Professor Stuart Green

Profile

I lived and worked in Madrid for two years before completing a degree in Spanish and History of Art at University College London. I then completed postgraduate study at the University of Sheffield, obtaining an MA and PhD in Hispanic Studies in 2002 and 2006 respectively. I joined the University of Leeds as Teaching Fellow in 2005 and was made Lecturer the following year. I was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2012, and to Professor in 2024. 

Research interests

I am currently writing a book on Afro-Spaniards and how professional musicians as well as the wider community of Spaniards of sub-Saharan African origin use music as a means by which to speak about their life experiences, generate a sense of solidarity (often in view of exclusionary, raclalised understandings of Spanishness held by others), and establish aesthetic and emotional affiliations with the global African diaspora. This book builds on research I have already published on rappers such as Frank, T, El Chojín and Arianna Puello, and the singer Concha Buika, in which I nuance Paul Gilroy's Anglocentric notion of the 'black Atlantic', both in order to recognise Afro-Spaniards' close connections with Africa and their experimentations with the cultures of their country of residence. In my book, I plan to include studies of Mallorcan singer-songwriter Guillem d'Efak and rock guitarist Hermes Alogo, as well as enthomusicological analyses of residents of the Madrid barrio of Lavapiés and African discos in and around the capital.

In parallel with my work on popular music, I have also published research on the representation of race in Spanish film, television and theatre, with a focus on the roles in which actors of migrant origin are cast, blackface performance, and the careers of writers and directors such as Minke Wang and Santiago Zannou. My other publications on Spanish culture include examinations of theatre publicity, the use of cinematic techniques on stage, and disagreement on the political right in post-war theatre.

As convenor of the European Popular Musics Research Group, based at the University of Leeds, I have been able to develop research interests beyond Spain. With my fellow convenor, Dr Isabelle Marc (Complutense University, Madrid), I have edited a book on the singer-songwriter in Europe (which includes our introduction and a co-authored chapter) and a special issue of the Journal of European Popular Culture. With my colleague Prof. Duncan Wheeler, I have published an analysis of music festivals, fosucing on Live at Leeds.

I am also interested in the teaching of Spanish in secondary schools. My recent translation of José Luis Alonso's 1981 play La estanquera de Vallecas (as The Granny and the Heist) contains a large number of teaching resources for A-level/IB and undergraduate students, which exploit the original text, my translation and a number of other authentic materials, such as newspaper articles, online news reports, and an interview with one of the actors involved in the 1985 production of the play.

Qualifications

• PhD in Hispanic Studies
• MA in Hispanic Studies
• BA in Spanish and History of Art

Professional memberships

• Association of Hispanists of Great Britain and Ireland
• Estreno: Cuadernos del Teatro Español Contemporaneo. Member of Editorial Board
• New Cinemas: Journal of Contemporary Film. Editor
• Neuróptica: Estudios sobre el Cómic. Member of Editorial Board

Student education

I teach across all levels of our various undergraduate degrees in Spanish, with a particular focus on peninsular culture (theatre, film, the novel, poetry and painting). I also draw on my research expertise for more transnational modules delivered at School-level. I am particularly interested in the use of target language in the classroom.

Research groups and institutes

• Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American
• European Popular Musics
• Theatre, Music and Performance
• Film Studies

Current postgraduate researchers

• Jennifer Argyle