Álvaro Fernández earned his Licenciatura en Letras from the University of Buenos Aires and his PhD from State University of New York at Stony Brook. Since the 90’s he has taught Contemporary Spanish Literature at University of Buenos Aires, University of La Plata and University of Quilmes. He also designed and coordinated the Admission Course in Writing and Reading at University of Quilmes and worked as a publisher, photographer and graphic designer.
Álvaro is currently working as Assistant Professor at Queens College in the Hispanic Languages and Literatures and in the Cinema Studies Departments. He teaches and conducts research on contemporary Spanish literature and cinema, focused on narratives about the problematic construction of the historical past. He is also interested in didactics of writing and in cross-readings between Latin America and Spain. He is working on Spanish narrative between 1989 and 1992 as well as on memory sites in Buenos Aires. Álvaro is author of articles on Juan Marsé, Antonio Muñoz Molina, Javier Marías, and books on didactics of writing and reading.
Courses
Courses offered in the past four years.
▲ indicates offered in the current term
▹ indicates offered in the upcoming term[s]
SPAN 6641A - Natl Identities New Millennium
THIS COURSE IS TAUGHT IN BUENOS AIRES
National Identities in the New Millennium
At the end of 20th-century, national narratives in Latin-America and Spain faced changes and redefinitions. Migrations, the emergence of formerly repressed identities, and the presence of a changing cultural market fueled the appearance of voices considered unconventional a few decades ago. Ranging from the end of 20th-century up to the present, the Spanish and Latin American texts discussed in this course question or redefine the traditional discourses that were officially marked as representative of the national identities. The analysis will account for current debates on geopolitics, linguistic and gender issues, as well as those belonging to the construction of alternative communal identities. (1 unit)
Required text: Course pack for purchase in Argentina.
Civ Cul & SocSummer 2012
SPAN 6659A - Argentine Literature
THIS COURSE IS TAUGHT IN BUENOS AIRES
In its relative short existence, Argentinean literature have been tightly linked to the national political projects. From its origins to the present day, it is possible to follow in the cultural production a long story of passion, hate and love, soundly attached to the historical life of the country. The course will analyze literary masterpieces in its dialog with the construction of national identities from 19th-century to the present. It will also focus on comparative readings of the texts in order to explore, in the context of struggling ideologies, the development of an hybrid culture. Works studied will include, among others, those of Sarmiento, Echeverría, Hernández, Cambaceres, Arlt, Marechal, Cortázar, Borges and popular tango poetry. (1 unit)
Required text: Course pack for purchase in Argentina.
LiteratureSummer 2012
