Sonia García de Alba Lobeira
Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, English Seminar
Reinhart-Koselleck Project “Diachronic Narratology”
Ph.D. Student
Belfortstraße 18, room 3013
79098 Freiburg
Tel. +49 0 761 203 98717
sonia.garciadealba@anglistik.uni-freiburg.de
Curriculum Vitae
Sonia García de Alba Lobeira is a PhD student in English philology at the University of Freiburg and a member of the Reinhart-Koselleck Project “Diachronic Narratology”, which is funded by the German Research Foundation, since October 2019. She studied a BA in Hispanic Literature at Tecnológico de Monterrey (Mexico) and was sponsored by the Fundación Cuauhtémoc-Moctezuma to study a year abroad at Yale University (USA) as part of the Y-VISP Program. She also secured a scholarship to study for two months at the University of Cambridge (UK) over the summer of 2014. In 2017, she was awarded a Chevening Scholarship by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office to study an MSc in Medieval Literatures and Cultures at the University of Edinburgh (UK), where she graduated with distinction. Her MSc dissertation focused on the politicized adaptation of prophetic texts in medieval vernacular literatures, specifically those connected to the character Merlin. Currently, she studies the evolution of narratological features from a diachronic perspective in Middle English prose romances and the representation of emotions in both the verse and prose modes within this tradition.
Main Areas of Research
Sonia’s PhD thesis aims to study the range of expressions of emotion present in Middle English romance using a narratological framework specifically adapted for dealing with medieval sources. Her focus will be on aspects of narrative discourse—such as focalization, direct speech and narrative commentary. She is being supervised by Jun. Prof. Eva von Contzen (University of Freiburg), Prof. Carolyne Larrington (St John’s College, Oxford University), and Prof. Monika Fludernik (University of Freiburg).
She is also interested in studying the evolution of narrative features across verse and prose romances from a diachronic perspective, comparative medieval studies, with a specific focus on the adaptation of Celtic sources in other literary traditions, and medievalism in modern fantasy.
Publications
"Michael Ende". The Literary Encyclopedia, Vol. 1.4.1: German-language Writing and Culture: Germany, 500-present. Ed. Dimitra Fimi. Vol. Eds. Gerhard P. Knapp, Jennifer Marston William, Herbert Rowland, Jill E. Twark. First published 15 August 2019. https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=14129
"Der Spiegel im Spiegel [The Mirror in the Mirror]". The Literary Encyclopedia, Vol. 1.4.1: German-language Writing and Culture: Germany, 500-present. Ed. Dimitra Fimi. Vol. Eds. Gerhard P. Knapp, Jennifer Marston William, Herbert Rowland, Jill E. Twark. First published 20 August 2019. https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=38866
Conference Papers, Talks and Presentations
“Narrative Strategies in the Late Middle Ages: Focalization and Subjectivity in Tales of Calumniated Queens”. International Conference on Narrative 2021 - ISSN (Virtual Conference), 19-23 May 2021.
“De Hen Ogledd a Castilla: adaptaciones del Merlín galés en la Iberia medieval [From Yr Hen Ogledd to Castile: adaptations of the Welsh Merlin in Medieval Iberia]”. II Jornadas doctorales para jóvenes investigadores, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona. 9-10 July 2020.
“Cywydd y Cedor - A Medieval Poem To The Vagina” (Workshop). Arbeitskreises Feministische TheorieN Freiburg. Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg. 6 February 2020.
“Cultura Medieval [Medieval Culture]” (Guest Speaker). Poderosas FM. Tecnológico de Monterrey. 11 April 2019.
“From the Old North to Castile: Adaptations of the Welsh Myrddin”. Thinking About Mythology in the 21st Century - Sixth Annual Colloquium, The University of Edinburgh. 10-11 November 2018.
“Myrddin, Merlinus and Merlín: The Wild Man Trope in Medieval Vernacular Literatures”. Late Antique and Medieval Postgraduate Society Seminar Series, The University of Edinburgh. 24 September 2018.
“Through the Looking Glass: Worlds Within Worlds in Michael Ende and Lewis Carroll”. Glasgow International Fantasy Conference 2018, The University of Glasgow. 26-27 April 2018.
“Reading the Táin: Old and New Approaches”. Late Antique and Medieval Postgraduate Society Seminar Series, The University of Edinburgh. 12 February 2018.
“Epístola nuncupatoria a Hernando Cortés: Una edición moderna [Dedicatory Epistle to Hernando Cortés: A Modernized Edition]”. Cervantes y su Era: 60 Aniversario de la Biblioteca Cervantina, Tecnológico de Monterrey. 5 November 2015.
Teaching
Undergraduate Seminar “Medievalism in Pop Culture: The Enduring Legacy of the European Middle Ages” at University College Freiburg - EPICUR. Summer Semester 2021.
Tutorial for the Master Colloquium “Literary Theory” at the University of Freiburg. Winter Semester 2020-2021. (Co-taught with Dr. Kai Wiegandt).
Lecturer in Medieval Hispanic Literature at Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Monterrey (México). January-May 2019.