Pilar Pedraza Martínez (born 12 October 1951) is a Spanish professor and writer. Her work has two main aspects: horror narrative and essay.

Biography

After earning her doctorate in history at the

University of Valencia The University of Valencia ( ca-valencia, Universitat de València ; also known as UV) is a public research university located in the city of Valencia, Spain. It is one of the oldest surviving universities in Spain, and the oldest in the Vale ...

, Pilar Pedraza has been teaching Film and avant-garde cinema there since 1982. She was Councilor of Culture of the

Generalitat Valenciana The Generalitat Valenciana is the generic name covering the different self-government institutions under which the Spanish autonomous community of Valencia is politically organized. It consists of seven institutions including the ''Corts Val ...

from 1993 to 1995, during the last term of

Joan Lerma Joan Lerma i Blasco (born 15 July 1951 in Valencia, Spain) is a Spanish politician for the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), who served as the first democratically elected President of the Valencian Government since the restoration of de ...

, and member of the Board of Directors of RTVV. Throughout her career, she has combined teaching and research with literary creation.

Writing

Narrative

Pilar Pedraza's stories and novels present disturbing characters and environments, in which the sinister presence of the supernatural (dead that return to life, demons, enchanted objects) is associated with madness, death, and

sadomasochistic Sadomasochism ( ) is the giving and receiving of pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain or humiliation. Practitioners of sadomasochism may seek sexual pleasure from their acts. While the terms sadist and masochist refer ...

pleasure. This theme, which dominates her first novel, ''Las joyas de la serpiente'' (1984), undergoes a gradual stylization in subsequent deliveries. In ''La perra de Alejandría'' (2003) Pedraza offers a peculiar version of the story of

Hypatia Hypatia, Koine pronunciation (born 350–370; died 415 AD) was a neoplatonist philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician, who lived in Alexandria, Egypt, then part of the Eastern Roman Empire. She was a prominent thinker in Alexandria where ...

(Melanta, in the novel), who is presented as a victim of the confrontation between the cult of

Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Roma ...

and that of

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

, led by the bishop Críspulo (an analogue of Cyril of Alexandria).

Essay

Pedraza's research focuses on three fields: art and society of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

and Baroque,

cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking ...

, and

misogyny Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practice ...

. The trilogy formed by ''La bella, enigma y pesadilla'' (1991), ''Máquinas de amar. Secretos del Cuerpo Artificial'' (1998), and ''Espectra. Descenso a las criptas de la literatura y el cine'' (2004) – the latter winning the 2005

Premio Ignotus Premios Ignotus are annual Spanish literary awards that were created in 1991 by the Asociación Española de Fantasía, Ciencia Ficción y Terror (AEFCFT, translation: Spanish Association of Fantasy, Science Fiction and Horror). The awards, which ar ...

for best essay book – explores different facets of fear and fascination caused in man by the image of the sinister woman, seen as a lethal seductress, android without soul, or corpse that defies death. ''Venus barbuda y el eslabón perdido'' (2009) continues this research path, addressing the bearded or hairy woman as a freak who transgresses the border between the two sexes and links the woman with the animal.

Translation

Pedraza translated Francesco Colonna's work ''

Hypnerotomachia Poliphili ''Hypnerotomachia Poliphili'' (; ), called in English ''Poliphilo's Strife of Love in a Dream'' or ''The Dream of Poliphilus'', is a book said to be by Francesco Colonna. It is a famous example of an incunable (a work of early printing). The wor ...

'' into Spanish as ''Sueño de Polífilo''.

Works

Narratives

Awards

* 1984 City of Valencia Award for ''Las joyas de la serpiente'' * 1984 Critics' Award for ''Las joyas de la serpiente'' * 2005

for ''Espectra. Descenso a las criptas de la literatura y el cine'' * 2013 Nocte Award for ''Lucifer Circus'' * 2016 Premio Sheridan Le Fanu de la Semana Gótica de Madrid for her literary career

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pedraza, Pilar 1951 births 20th-century Spanish educators 20th-century Spanish novelists 20th-century Spanish women writers 21st-century Spanish writers 21st-century Spanish novelists 21st-century Spanish women writers Horror writers Italian–Spanish translators Latin–Spanish translators Living people People from Toledo, Spain Spanish feminist writers Spanish translators Spanish women essayists Spanish women novelists Spanish women short story writers Spanish short story writers University of Valencia alumni Academic staff of the University of Valencia 21st-century Spanish educators 20th-century Spanish women educators 21st-century Spanish women educators