Kristian Ayala

In my dissertation, I argue that US Latina/o writers between the World Wars strategically identified with criollos, or American-born Spaniards during the colonial era. For these writers, invoking criollo origins was a curative rhetorical strategy. It would come to change meaning in the 1960s—but not disappear outright. Analyzing forgotten texts, and synthesizing recent recovery scholarship on Latina/o cultural pasts, I uncover this long-lost rhetorical strategy, asking how it fits into a broader US Latina/o literary history. As it currently stands, the project is titled Heralds of Heritage: Interwar US Hispanophiles and Narratives of Loss.

At Stanford English I've taught a course on American picaresque novels and assisted courses on narrative theory and post-1865 American literature. With two colleagues I coordinate Generaciones, an interdepartmental reading group in Latinx studies. Outside of the classroom, I serve as a mentor for the Vice Provost of Graduate Education's EDGE program, an initiative designed to promote equity and inclusion. Before coming to Stanford, I taught high school in Chicago and New York City.