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Enrique Ajuria Ibarra

Enrique_Ajuria

Thesis Working Title

Fauns, Ghosts and Vampires: The Politics of Fantasy and Horror in Mexican and Spanish Cinema

Research Interests

I am currently undertaking the third year of research in the PhD in Cultural Research programme at Lancaster University.I am working with fantasy and horror cinema of both Mexico and Spain, mainly exploring its social, political and ideological effects and criticism.My research involves exploring and analysing theories of fantasy and the issues that arise when trying to define a "fantasy" genre in cinema, more specifically, what it means to speak of fantasy, or "the fantastic", both in Mexican and Spanish culture. The enquiry has come across important intersections between fantasy, gothic and horror, as well as the exploration of themes such as: vampirism, hauntings, the fairy tale, trauma, post-colonialism, globalisation, identity and the nation.By working with specific film examples from both Mexico and Spain I also intend to establish how fantasy is screened at the cinema to provide further contributions to the topic.My main research interests lie on the definition of fantasy, especially in psychoanalytic, film and literary theory, as well as a recent growing interest for gothic and horror theories.I am also interested in (but not limited to) exploring and discussing: the films of Guillermo del Toro, Dario Argento, Alfred Hitchcock and Peter Greenaway; fantasy and horror cinema; gothic literature and culture; Spanish American fantastic literature; 19th and 20th century narrative in Spanish and English; the works of Julio Cortázar, Juan Rulfo, Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel García Márquez, Mario Vargas Llosa and other Hispanic writers; visual culture; psychoanalysis (Freud, Lacan, Zizek).

Current Teaching

CULT 101: Introduction to Media, Film and Cultural Studies - Seminar Tutor.

Other Interests and Hobbies

Films, reading, writing, cooking, swimming, travelling.

Keywords: Contemporary literary studies, Contemporary literature, Contemporary popular culture, Continental philosophy, Critical theory, Cultural Studies, Culture and media, Gothic film, Gothic literature, Postmodernism, Post-structuralism, Psychoanalytic criticism, Psychoanalytic film theory, Spanish