Böcker av Asun Lopez-Varela Azcarate

Comparative Literature - Interdisciplinary Considerations is a wide-ranging exploration of various aspects of comparative literature and cultural phenomena from different angles. The authors delve into intriguing topics such as literary tourism, biofiction, colonial/postcolonial literature, suspense in literature, and the interaction between different artistic mediums. For instance, the analysis of Gabriel García Márquez¿s works sheds light on the genres of magic realism and the Latin American boom, as well as how his literature influences literary tourism experiences. Another example is the study of Anna Enquist¿s work, which showcases the genre of biofiction and examines the complex messages conveyed through reconstructed voices and alternative perspectives, including the portrayal of Captain Cook¿s wife. This is compared with historical accounts of the 18th-century Ottoman Empire during Sultan Selim III¿s reign, as studied by Stanford Shaw in Between Old and New. The book also explores the theme of unease and suspense in Patricia Highsmith¿s writing, focusing on her iconic character Tom Ripley, known for his psychological depth and morally ambiguous nature. Additionally, discussions on colonial/postcolonial literature and the representation of women¿s restrictions from a historical perspective contribute to a better understanding of power dynamics, gender representation, and non-Western literature. Henri Fauconnier¿s Malaisie is analyzed in the context of ¿paracoloniality,¿ highlighting the transformative potential of Western texts and emphasizing overlooked aspects in discussions of colonial and postcolonial literature. The volume offers valuable insights into the representation of nations and historical figures through Malay and Persian travel narratives, as well as their influence on cultural identity. Moreover, the chapters explore the evolution of literary genres, the interconnectedness of literature with other art forms, and the impact of technological advancements on artistic expression. Overall, this book provides valuable perspectives on the rich tapestry of literature, art, and culture. It encourages scholars to explore diverse cultural expressions and fosters interdisciplinary dialogue within the field of comparative literature.

«In Timeless Joyce , Asun López-Varela offers a holistic, dense, and substantial approach to the study of Ulysses , in commemoration of its publication centenary. The author manages to tackle multiple perspectives that pivot around key aspects of Joyce's narrative by structuring her account around the spiral figure. This brilliant design makes it possible to include not only detailed thematic studies, but also to recurrently return to the main research lines proposed, in an easy, smooth, and natural way. Especially relevant are the myth cells revisited, with a perceptive method that allows transcendental appreciation without forgetting the language puns, the metaphysical substratum, and the Joycean ironic groundwork.» (Juan Ignacio Oliva Cruz, President of the James Joyce Association of Spain) «López-Varela's volume deserves attention not only for the accumulation of new analytical threads but also for the inspiring spiral framework that shows Joyce's ironic deflective response to the grandiloquent inflation of epic, traditionally performed by myth. The author superbly shows the ambiguities present in Joyce's mythical method, where the spatial and temporal restrictions proper of the vicissitudes of everyday life are simultaneously parodied and given transcendental scope.» (José Manuel Losada Goya, President of Asteria, Internacional Association of Mythcriticism) 2022 marked the 100th anniversary of the publication of James Joyce's Ulysses . This book is a celebration of Joyce's text and of the aspects that make his masterpiece timeless. Structured under the inspiration of Brancusi's spiral image, «Symbol of James Joyce», the volume shows Joyce's play in two movements: a centripetal move towards unity, using myth, analogies and correspondences and a centrifugal force, with a cunning mixture of irony and unanticipated turns, where the dream of unity is shattered and the text resonates in multiple directions, manifesting its diversity through forms of duplicity and double coding. The double spiral movement of Joyce's novel is aimed at contrasting diverse perspectives on existential issues as well as religious, political and even gender aspects. Features such as Joyce's mytho-poetics, the future of nostalgia, temporal becoming, coincidentia oppositorum , apophatic theology and philosophies of the occult are explored as part of an allegorical dimension of myth that simultaneously seeks and refuses holistic unity. Readers are involved in a sort of rite of passage, like Odysseus in his perilous journey, forced to read forwards, backwards and vertically in the fractal structure of the novel through which Joyce achieves its poetics of infinity.

The Intermediality of Contemporary Visual Arts explores a range of topics within the field. The volume delves into the realm of intermediality within the visual arts. Each chapter explores a different aspect; from the evolution of Intermedial Studies over the past decades to the shifts in print typography and the emergence of 'cut-ups¿ within a context of resistance against conventions, the concept of Visual Music and its relation to pioneering filmmaking, visual representations of intimacy as they evolve from painting to other visual formats like comics, film, and television, and finally the transmedial potential of cultural symbols in virtual reality, all of which involve greater multimodal and emotional elements that enhance audience immersion. The volume closes by highlighting the need for a comprehensive approach to visual art education and pedagogical methods that foster creativity, emphasizing the intermedial aspects present in contemporary visual arts.