Holmes, Amanda 1972-

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Holmes, Amanda 1972-

PERSONAL:

Born February 14, 1972. Education: McGill University, B.A., 1994; University of Oregon, Eugene, M.A., 1996, Ph.D., 2001.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Department of Hispanic Studies, McGill University, 688 Sherbrooke St. W., Rm. 425, Montreal, Quebec H3A 3R1, Canada. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, assistant professor, 2001-07, associate professor of Hispanic studies, 2007—, director of graduate studies in department of Hispanic studies, 2004-07, chair of the department of Hispanic studies, 2008—.

AWARDS, HONORS:

University of Oregon grant, 2000; Internal Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council award, McGill University, 2002; Undergraduate Arts Association Fund Award, McGill University, 2002; Research Development Fund research grant, McGill University, 2003; Établissement de nouveaux professeurs-chercheurs, Fonds Québécois de la Recherche sur la Société et la Culture, 2004.

WRITINGS:

City Fictions: Language, Body, and Spanish American Urban Space, Bucknell University Press (Lewisburg, PA), 2007.

Contributor to books, including Short Story Criticism, Volume 76, edited by Joseph Palmisano, Gale (Detroit, MI), 2005; Encyclopedia of Hispanic Literature, Facts on File (New York, NY); and Comparison and Circulation, edited by Will Straw and Alexander Boutras, McGill-Queens University Press (Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Contributor to journals, including Bulletin of Spanish Studies, Revista Canadiense de Estudios Hispánicos, Alba de América: Revista Literaria, Cuadernos Literarios, Neophilologus, Canadian Review of Comparative Literature, and Feministas Unidas.

SIDELIGHTS:

Amanda Holmes is a professor of Hispanic studies. Her book City Fictions: Language, Body, and Spanish American Urban Space is a literary analysis of the writings of five Latin American authors, including Carlos Monsiváis, Cristina Peri Rossi, Diamela Eltit, Julio Cortázar, and Octavio Paz. By analyzing both the language usage and metaphors involving the human body, Holmes shows how these authors use these devices to reflect images of urban decay in Latin America. "The representation of the city through linguistic and corporeal metaphors of rupture reflects a reaction to both political violence and the adoption of untenable economic policies in Latin America in the last three decades of the twentieth century," the author explained on the McGill University, Department of Hispanic Studies Web site. A contributor to Reference & Research Book News considered Holmes's study a "cogent model" that helps readers see how these authors expressed the problems of "uncontrolled growth" in such cities as Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Santiago, and Montevideo.