Jean Franco (March 31, 1924 – December 14, 2022) was a British-born American academic and literary critic known for her pioneering work on Latin American literature. [1] Educated at Manchester and London, she taught at London, Essex (where she was the university's first professor of Latin American literature), [2] and Stanford, and was latterly professor emerita at Columbia University.
Research
Jean Franco's research was wide-ranging and voluminous. She was among the first English-speaking Latin Americanists to write seriously about Latin American literature. She particularly focused on women and women's writing and was a pioneer of Latin American cultural studies. [3]
Personal life and death
Franco died on December 14, 2022, at the age of 98. [1] [4] [5]
Awards
- In 1992 she was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Essex. [6]
- In 1996 she won a PEN award for lifetime contribution to the dissemination of Latin American literature in English. [7]
- In 2000 the Latin American Studies Association awarded her the Kalman Silvert Award for her contributions to Latin American Studies. [8]
- In 2002 she was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Manchester.
- Her book The Decline and Fall of the Lettered City was awarded the Bolton-Johnson Prize by the Conference of Latin American Historians for the best work in English on the History of Latin America published in 2003.
Selected publications
- The Modern Culture of Latin America (1967)
- An Introduction to Latin American Literature (1969)
- Spanish American Literature Since Independence (1973)
- César Vallejo. The Dialectics of Poetry and Silence (1976)
- Plotting Women. Gender and Representation in Mexico (1989)
- Marcar diferencias, cruzar fronteras: ensayos (1996)
- Critical Passions: Selected Essays, edited by Mary Louise Pratt and Kathleen Newman (1999)
- The Decline and Fall of the Lettered City: Latin America in the Cold War (2002)
- Cruel Modernity (2013)
References
- ^ a b Risen, Clay. "Jean Franco, 98, Pioneering Scholar of Latin American Literature, Dies." New York Times, December 31, 2022, retrieved January 31, 2023. (subscription required)
- ^ "Jean Franco." Institute for Research on Women and Gender at Columbia University, retrieved March 31, 2013.
- ^ Rogers, V. Daniel. "Jean Franco's Lifetime of Critical Passions." American Quarterly 53.3 (2001): 511-517. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
- ^ "The Department of English and Comparative Literature Mourns the Loss of Professor Jean Franco" Columbia University Department of English and Comparative Literature, December 19, 2022, retrieved January 31, 2023.
- ^ "Murió Jean Franco, latinoamericanista fundamental". Reforma. 15 December 2022. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
- ^ University of Essex Calendar: Honorary Graduates Archived 2012-10-07 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved March 31, 2013.
- ^ "Working Group Member: Jean Franco." Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine Vírgenes viajeras/Traveling Virgins Working Group, Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics, retrieved March 31, 2013.
- ^ Ewell, Judith. "Critical Passions: Selected Essays (review)." The Americas 57.3 (2001): 422-24. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
External links
- Biography from Columbia University
- Jean Franco, "The Second Coming: Religion as Entertainment", text of a lecture
