José Manuel Losada (
Zamora, 1962) is a university
professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...
and
literary theorist with a specialization in the fields of
myth criticism and
comparative literature
Comparative literature studies is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across language, linguistic, national, geographic, and discipline, disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role ...
. Within these fields he has published several books in Spanish, French and English.
Academic career
José Manuel Losada holds a PhD from the
University of the Sorbonne
The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...
(1990) and a habilitation as Research Director (HDR) from the
University of Nancy II (1999). He has been Assistant Professor at the
University of Navarre, Visiting Scholar at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
, Visiting Professor at the
University of Montreal, Visiting Scholar at the
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
, Senior Fellow at St John's College (Oxford), Senior Fellow at the
University of Durham
Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charter in 1837. It was the first recognised university to ...
(University College), and Visiting Professor at
Sofia University
Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" () is a public university, public research university in Sofia, Bulgaria. It is the oldest institution of higher education in Bulgaria.
Founded on 1 October 1888, the edifice of the university was constr ...
(St. Kliment Ohridski). He has given research seminars at the universities of
Jerusalem
Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
,
Montpellier
Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...
,
Münster
Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...
,
Munich (LMU),
Valencia
Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...
,
Guadalajara
Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...
(Mexico),
Sofia
Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...
,
Tunis
Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...
,
Iceland
Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
and
Athens
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
. Since 2000, he has been a Professor at
Complutense University of Madrid
The Complutense University of Madrid (, UCM; ) is a public research university located in Madrid. Founded in Alcalá in 1293 (before relocating to Madrid in 1836), it is one of the oldest operating universities in the world, and one of Spain's ...
, where he teaches courses on
French literature
French literature () generally speaking, is literature written in the French language, particularly by French people, French citizens; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of Franc ...
,
comparative literature
Comparative literature studies is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across language, linguistic, national, geographic, and discipline, disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role ...
, and literature and religion.
J.M. Losada is the founder and editor of ''Amaltea, Journal of Myth Criticism'' (2008 –), a prestigious
academic journal
An academic journal (or scholarly journal or scientific journal) is a periodical publication in which Scholarly method, scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. They serve as permanent and transparent forums for the ...
with a focus on analyzing the reception of ancient, medieval and modern
myth
Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...
s in contemporary arts and literature. He is also founder and president of ''Asteria, International Association for Myth Criticism'',
a
not-for-profit cultural association with an aim to promote research on myth in contemporary arts and literature. Furthermore, he is the founder and director of ''Acis, a myth criticism research group'' which brings together numerous academics and doctoral researchers with an interest in analyzing the contemporary relevance of myth from an
interdisciplinary
Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several fields such as sociology, anthropology, psychology, economi ...
perspective. He is also the principal investigator in several R&D projects related to myth criticism. With the support of the members of these groups, Losada has coordinated many international conferences, outreach activities ("Mythological Walks" programmed in the
Madrid Science Week), and international art competitions on the subject of myth.
His academic production includes some twenty books and over two hundred articles published in academic books and journals.
Cultural Myth Criticism
Losada defines myth as "a functional, symbolic and thematic narrative of one or several extraordinary events with a transcendent, sacred and supernatural referent; which lacks, in principle, historical testimony; and which refers to an individual or collective, but always absolute, cosmogony or eschatology."
This syncretic, expansive concept of myth allows the critic to embark on innovative analysis and synthesis of mythical narratives and their diverse processes.
Myth criticism –a term coined by
Gilbert Durand– is the study of myth; Losada's main contribution to literary theory is related to the updating of these studies into what he calls "Cultural Myth Criticism".
Cultural Myth Criticism places particular emphasis on the sacred, supernatural transcendence of myth. Losada states in numerous texts the differences between this transcendence and the transcendence that operates in other imaginary correlates (fantasy, science-fiction and esotericism). Losada also fully escapes from partial and distorting approaches to myth (manifestation of psychoanalytic complexes or social deformations: Freud, Barthes, etc.). There is myth only when two characters of a work of fiction, one from the sacred supernatural world, and the other from the natural world, establish contact. This interpretation (“the myth as an object”, the “value” in culture and textual interpretation), allows him to avoid reductive approaches to myth. Indeed, Losada considers that the indiscriminate application of a series of configuring factors of contemporary Western society (social and technical globalization, the “doxa” of democratic and consumerist relativism and the logic of vital and reflexive immanence) can mislead the critics who approach myth. Conscious and fond of today’s world, Losada proposes taking into account these factors as a benchmark and contrast for a truly academic study of myth. Without losing sight of previous approaches, this new myth criticism develops an epistemology that enables to comprehend and explain an imaginary and global reality, aimed at a greater understanding of the true message of myths for today’s culture. This discipline is the result of the main interpretation premises assumed by J.M. Losada:
# Myth criticism requires a previous assumption of a definition of myth which can be applied to every specific instance (otherwise, the literary critic would be “playing with a marked deck”). Any myth is structured on a grid of mythemes (any mytheme has a transcendent valence).
# Myth criticism requires the use of a correct terminology which distinguishes:
## Myth from other related tools: symbol, theme, archetype, prototype, hero, etc.
## Myth from other correlates of the imaginary: esotericism, fantasy, science fiction.
## Myth from pseudo-myth, i.e., mythicized historic characters or social and political sublimations.
Cultural myth criticism has proved to be particularly useful in the analysis of contemporary myths. Many researchers have followed these methodological principles to approach an innovative analysis and synthesis of mythical narratives.
Main works
Books
* 1993: ''Tirso, Molière, Pouchkine, Lenau. Analyses et synthèses sur un mythe littéraire''. Edited with
Pierre Brunel, Paris, Klincksieck. .
* 1997: ''Bibliography of the Myth of Don Juan in Literary History'', José Manuel Losada ed.
Lewiston, New York:
Edwin Mellen Press. .
* 1999: ''Bibliographie critique de la littérature espagnole en France au XVIIe siècle. Présence et influence'', Geneva (Switzerland): Droz. .
* 2010: ''Métamorphoses du roman français. Avatars d'un genre dévorateur'', José Manuel Losada ed. Lovaina (Belgium): Peeters. .
* 2010: ''Mito y mundo contemporáneo. La recepción de los mitos antiguos, medievales y modernos en la literatura contemporánea''. Bari (Italy): Levante Editori. .
* 2012: ''Myth and Subversion in the Contemporary Novel''. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Edited with Marta Guirao. .
* 2013: ''Mito e interdisciplinariedad. Los mitos antiguos, medievales y modernos en la literatura y las artes contemporáneas''. Bari (Italy): Levante Editori. Edited with Antonella Lipscomb. .
* 2014: ''Abordajes. Mitos y reflexiones sobre el mar''. José Manuel Losada ed., Madrid: Instituto Español de Oceanografía. .
* 2014: ''Victor Hugo et l’Espagne. L’imaginaire hispanique dans l’œuvre poétique''. In collaboration with André Labertit, Paris, Honoré Champion. .
* 2015: ''Myths in Crisis: The Crisis of Myth''. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Edited with Antonella Lipscomb. .
* 2015: ''Nuevas formas del mito'', José Manuel Losada ed. Berlin: Logos Verlag. .
* 2016: ''Mitos de hoy. Ensayos de mitocrítica cultural'', José Manuel Losada ed., Berlin, Logos Verlag. .
* 2017: ''Myth and Emotions'', Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Edited with Antonella Lipscomb. .
* 2019: ''Myth and Audiovisual Creation'', Berlín: Logos Verlag. Edited with Antonella Lipscomb. .
* 2021: ''Mito y ciencia ficción'', Madrid: Sial Pigmalión. Edited with Antonella Lipscomb. .
* 2022: ''El Jardín de las Hespérides: del mito a la belleza'', Madrid: Ediciones Complutense. Curator and Editor. .
* 2022: ''Mitocrítica cultural. Una definición del mito'', Madrid: Akal. .
* 2024: ''Mito: teorías de un concepto controvertido'', José Manuel Losada y Antonella Lipscomb (eds.), Madrid, Sial Pigmalión , 131 pp. .
* 2024: ''Mythical Narratives in Comparative European Literature / Le récit mythique dans la littérature européenne comparée'', CompLit. Journal of European Literature, Arts and Society, Asun López-Varela y José Manuel Losada (dir.), 7, París, Classiques Garnier, 236 p. ISSN 2780-2523. .
Articles
* 1989. “Calderón de la Barca: ''El laurel de Apolo''”. ''Revista de Literatura'' (Madrid), 51: 485–494. .
* 2004: "The Myth of the Fallen Angel. Its Theosophy in Scandinavian, English, and French Literature". ''Nonfictional Romantic Prose''. Expanding Borders, Steven P. Sondrup & Virgil Nemoianu eds. Amsterdam / Philadelphia (PA): John Benjamins: 433–457. DOI: 10.1075/chlel.xviii.34los. .
* 2008: “Victor Hugo et le mythe de Don Juan”, ''Don Juans insolites'', Pierre Brunel ed. París : Presses de l’Université Paris-Sorbonne: 79–86. .
* 2009: “La nature mythique du Graal dans ''Le Conte du Graal'' de Chrétien de Troyes”. Cahiers de Civilisation Médiévale (Poitiers), 52,1 (2009): 3–20. .
* 2014: "Myth and Extraordinary Event". ''International Journal of Language and Literature''. New York: pp. 31 – 55
Link
* 2015: “Myth and Origins: Men Want to Know”, ''Journal of Literature and Art Studies''. New York, vol. 5, nº 10, pp. 930–945. (print) (online).
* 2016: “El mundo de la fantasía y el mundo del mito. Los cuentos de hadas”, ''Çédille'', “Monografías”, 6: 69-100.
Link* 2017: “El «mito» de Don Quijote (2ª parte): ¿con o sin comillas? En busca de criterios pertinentes del mito”, ''Cervantès, quatre siècles après: nouveaux objets, nouvelles approches'', Emmanuel Marigno et al. eds., Binges (France): Éditions Orbis Tertius: 11–32. .
* 2018: “Le personnage mythique”, ''Degrés. Revue de synthèse à orientation sémiologique'' (Brussels), 45: c1-c18. .
* 2019: “Preface: The Myth of the Eternal Return”, ''Journal of Comparative Literature and Aesthetics'', 40.2: 7-10.
Link* 2020: “Mito y antropogonía en la literatura hispanoamericana: Hombres de maíz, de Miguel Ángel Asturias”, Rassegna iberistica (Venezia), 43, 113, Giugno (2020), 41-56. e-ISSN: 2037-6588.
Link* 2020: “Cultural Myth Criticism and Today’s Challenges to Myth”, Explaining, Interpreting, and Theorizing Religion and Myth: Contributions in Honor of Robert A. Segal, Nickolas B. Roubekas and Thomas Ryba (eds.), Leiden, Koninklijke Brill NV, pp. 355–370.
Link* 2021: “La trascendencia de la ciencia ficción”, Mito y ciencia ficción, José Manuel Losada & Antonella Lipscomb (eds.), Madrid, Grupo Editorial Sial Pigmalión, pp. 39-46. ISBN 9788418888120.
* 2024: “The Referential Function of Myth”, Mythical Narratives in Comparative European Literature, Paris, Classiques Garnier.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Losada, Jose Manuel
Spanish literary critics
Living people
1962 births
Mythographers
Comparative mythologists
Academic staff of the Complutense University of Madrid