Fellows

Alejandro Zamora holds a PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of Montreal and a Licenciatura degree in Hispanic Literature from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. He is an Associate Professor at the Department of Hispanic Studies of Glendon College, York University. His areas of expertise are literary and cultural theory, contemporary novel from Latin America, subjectivity and theories of the self, and discourse analysis. His publications include the book Jugar por amor propio. Personajes lúdicos de la novela moderna (Bern: Peter Lang, 2009) and several scholarly articles and book chapters. He is currently finishing his second monography, Devenir niño por la escritura. La novela de deformación en México 1936-2011. The book analyses contemporary Mexican novels as a practice of discursive resistance to the formation of the “modern” subject in Mexico in different times and places.

My research focuses in contemporary Latin American novel and life narratives (particularly from Mexico and Cuba). I study the novel as a form of cultural criticism. More specifically, as a form of discourse that confronts and resists dominant discourses (and discursive practices) about the nation and the subject.

This is an interdisciplinary approach that conceives literature not only as a form of art but also as a means for a cultural hermeneutic (hermenéutica cultural) of the region.

This type of study that goes beyond the scope of traditional literary criticism to encompass theories and enactments of the self and the nation in specific contexts. The study of such contexts—particularly the power relations and the practices of dominance as they appear in their discursive productions—is therefore one of the key aspects of my projects.

This is why the interdisciplinary nature of this unit, and the convergence of scholars from different backgrounds and similar preoccupations would be an ideal environment to nurture my research. It would be a honor for me to be a member of this Center.

Country(ies) or Region(s) of Interest: Mexico, Cuba

Keywords: Literary and cultural theory, contemporary novel from Latin America, subjectivity and theories of the self, and discourse analysis.