Intellectual Legacy and Historical Memory

Sor Juana's works survived and are now studied globally; she is celebrated as a central figure in Latin American and feminist intellectual history. This survival itself is a privilege. Most intellectuals—most people—leave no permanent trace. The preservation of Sor Juana's legacy depended on institutional investment, educational systems that valued her work, and scholars who chose to study her. This concept examines the privilege of historical memory: whose ideas are archived, taught, and transmitted to future generations. This privilege shapes what counts as intellectual history and whose contributions are recognized as valuable. For those whose ideas are preserved, this creates responsibility: to acknowledge that our legacies depend on systematic choices about what to save. For those engaged in intellectual work, this raises questions about whose voices we record, archive, and teach. Sor Juana's prominence today contrasts sharply with the erasure of countless contemporaries whose work was equally significant but less preserved. Acknowledging legacy privilege means actively working to preserve and amplify voices currently at risk of erasure, transforming intellectual practice into a form of justice work.