Roberto González Echevarría (born 1943) is a Cuban-born critic of Latin American literature and culture. He is the

Sterling Professor Sterling Professor, the highest academic rank at Yale University, is awarded to a tenured faculty member considered the best in his or her field. It is akin to the rank of university professor at other universities. The appointment, made by the ...

of Hispanic and Comparative Literature at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...

Early life, education, and career

González Echevarría was born in

Sagua La Grande Sagua la Grande (nicknamed ''La Villa del Undoso'', sometimes shortened in Sagua) is a municipality located on the north coast of the province of Villa Clara in central Cuba, on the Sagua la Grande River. The city is close to Mogotes de Juma ...

in 1943; his family moved to

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

when he was 13, and after the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in co ...

, his family emigrated to

Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough C ...

in the US, where relatives on his father's side had already moved. His mother was a PhD and teacher of philosophy. González Echevarría received his bachelor's from the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF i ...

in 1964, his master's from

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

in 1966, and a second master's and doctorate from

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

in 1970. After receiving his doctorate with a thesis titled '' 'Aproximación estructuralista a 'La vida es sueno,' ensayo de un método' '', González Echevarría taught at Yale and then at

Cornell Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

(1971-1977). Since 1977, he has taught at Yale, where he was awarded the first endowed chair in Spanish (R. Selden Rose) in 1985. In 1991, he was named Bass Professor of Hispanic and Comparative Literature, and in 1995, Sterling Professor, the highest-ranking university chair at Yale.

Awards and honors

His ''Myth and Archive'' won the 1989–90 MLA's

Katherine Singer Kovács Katherine Singer Kovács (1946-1989) was an American film studies academicGottesman, Ron. ''Homage to Kitty Singer Kovacs.'' Cinema Journal 30, no. 3 (1991): 3–5. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1224926.''In memory of Katherine Singer Kovacs (1946� ...

Prize and the Latin American Studies Association's 1992 Bryce Wood Book Award, and ''The Pride of Havana'' received the Dave Moore Award for the Best Baseball Book of 2002. His ''Lecturas y relecturas'' won the 2013 Premio Annual de la Crítica (Book Prize in Criticism) in Cuba. González Echevarría holds honorary doctorates from

Colgate University Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York. The college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York and operated under that name until 1823, when it was renamed Hamilton Theolog ...

(1987), the

(2000), and

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

(2002). An international symposium was held in his honor at the Universidad de Puerto Rico, Arecibo in 2002, and an issue of ''Encuentro de la Cultura Cubana'' was published in his honor. He was elected a member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

in 1999. In March 2011, he was awarded the

National Humanities Medal The National Humanities Medal is an American award that annually recognizes several individuals, groups, or institutions for work that has "deepened the nation's understanding of the humanities, broadened our citizens' engagement with the huma ...

of 2010 by President

Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

Selected works

* González Echevarría, Roberto "Memorias del archivo: una vida." (2022). * González Echevarría, Roberto "Mito y archivo. Una teoría de la narrativa latinoamericana." (2019). * González Echevarría, Roberto. The voice of the masters: writing and authority in modern latin american literature.

University of Texas Press The University of Texas Press (or UT Press) is a university press that is part of the University of Texas at Austin. Established in 1950, the Press publishes scholarly books and journals in several areas, including Latin American studies, Te ...

, 2010. * González Echevarría, Roberto. Myth and archive: a theory of Latin American narrative.

Duke University Press Duke University Press is an academic publisher and university press affiliated with Duke University. It was founded in 1921 by William T. Laprade as The Trinity College Press. (Duke University was initially called Trinity College). In 1926 ...

, 1998. * González Echevarría, Roberto. The pride of Havana: A history of Cuban baseball.

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...

, USA, 1999. * González Echevarría, Roberto.

Alejo Carpentier Alejo Carpentier y Valmont (, ; December 26, 1904 – April 24, 1980) was a Cuban novelist, essayist, and musicologist who greatly influenced Latin American literature during its famous "boom" period. Born in Lausanne, Switzerland, of Frenc ...

: The Pilgrim at Home.

, 1990. * González Echevarría, Roberto. Love and the Law in

Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 Old Style and New Style dates, NS) was an Early Modern Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-emin ...

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day, and became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and operationally autonomous. , Yale Univers ...

, 2008.

References

External links

* at Yale University {{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzalez Echevarria, Roberto Latin Americanists Cuban literary critics Living people Yale University faculty Cornell University faculty Cuban male writers National Humanities Medal recipients Yale Sterling Professors 1943 births University of South Florida alumni Indiana University alumni Yale University alumni Cuban emigrants to the United States Literary critics of Spanish