The Sub-Faculty of Spanish in Oxford boasts one of the largest concentrations of active researchers in Hispanic literature, culture, and linguistics in the United Kingdom and indeed the world. Sub-Faculty members have published on an impressive range of periods, from the Middle Ages and the Golden Age to contemporary Peninsular and Spanish American Literature. Their nationally and internationally recognized work has led to research collaborations both within and outside Oxford.

At a glance

Linguistics 

Víctor Acedo-Matellán specializes in the grammatical realization of argument and event structure, as well as the syntax-lexicon and syntax-morphology interfaces.

Medieval Period 

Geraldine Hazbun is a specialist in literature from medieval Iberia, and her work has focused on the creation of collective identity. She is currently examining different forms of Spanish epic, travel narratives, and the development of chivalry. Rosa Vidal Doval's research covers late medieval and Renaissance Spanish history, particularly religious minorities and heterodoxy. Her work examines at the role of texts in establishing religious difference and in fomenting persecution, and in theorising conversion to Christianity.

Golden Age

Alice Brooke examines the intersections of literature, religion, and scientific culture early-modern Iberia, with a special emphasis on New Spain (Mexico). A specialist in early modern Spanish culture, Imogen Choi's research has focused on armed conflict and political communities in the Iberian empire.  Oliver Noble Wood's research explores sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Spanish textual and visual culture, in particular Baroque poetry, painting, and the history of the book. Roy Norton is a specialist in Spanish Golden Age theatre and religious culture. Jonathan Thacker (King Alfonso XIII Chair) is a specialist in Golden Age literature, and has written extensively on the translation, performance, and ideological content of Golden Age drama. 

Modern Peninsular Literature 

Laura Lonsdale researches literary multilingualism and translation in Hispanic literature from the nineteenth century to the present, and has longstanding interests in women's writing and theatre. Daniela Omlor's work examines contemporary Spanish literature, with a particular emphasis on memory, trauma, exile and ethics in the novel. 

Modern Spanish American Literature 

María del Pilar Blanco works on modernismo and intersections of literature and science in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Spanish American and Caribbean literature. Ben Bollig, a specialist in contemporary Latin American literature and culture, has written extensively on Argentine poetry, translation, and cinematic adaptation. Dominic Moran has worked extensively on twentieth-century Latin American literature, with a special focus on the poetry of Pablo Neruda and César Vallejo. Olivia Vázquez-Medina, whose research has focused on twentieth-century Latin American literature, is currently focusing on women writers' approach to contemporary issues, such as environmental degradation, gender violence, and social inequity. 

For more information on Sub-Faculty members' individual research, visit our staff list.