Interests:
Matthew Bush’s research and teaching examine contemporary Latin American narrative and culture, focusing primarily on Mexico, Peru, and Argentina. His most recent book Other Americans (2022) examines the representation of Latin America across a host of mediums including Hollywood films, Netflix series, and contemporary novels, to probe the role of negative affect in hemispheric relations. He is also the author of Pragmatic Passions (2014), which explores melodramatically framed socio-political discourse in narratives from early to mid-20th century. He is co-editor of the volumes Technology, Literature, and Digital Culture in Latin America (2016), which examines writing practices in Latin America and their dialogue with contemporary technologies, and Un asombro renovado (2017), which explores the resurgence of avant-garde aesthetics in contemporary contexts. His interests include critical theory, affect studies, melodrama, historical and neo-avant-garde artistic practices, the Latin American social novel, and media and globalization in contemporary Latin American art.
Courses Taught:
SPAN 152 Cultural Evolution of Latin America
SPAN 213 Approaches to Cultural Productions in Spanish
SPAN 392 The City and the Country in Spanish American Narrative
SPAN 393 The Boom and Beyond
LAS/ENG/GS 202 Latin America in Fact, in Fiction
LAS/ENG/GS 302 Travel and Adventure in Latin American Fiction
Selected Publications:
Books
Other Americans: The Art of Latin America in the US Imaginary. Pittsburgh: U of Pittsburgh P, 2022.
Pragmatic Passions: Melodrama and Latin American Social Narrative. Madrid: Iberoamericana Vervuert, 2014.
Edited Volumes
Un asombro renovado: Vanguardias contemporáneas en América Latina. Co-edited with Luis Hernán Castañeda. Madrid: Iberoamericana Vervuert, 2017.
Technology, Literature, and Digital Culture in Latin America: Mediatized Sensibilities in a Globalized Era. Co-edited with Tania Gentic. New York: Routledge, 2016.
Articles and Book Chapters
"Screen Time: The Digitalization of Latin American Literature and Culture.” A Companion to Latin American Literature and Culture (2nd Edition). Sara Castro Klarén, Editor. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2022. 671-84.
“Nosotros los pobres.” Lexicon of Global Melodrama. Heike Paul, Sarah Marak, Katharina Gerund, and Marius Henderson, Editors. Bielefeld, Germany: transcript, 2022. 79-82.
“Yours Truly, Buenos Aires: Affective Distributions in the Writings of Ricardo Strafacce.” Revista de Estudios Hispánicos 53.2 (2019): 679-700.
“Reading the Affective Contours of the Río de la Plata: Aira, Levrero, Strafacce, and Umpi.” MLN 133.2 (2018): 411-34.
“Procedimeintos de la nostalgia: Bolaño y Aira frente a la vanguardia.” Co-written with Luis Hernán Castañeda. Un asombro renovado: Vanguardias contemporáneas en América Latina. Matthew Bush and Luis Hernán Castañeda, Editors. Madrid: Iberoamericana Vervuert, 2017. 221-43.
“Into the Screen: Inhabiting Media with Mario Levrero.” Technology, Literature, and Digital Culture in Latin America: Mediatized Sensibilities in a Globalized Era. Matthew Bush and Tania Gentic, Editors. New York: Routledge, 2016. 44-59.
“Imposibilidades posibles: Más allá de los medios masivos en César Aira y Mario Bellatin.” A Contracorriente 12.3 (2015): 271-95.
"Un asunto familiar: Entre afecto y violencia política en La hora azul de Alonso Cueto y Un lugar llamado Oreja de Perro de Iván Thays." Revista Iberoamericana LXXXI.250 (2015): 15-30.