Fields of interest

Latin American literature in postmodern and postcolonial writing, interculturality, politics of (de)subjectification, gender studies, and new media and literature.

Research

Since 2003 I have been a lecturer in Latin American Literature at Leiden University, where I obtained my PhD in 2004 with a dissertation on contemporary Cuban literature within the context of Revolutionary Grand Narratives, postmodern writing, and the (un)making of identities. I became interested in the crisis of representation and thinking on the subject from poststructuralist theories onwards. Therefore my interest centers on issues such as the relationship between language and the void, between art and politics, between selves and discourse. Since finishing my PhD, I have focused on a broader spectrum, including Caribbean comparative contexts, cross-cultural frameworks, and literary work and visual arts from other Latin-American periods and contexts.

Curriculum Vitae

Education:

-PhD: Leiden University, June 22, 2004; Supervisor: L.Rodriguez. Title Dissertation: Y los sueños, sueños son. Sujeto y representación en tres novelas cubanas de los noventa.

- "Doctoraalprogramme":  Leiden University.  Latin American Studies (1992-1997). (Literature and History). Title thesis: Identidad en juego: un análisis discursivo de la revista cubana Casa de las Américas del año 1992.

Extra periods (years/ semesters/ months) of training taken at: Universidad de Salamanca, Leuven University, Universidad de La Habana, Casa de las Américas.

Teaching activities

After having worked as a teacher of Spanish in different schools and universities, I worked as a lecturer at Leiden University, Utrecht University, and as guest-lecturer at the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Brasil.

Courses taught:

-Key Concepts Interculturality, in collaboration with Dr Isabel Hoving. (2005-present). My part of the course focuses on concepts such as cannibalism, transculturation, mestizaje and transvestism.  (Language: English). (MA + Mphil)

-Politics of (de)subjectification. A case-study of recent Cuban literature. (Dec.2006) Intensive Course (15h).Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Florianópolis, Brasil. (Language: Portuguese). MA-postgraduate.

-The Masks of the Self. 3rd year BA (2008-present). (Language: Spanish)

-Images of the Other. 2nd year BA (2008-present). In collaboration with Dr. A. I. Churampi. (Language: Spanish)

-Contemporary Latin American Literature 1980- present. (2003-2007) 3rd year BA. (Language: Spanish)

-The Writing of the Self in Latin American Literature. (2005-2007). 3rd year BA.(Language: Spanish)

-Contemporary Cuban Literature. (2002-2004) 4th Doctoraal. (Language: Spanish)

-Spanish American Colonial Literature. (2003-2008). 1st year BA. (Language: Spanish)

-Methods of Latin American Literary Research (in collaboration with Dr. Adriana Churampi). (2004-present). 3rd year BA. (Language: Spanish)

-Introduction to Spanish American Literature. (2004). 2nd year BA, Utrecht University. (Language: Dutch)

Separate classes:

-Textual Analysis. (1998-2004) Part of  Prof. Luz Rodríguez’s course Beginselen Letterkundig Onderzoek (Basics in Literary Research) My part of the course focused on narratology and discourse analysis. 4th  year Doctoraal. (Language: Spanish).

-Part of Prof. L. Rodríguez’s course ‘Spanish American Literature Nineteenth Century’. (1998-2004) 2nd  Doctoraal. (Language: Spanish). a)  José Martí’s  Nuestra América, b) Cirilo Villaverde’s Cecilia Valdés.

- Part of Prof. L. Rodríguez’s course ‘Spanish American Literature Twentieth Century’. (1998-2004). 2nd year Doctoraal. (Language: Spanish). a) Manuel Puig’s El Beso de la Mujer Araña, b) short stories by Julio Cortázar and c) Reinaldo Arenas’s El Mundo Alucinante.

-Invited Lecture “Literatuur en Revolutie; culturele schommelingen in hedendaags Cuba”in the course on Caribbean culture at the Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies (KITLV). Every March on a yearly basis (2004-present). (Language: Dutch)

Publications

2007         "Miradas, mascaradas y espectáculos de lo invisible", Revista Revolución y Cultura ,  5-6, p. 16-21. 

2007    “De máscaras e poses, o turismo no conto cubano contemporâneo”. In R.Antelo & M.L. Barros Camargo (Eds.), Pós-Crítica (pp. 11-25). Florianópolis: Letras Contemporáneas. 

2007    Alma Cubana”[bookreview of Alma Cubana: Transculturación, Mestizaje e Hibridismo / The Cuban Spirit:Transculturation, Mestizaje and Hybridism, ed. Susanna Regazzoni.Madrid y Frankfurt am Main: Iberoamericana / Vervuert, 2006.] Revista Europea de Estudios Latinoamericanos y del Caribe 82, abril de 2007, 158-160. (Available at: http://www.iberoamericanalibros.com/files/pdf/Regazzoni_AlmaCubana_CEDLA.pdf .Last Access Date April 15, 2008) 

2007    “La crisis de representación en tres novelas cubanas: La nada cotidiana de Zoé Valdés,  El pájaro, pincel y tinta china de Ena Lucía Portela, y La última playa de Atilio Caballero.” Revista Iberoamericana Vol. LXXIII, No. 218-219, p. 119-136. 

2007    “Huellas de Severo Sarduy en la literatura cubana más reciente; una lectura de Sibilas en Mercaderes, de Pedro de Jesús”. in: Espéculo. Revista de Estudios Literarios . Universidad Complutense de Madrid. XII, No. 34, p.1-10. Online. (Available at http://www.ucm.es/info/especulo/numero34/index.html)

2006 "Experiencias de una profesora holandesa". Revista Unión, n.61-62,  pp.16-17.

2006    “Dreams That Dreams Remain: Three Cuban Novels of the Nineties”. Cultural Identity and Postmodern Writing. Theo D’Haen and Pieter Vermeulen (eds). Amsterdam: Rodopi, p.185-206.

2006    “Guerrear por la identidad” [Bookreview of El artista caribeño como guerrero de lo imaginario]. Foro Hispánico 29. (July 2006): 167-169.

2005    “De la ciudad letrada hacia la ciudad virtual; Cuba y su vida literaria después de los noventa”. Sentidos dos lugares. Anais do Encontro Regional da Associação Brasileira de Literatura Comparada. Publicação em CD. Rio de Janeiro. (Available at: http://www.avatar.ime.uerj.br/cevcl/  Last Access Date:  May 21, 2006) 

2004    Y los sueños, sueños son. Sujeto y representación en tres novelas cubanas de los noventa . Dissertation Leiden University. ((Co-)promot.: prof. dr L. M. L. Rodríguez-Carranza).

2003    “El cuerpo y 'la nuda vida' en La Nada Cotidiana de Zoé Valdés”. In Mora, C. de & García Morales, A. (Ed.), Escribir el Cuerpo. 19 asedios desde la literatura hispanoamericana. (pp. 327-338). Sevilla: Publicaciones Universidad de Sevilla.

2002    “Eros, deseo y encarnación en El Pájaro: Pincel y Tinta China de Ena Lucía Portela”. La Isla en Peso , 4. (Available at: http://www.uneac.org.cu/LaIslaEnPeso/num04/estacion2.htm#nanne, Last Access Date:  March 29, 2006)

2002    “Experiencia y Representación en La Nada Cotidiana, de Zoé Valdés”. In: Murrieta, F. (Ed.), Memorias del I Encuentro Internacional Sobre Creación y Exilio “Con Cuba en la Distancia ”. Madrid: Editorial Hispano Cubana, p.113-119.