Héctor Melo Ruiz – Campus Directory – Carleton College

Education & Professional History

Universidad Pedagogica Nacional de Colombia, BA; Universidad de Los Andes, MA; University of Notre Dame, PhD

Héctor A Melo Ruiz (Ph.D from The University of Notre Dame) is a specialist in Latin American Literature. His area of expertise is 20th-and 21st-century Latin American Narrative. He is currently writing a book about the cultural representation of riots. His research and teaching interests are violence, race, and intellectuals. He teaches courses on labor, contemporary narrative, and urban unrest.

At Carleton since 2021.

Organizations & Scholarly Affiliations

Modern Languages Association (MLA); Latin American Studies Association (LASA); Asociación de Colombianistas

Current Courses

Fall 2022
SPAN 204: Intermediate Spanish
Winter 2023
SPAN 204: Intermediate Spanish
SPAN 385: Riots, Rebellions & Revolutions in Latin America
Spring 2023
LTAM 398: Latin American Forum
LTAM 400: Integrative Exercise
SPAN 218: Introduction to Latin American Cinema

Latin American Literature and Culture, Urban Violence & Critical Race Theory

Articles (peer-reviewed)

2022. “Representaciones letradas de la radio, la prensa y el intelectual en dos novelas del Bogotazo”. Cuadernos de literatura. Pontificia Universidad Javeriana. (Volumen 26 Julio-Diciembre de 2022).

2017. “Memorias del subdesarrollo (1968): ante el rostro de la muchedumbre desde las paradojas del cine documental.” A Contracorriente. Volume 15, Num. 1 (Fall): 127-148.

2014. “Alboroto y motín de la plebe racializada de don Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora.” Vanderbilt e-Journal of Luso-Hispanic Studies. Volume 9 (2014): 128-137.

2013. “De la utopía de la edad dorada al paraíso ‘caníbal’ en Los perros del paraíso (1983) de Abel Posse.” Revista de Estudios Hispánicos. Volume XLVII, Num. 2 (June): 249-266.

Video interviews

2023. Yeniter Poleo

2021. Antonio José Ponte

Book Reviews

2017. Riot. Strike. Riot. The New Era of Uprisings (London; New York: Verso, 2016) by Joshua Clover, for A Contracorriente (Vol. 14, No. 4, Spring): 330-333.

2016. Sujetos múltiples: colonialidad, indigenismo y feminismo. Homenaje a Betty Osorio (Bogotá: Ediciones Uniandes, 2014) by Carolina Alzate and David Solodkow (comps), for Cuadernos de Literatura (Vol. XX, No. 39, January-June): 501-506.

2016. From the Ashes of History. Loss and Recovery of Archives and Libraries in Modern Latin America (Raleigh, NC: Editorial A Contracorriente, 2015) by Carlos Aguirre and Javier Villa-Flores, for A Contracorriente (Vol. 13, No. 2, Winter): 385-391.

2013. Un país malsano. La conquista del espacio en las crónicas del Río de la Plata (siglos XVI y XVII) (Rosario: Beatriz Viterbo Editora y Universidad Nacional de Rosario, 2011) by Loreley El Jaber, for Perífrasis: revista de literatura, teoría y crítica (Vol. 4, No. 7, January-June): 156-158.

2012. Perspectivas sobre el Renacimiento y el Barroco (Bogotá: Ediciones Uniandes, 2011) by David M. Solodkow, for Perífrasis: revista de literatura, teoría y crítica (Vol. 3, No. 5, January-June): 111-114.

Other Publications

2020. “La lengua suelta: nueva historia cultural de la Revolú”. Diario de Cuba. Madrid, España (August).

2020. “Búnker literario de un rapero, el Tote”. El Espectador. Bogotá, Colombia (August).

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