A new, bilingual exhibit on the “maladies of love” is on display in Norlin Library. The exhibit, “Mal de amor/Lovesickness,” is the culmination of a semester-long collaboration between the University Libraries and Professor of Spanish and Portuguese Núria Silleras Fernández’s class Spanish Literature of the Medieval Period, SPAN 5140. It explores the social perceptions of lovesickness in medieval literature to contemporary media.

“This was my first time organizing a library exhibit with my students,” said Fernández. “I envisioned a meaningful learning opportunity but the experience far exceeded my expectations.”

The assignment had two parts: individual literature review essays with translation for each student and a collective exhibit project, using books from the Libraries Rare and Distinctive Collections (RaD), on the overarching theme of love and maladies evident throughout the literature.

Front piece: The Anatomy of Melancholy, 1621 edition, Robert Burton, Rare Book Collections RaD, CU Boulder Libraries.

“There was a palpable reverence and excitement every time we got to handle the rare books,” said Griffin Carty, a first-year Spanish and Portuguese MA candidate. “Early editions bring these texts to life in a way that reading a modern printing can't.” 

Cultural Heritage Librarian Dulce Aldama helped locate primary source materials in the collection that aligned with the teaching goals of the class. These included a 1495 edition of Grisel y mirabella by Juan de Flores, a tale of forbidden love and its consequences and a 1621 edition of La anatomia del la melancolia (The Anatomy of Melancholy), a medical text exploring the causes, types and symptoms of melancholy by Robert Burton.

Aldama worked to create the exhibit with the class. “Crafting an exhibit makes learning more ludic, active and fun,” said Aldama. “We offer them a forum to express their research to a wider audience.”

“In our class, we had months to research, read, and sift through medieval Spanish literature and commentaries,” said Clair Ely, a fourth-year Chemical Engineering undergraduate. “In a physical exhibit, we hope to give audience members a similar sense of self-discovery and curiosity in just a few minutes.”

Cultural Heritage Librarian Dulce Aldama and the SPAN 5140 class install the exhibit on the 3rd floor of Norlin Library.

Fernández’s class ultimately crafted a bilingual exhibit that explores the theme of love in three sections: from the bodily humors of Greek medicine, to Medieval courtly love and finally thematic parallels in modern films.

Daniella Castillo Vasquez, a first-year Creative Writing MA candidate, spoke to the value of bringing translations of Spanish and Portuguese literature into exhibit form. “We unapologetically make space for our own cultures, languages and histories. I walked away from that wall feeling immense pride, but also full of confidence in the things I can, and can help, create.” 

The exhibit will be up in Norlin Library, on the 3rd floor north side until May 2025.