Projects
Luis Díaz Viana has been part of many important research projects. He worked on 'The Archive of Mourning,' which looked at how people expressed their feelings after the attacks of March 11, 2004. He also worked on a project called 'Justice, Memory, Narration and culture.'
He led a research project called 'The return to the land,' which studied why people were moving back to the countryside in Castile and León. Since 2012, he has helped lead a course at the University of Valladolid about managing 'Intangible Cultural Heritage.' This means protecting traditions, customs, and skills that are passed down through generations.
In 2016, his book The Intangible Cultural Heritage of Castile and León was published. This book is like a guide and catalog of the cultural traditions of that region.
His Ideas on Tradition
From his early writings in the 1970s, Díaz Viana emphasized the importance of studying folklore (the traditional beliefs, customs, and stories of a community). He believes that the idea of "tradition" as we know it today was created culturally during the time of romanticism.
He also points out that sometimes, new technologies and focus on money can make us forget about human reality. He criticizes some ways people try to protect rural areas, saying that they can make the people living there seem like just part of a picture, instead of real communities.
Awards and Honors
Luis Díaz Viana has received many awards for his work:
- Medalla de Bronce del CSIC
- Premio "Numancia" de Periodismo (1982)
- Premio Nacional de Investigación Cultural "Marqués de Lozoya" (1987)
- Premio Nacional de Folklore "Agapito Marazuela" (2006)
- Premio de Novela "Ciudad de Salamanca" (2009) for his book Los últimos paganos
- Premio Castilla y León de las Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades (2015) for his entire career
- Premio Diálogo (2016) from the Ateneo Cultural "Jesús Pereda"
See also
In Spanish: Luis Díaz Viana para niños
- Anthropology
- Cultural anthropology
- Social anthropology
- Sociocultural anthropology
- Ethnology
- Ethnography
- Popular culture
- Cultural identity
