Jaime Orrego

My research focuses on the question of violence in Colombian literature.  I use a semiotic approach that focuses on the interactions between cultural space, individual desire and the events that unfold in the narratives. Through this approach I develop a typology of narrative demonstrating how the view of the city, countryside, class system, and modernization constantly shifted perspectives while remaining profoundly engaged with the local realities in Colombia.

My secondary research focus is the Latin American Regional novel and Nineteenth century literature.  I am interested in these topics because much too often the Latin American countries are grouped as a single mass without making careful distinction between them. The Nineteenth century novels were very important for the formation of the different nations in Latin America right after the Independence from Spain, and the regional novels during the arrival of modernization.

My narrative focuses on the Colombian reality from the last thirty years, which has been a violent and hostile period that deeply marked my childhood and adolescence.  In some of my stories I use science fiction to represent the many realities a person living in this kind of environment has to use to be able to survive.

Following is a list of courses that I regularly teach.

• SP201-202: Intermediate Spanish
• SP301-302: Advanced Spanish Grammar and Composition
• SP358: Introduction to Spanish-American Literature
• SP364: Colonial Through 19^th Century Spanish-American Literature
• SP365: Modern Spanish-American Literature
• SP368: Problems in Spanish and Spanish-American Culture and Civilization
• SP372: ST: The Other in Spanish-American Literature