35 Years of Debate Feminista

Abstract

For this anniversary celebration, Paola Ortega Garay, the editorial assistant of the magazine, proposed inviting our authors, readers, and members of the Editorial Board to contribute a brief reflection recalling a meaningful reading experience from one of the 69 volumes we have published. After consulting with our editorial board collaborators, the proposal was approved. We then sent out an invitation to a long list of people, and the responses we received are now presented in this small dossier.

Each contribution references a specific article from Debate. Unsurprisingly, the majority relate to pieces from the journal’s early years, though the later period is also represented. Along the way, Sara Sefchovich recalled a text she wrote to mark the magazine’s fifteenth anniversary. We have reprinted it here as well, in the spirit of connecting the dots across a long editorial journey.

It is said that Dante wrote the Commedia at the age of 35, which at the time was considered the midpoint of life; the first line reads: “Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita.”

It is likely that, 35 years ago, those of us who founded and set this project in motion from Marta Lamas’s living room were indeed “in the middle of the journey of our life.”

Now, we find ourselves at the far end of that path. Yet the life of the magazine is being renewed through the participation of young and enthusiastic individuals like Paola, the members of the Editorial Board, and the many contributors who responded to our call with their texts for this commemorative volume.