Dr. Fabienne Viala

Biography

Fabienne Viala completed her PhD in Comparative Literature in 2004 at Université Paris 3 Sorbonne Nouvelle. Since 2008, she has taught Latin American and Caribbean Francophone Literatures and Cultures. In 2009, she joined the University of Cambridge as a Mellon Fellow in Postcolonial and Latin American Caribbean Literatures. Her research focuses on comparative studies in Latin American francophone historical novels, national memory, and crime fiction across Cuban, Spanish, and French literatures. Viala's monograph, 'Post-Columbus Syndrome: Identities, Cultural Nationalism Commemorations Caribbean,' was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2014. It examines the representation of Christopher Columbus in Caribbean cultural production and investigates the relationship between memory, historical commemoration, and cultural nationalism in the Caribbean Islands. Her ongoing research explores coloniality and neocolonialism, focusing on issues such as extractivism, racial discrimination, and the climate crisis. She is particularly interested in how creative responses in visual arts and literature challenge dominant narratives pertaining to climate collapse in contemporary Caribbean and Latin American contexts. Prof. Viala serves as the Alumni Liaison for the School of Modern Languages and Cultures and as the Head of Hispanic Studies from 2021 to 2024.

Research Interests