Lorraine Roses
Professor Emerita of Spanish
Engaged in research and teaching on topics ranging from the genesis of colonial Latin American literature to the “Boom latinoamericano” of the 1960s and 1970s; the rise of “literatura testimonial,” and the challenges posed by writers, visual artists, and film makers to established societal conventions and authoritarian regimes.
Since beginning my academic career as a Woodrow Wilson National Fellow at Harvard University and earning my Ph.D. in Romance Languages and Literature, I have centered my research and teaching on narrative strategies in contemporary Latin American literature. In my first book, Voices of the Storyteller: Cuba’s Lino Novás Calvo, I identified and focused on Afro-Cuban themes and the unique blend of realism and the preternatural, known as “Magical Realism.” Intrigued by the manifestations of African-influenced themes, I developed expertise in a second field, that of twentieth-century Caribbean Black cultural production. Pursuing this vein across the border to North America, I explored the rich contributions of little-known women writers of the Harlem Renaissance. My books aim to place this work in historical perspective and include Harlem Renaissance and Beyond; Harlem’s Glory, an anthology co-edited with Ruth Randolph, and Black Bostonians and the Politics of Culture, 1920-1940. My books are based on original interviews with Latin American and North American writers. Both groups of writers continue to militate against the color line through acts of civil disobedience and a strong repertoire of artistic contributions. My research has been supported by fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities; The American Council of Learned Societies; The W.E.B. Du Bois Institute, Harvard University (now the Hutchinson Center for African and African-American Research), and the Bunting Institute at Harvard University (now the Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study).
My research interests are reflected in the courses I have taught, including “The Literary World of Gabriel García Márquez;” “Caribbean Literature and Culture,” and “The Art of the Latin American Short Story.” I also co-founded several overseas programs, including Wellesley’s PRESHCO program in Spain; “Wellesley Wintersession in Oaxaca,” and “Wellesley Wintersession on Cuban Culture and Literature in Havana.” Finally, I was named the inaugural holder of the Luella LaMer Slaner Chair of Latin American Studies.
Favorite pastimes include travel to Latin American countries with my husband, Jonathan, celebrating holidays with our many children and grandchildren, and performing with my ukulele ensemble at farmers’ markets and senior centers across the Boston metropolitan area.