Emiro Martínez-Osorio’s research and teaching interests include Colonial Spanish American Studies, Caribbean Literature and Transatlantic Studies. His book Authority, Piracy and Captivity in Colonial Spanish American Writing (2016) examines the intersection between social class, literary taste and political dissent in Juan de Castellanos’ Elegies of Illustrious Men of the Indies. The book offers an interpretation of Castellanos’s writings that shows his critical engagement with the reformist project postulated in Alonso de Ercilla’s La Araucana, and it elucidates the complex poetic discourse Castellanos created to defend the interests of the early generation of explorers and conquistadors in the aftermath of the promulgation of the New Laws and the mounting criticism of the institution of the encomienda.

In 2012, he collaborated with Emelie Chhangur, Assistant Director of the Art Gallery of York University, in the preparation of the bilingual art catalogue of the exhibition Imaginary Homelands, which showcased the work of a new generation of Colombian visual artists.

He is currently working on a monograph about the use of visual imagery, memory and history in the short stories and novels by Roberto Burgos Cantor, and a critical edition of the written report presented by indigenous chieftain Diego de Torres to King Philip II of Spain in 1586. His research has been supported by the Centre for Renaissance and Reformation Studies (UofT), the John Carter Brown Library and the Newberry Library. At York University, he teaches courses on Spanish-American Modernismo, Hispanic Caribbean Literature and Sixteenth century Iberian heroic poetry.

Research Interests

Current Research Projects

Emiro Martínez-Osorio’s research and teaching interests include Colonial Spanish American Studies, Caribbean Literature and Transatlantic Studies. His book Authority, Piracy and Captivity in Colonial Spanish American Writing (2016) examines the intersection between social class, literary taste and political dissent in Juan de Castellanos’ Elegies of Illustrious Men of the Indies. The book offers an interpretation of Castellanos’s writings that shows his critical engagement with the reformist project postulated in Alonso de Ercilla’s La Araucana, and it elucidates the complex poetic discourse Castellanos created to defend the interests of the early generation of explorers and conquistadors in the aftermath of the promulgation of the New Laws and the mounting criticism of the institution of the encomienda.

In 2012, he collaborated with Emelie Chhangur, Assistant Director of the Art Gallery of York University, in the preparation of the bilingual art catalogue of the exhibition Imaginary Homelands, which showcased the work of a new generation of Colombian visual artists.

He is currently working on a monograph about the use of visual imagery, memory and history in the short stories and novels by Roberto Burgos Cantor, and a critical edition of the written report presented by indigenous chieftain Diego de Torres to King Philip II of Spain in 1586. His research has been supported by the Centre for Renaissance and Reformation Studies (UofT), the John Carter Brown Library and the Newberry Library. At York University, he teaches courses on Spanish-American Modernismo, Hispanic Caribbean Literature and Sixteenth century Iberian heroic poetry.

Degrees

Research Interests