Victor Figueroa

Victor Figueroa

Víctor Figueroa was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. After completing his B.A. at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras, he obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. in Comparative Literature at Harvard University. In addition to journal articles, he is the author of three poetry collections, "El regicida y su sombra" (Terranova Editores, 2011), "Devenir de los arcanos" (Casa de los Poetas, 2013) and "Alquimia del desasosiego" (Casa de los Poetas, 2016); and two critical books on Caribbean literature: "Not at Home in One’s Home: Caribbean Self-Fashioning in the Poetry of Luis Palés Matos, Aimé Césaire, and Derek Walcott" (Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2009) and "Prophetic Visions of the Past: Pan-Caribbean Representations of the Haitian Revolution" (Ohio State University Press, 2015).

Research interest(s)/area of expertise

• Caribbean Studies
• Latin American Studies
• Postcolonial Studies
• Environmental Criticism

Research

Publications:

A. Scholarly Books Published:

1. “Prophetic Visions of the Past: Pan-Caribbean Representations of the Haitian Revolution.” Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press, 2015.
2. “Not at Home in One’s Home: Caribbean Self-Fashioning in the Poetry of Luis Palés Matos, Aimé Césaire, and Derek Walcott.” Cranbury, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson UP, 2009.

B. Other Books (Poetry):

1. Alquimia del desasosiego. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Casa de los Poetas, 2016.
2. Devenir de los arcanos. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Casa de los Poetas, 2013.
3. El regicida y su sombra. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Terranova Editores, 2011.

 C. Journal Articles (Peer reviewed):

1. “Desiring Colonial Bodies in Mayra Santos Febres’s Fe en disfraz.” Ciberletras: Revista de crítica literaria y de cultura. (Vol. 38: July 2017): http://www.lehman.cuny.edu/ciberletras/v38/figueroav.htm.
2. “Colonial Commodity or Numinous Realm: The Representation of Nature in the Poetry of Luis Palés Matos.” Hispanic Review. (Vol. 85, No. 3: Summer 2017): pp. 245-269.
3. “De “ciudades hundidas” a la “ciudad ilegal”: presencia y transformación de la poesía de Luis Palés Matos en Boat People de Mayra Santos Febres.” Hispanófila (Vol. 173: January 2015): pp. 395-416.
4. “Drogas y marginalidad en Cualquier miércoles soy tuya de Mayra Santos Febres.” Revista canadiense de estudios hispánicos. (Vol. 38, No. 3: Spring 2015): pp.443-466.
5. "Disseminating “El Chivo”: Junot Díaz's Response to Mario Vargas Llosa in The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao." Chasqui: Revista de Literatura Latinoamericana. (Vol. 42, No.1: Fall 2013): pp. 95-108.
6. "Between Louverture and Christophe: Aimé Césaire on the Haitian Revolution." The French Review (Vol. 82, No. 5: April 2009): pp. 1006-1021.
7. "Colonial Grammar: Pronominal Ambivalence in Pedro Mir’s Contracanto a Walt Whitman.” CARIBE, Revista de cultura y literatura. (Vol. 10, No. 2: Winter 2007-08): pp. 47-62.
8. "Between Africa and Puerto Rico: Haiti and Lyric Self-Fashioning in the Poetry of Luis Palés Matos." Latin American Literary Review (Vol. 35, No. 70: July-December 2007): pp. 74-87.
9. “Encomium of Helen”: Derek Walcott’s “(un)ethical twist” in Omeros." Twentieth Century Literature (Vol. 53, No. 1: Spring 2007): pp. 23-39.
10. “A Kingdom of Black Jacobins: Alejo Carpentier and C.L.R. James on the Haitian Revolution.” Afro-Hispanic Review (Vol. 25, No. 2: Fall 2006): pp. 55-71.
11. "Martí's Infanticides: Ismaelillo between the Pen and the Sword." Latin American Literary Review (Vol. XXXII, No. 63: January-June 2004): pp. 40-56.
12. "Strategic Homelands: The Performance of Puerto Ricanness in Pedro Pietri's Puerto Rican Obituary." SECOLAS Annals: Journal of the Southeastern Council of Latin American Studies (Vol. XXV; Nov. 2003): pp. 72-81.

D. Book Chapters

1. “Ante el espejo de la historia: Toussaint Louverture de Aimé Césaire.” Toussaint Louverture: Rethinking an Icon/Repensando un Icono. Ed. Mariana Past & Natalie M. Léger. (Santiago de Cuba: Casa del Caribe, 2015).
2. "In Search of the Absent Revolution: Edgardo Rodríguez Juliá's Novels of Invented History." In Redifining Latin American Historical Fiction. Edited by Helene Weldt-Basson (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013).

E. Encyclopedia and Other Short Articles Published:

1. “Derek Walcott.” Folktales and Fairy Tales: Traditions and Texts from Around the World. 2nd. Edition. Editors Donald Haase and Anne Duggan. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2016. Vol. 3; p. 1091.
2. "Aime Césaire: Réquiem por un poeta antillano," El Nuevo Día (San Juan, Puerto Rico) 25 Apr. 2008: Revista Dominical, p. 21.
3. "Tomás Gutierrez Alea," Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2008): pp. 598-599.
4. “Miguel Angel Asturias," "Lydia Cabrera," "Rosario Ferré," "Gabriel García Márquez," articles in the Encyclopedia of Folktales and Fairy Tales, Editor Donald Haase (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2008): pp. 77; 154-55; 341; 398-99.
5. "Alejo Carpentier”, "Patrick Chamoiseau”, "Luis Rafael Sánchez”, "Simone Schwartz-Bart", articles in Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience, Eds. Kwame Anthony Appiah and Henry Louis Gates (New York: Civitas Books, 1999): pp. 381-82; 410; 1664; 1679.

Education

• Ph.D., Harvard University, Comparative Literature, November 2000.
• M.A., Harvard University, Comparative Literature, June 1996.
• B.A., University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras, Comparative Literature, 1992, magna cum laude.

Awards and grants

Wayne State University

• 2017-2018 WSU Arts and Humanities Research Support Award.
• Winter 2016 WSU Board of Governors Faculty Recognition Award for the book “Prophetic Visions of the Past.”
• 2011-2012 Career Development Chair
• 2009 Humanities Center Faculty Fellowship, Summer 2009
• 2008 University Research Grant
• 2006 Humanities Center Research Grant
• 2005 College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Distinction in Teaching Award
• 2003 University Research Grant

Selected publications

Scholarly Books Published:

1. “Prophetic Visions of the Past: Pan-Caribbean Representations of the Haitian Revolution.” Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press, 2015.
2. “Not at Home in One’s Home: Caribbean Self-Fashioning in the Poetry of Luis Palés Matos, Aimé Césaire, and Derek Walcott.” Cranbury, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson UP, 2009.

Poetry:

1. Alquimia del desasosiego. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Casa de los Poetas, 2016.
2. Devenir de los arcanos. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Casa de los Poetas, 2013.
3. El regicida y su sombra. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Terranova Editores, 2011.

Courses taught by Victor Figueroa

Winter Term 2025 (future)

• SPA3300 - Introduction to Cultural and Literary Analysis
• SPA6630 - Spanish American Poetry

Fall Term 2024 (current)

• LAS2110 - Puerto Rican Literature and Culture
• SPA2500 - Puerto Rican Literature and Culture
• SPA5560 - Spanish American Cultures and their Traditions

Winter Term 2024

• SPA3300 - Introduction to Cultural and Literary Analysis
• SPA4630 - Introduction to Colonial Latin American Literature

Fall Term 2023

• LAS2100 - Chicano/a Literature and Culture
• SPA2400 - Chicano/a Literature and Culture
• SPA8610 - Seminar in Spanish American Narrative

Winter Term 2023

• SPA3300 - Introduction to Cultural and Literary Analysis
• SPA6690 - Genres and Topics in Spanish American Literature

Winter Term 2022

• SPA3300 - Introduction to Cultural and Literary Analysis
• SPA5600 - Advanced Conversation