Romance Literary and Cultural Studies / General Literary Studies

When shipwrecked conquistadors cross America barefoot, a noble misanthrope settles accounts with hypocritical French court society, piñatas become memes, death manifests itself in its most bizarre facets or the fatal effects of pesticides in Argentina are met with transmigration - then our interest is piqued.

French and Hispanophone literary and cultural production from the 16th century to the present day is the focus of our teaching and research, with a geographical emphasis on Latin America. We are interested in phenomena of general literary studies as well as questions of cultural theory and media studies.

News from the professorship

07.05.2026

Conference Report: "Ecocriticism and Ecothriller: Negotiations in Latin America and the Global North"

From June 18 to 20, 2026, the University of Siegen hosted the international symposium “Ecocriticism and Ecothriller: Negotiations in Latin America and the Global North.” Scholars and students from Germany and abroad came together to discuss how literature, films, video games, and comics shape our perception of nature—and what social, political, and ethical consequences result from an extractivist approach to the environment.

Lesung von Gisela Heffes im Hugendubel der City Galerie Siegen

07.05.2026

Literary Event with Gisela Heffes

As part of the conference "Ecocriticism and Eco-Thriller: Negotiations in Latin America and the Global North," author Giselle Heffes gave a reading at Hugendubel (City Galerie Siegen).

Portrait von Tobias Berneiser am Deutschen Studienzentrum in Venedig

07.05.2026

Revolution and Gender in the “Venetian ’48”: Women’s Emancipation, the Cult of the Male Hero, and Literary Memory

As a research fellow of the Fritz Thyssen Foundation, I am dedicating my one-year stay at the Centro Tedesco di Studi Veneziani (German Study Center in Venice) to examining the cultural and media representations of an event in Venetian history.

Siggi sitzt vor AR-IF und genießt das Sommerfest

07.05.2026

Invitation to the Department of Romance Studies' Summer Festival

Summer Festival of the Department of Romance Studies
July 22, 2026, starting at 4:30 p.m.
AR-IF Building

07.05.2026

Encuentro literario con Jacobo Sefamí

Reading by Jacobo Sefamí, University of California, Irvine

International

07.05.2026

Online encounter: University of Siegen meets UNAM

Intercultural and interdisciplinary encounters: Cultural heritage and interculturality

International

07.05.2026

COIL with UNAM: "El mundial de Futbol en el imaginario de México y Alemania: tensiones, narrativas y discursos"

How is Mexico portrayed and what role does the construction of identity play there in the context of the World Cup?

Sandra Lopez Varela und Hans Bouchard in der deutschen Botschaft

International

05.05.2026

"Siggi as a guest with friends": University of Siegen meets the German embassy in Mexico City

Dr. Hans Bouchard, Siggi und Prof. Dr. Sandra López Varela in der Residenz des deutschen Botschafters in Mexiko. Im Hintergrund eine Deutschland-, Europa- und Mexikoflagge. Siggi hat ein Trikot der Pumas der UNAM an und sieht besonders elegant aus.

As part of the cooperation between UNAM (Mexico) and the University of Siegen, Prof. Dr. Sandra L. López Varela and Dr. Hans Bouchard were guests of the German Ambassador to Mexico, Clemens von Goetze. Academics from all disciplines who maintain university cooperation between Germany and Mexico were invited.

This invitation was something very special for me, as I myself was able to take part in one of her courses as a Master's student at UNAM with Prof. López Varela in 2014 as part of the ISAP program. It is very motivating to learn that networks can emerge from your studies that bear fruit twelve years later as research collaborations: from exchange students to research partners.

Thanks to the financial support of the Comenius program at the University of Siegen and the focused partnership with UNAM, Prof. López Varela has already been able to enrich many of my seminars in an interdisciplinary way on site. Publications on the World Cup in Mexico and a COIL seminar (Collaborative Online International Learning) are currently in the pipeline, which will focus on international exchange between students on our courses.