Elvira Roca Barea
Elvira Roca Barea is a famous and award-winning professor, philologist, historian, columnist and author from Malaga, best known for essays such as the controversial Imperiophobia and black legend: Rome, Russia, the United States and the Spanish Empire, for which he received the 2018 Los Libreros Recomiendan Award. Throughout his career, Roca Barea has dedicated himself to studying Hispanicity and the factors, both internal and external, that affect its existence.
Her research has led her to positions both praised and criticized by her colleagues., especially for the essay cited above and also for others such as Failureology. Spain and its elites: from the French to the present day. In them, the author leaves on the table her perspective against indigenism and her vindication of the importance of the viceregal periods for the growth of Hispanic States in the process of development.
Biography
First years
Elvira Roca Barea was born in 1966, in El Borge, a small town located in AxarquÃa, Málaga, Spain. After high school, he completed a degree in Philology at the University of Malaga, obtaining his degree in 1989.. Later, he completed several doctoral courses at his alma mater, and was mentored by professors such as Antonio Alberte González. He also studied French Literature, rhetoric and paleography at the François Rabelais University of Tours (France).
These last studies helped him pursue his doctorate in Medieval Literature, which you obtain with the mention cum laude thanks to your thesis Critical edition and study of preaching art «ad Noticiam Artis Predicandi" (nineteen ninety five). Four years later she completed another degree, this time, in Hispanic Philology. Later she dedicated herself to teaching, teaching Language and Literature classes at a secondary school.
as a writer
During her time as a student and professor, she has collaborated with the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), in addition to working as a professor at Harvard University. In the field of writing itself, He usually collaborates with newspapers like El PaÃs o El Mundo, where he has participated with multiple articles and columns. Likewise, Elvira Roca Barea has written for several magazines.
Some of the most notable publications with which has collaborated have been Journal of Spanish Philology, Yearbook of Medieval Studies y Helmantica: journal of classical and Hebrew philology. In them he has spoken about history, literature and education. Elvira Roca Barea jumped onto the international publishing scene in 2016, after the release of her book Imperiophobia and black legend: Rome, Russia, the United States and the Spanish Empire.
Business success and controversies
After its publication, el test quickly positioned itself among the lists of best-selling non-fiction books, with more than 150.000 copies that almost flew off the shelves between 2016 and 2022. The book received extensive academic and media coverage, which increased due to criticism regarding alleged incorrect uses of quotes or misrepresentation of historical facts and invention of events.
Roca Barea defended himself against all the accusations in an article that appeared in El Mundo. As well received the support of friends and colleagues in the media, such as Miguel MartÃnez, Mario Vargas Llosa, Manuel Lucena Giraldo, AgustÃn GarcÃa Simón and Fernando GarcÃa de Cortázar. On the other hand, the author has had separatist opinions regarding the situation in Catalonia, advocating its independence in 2022.
Works by Elvira Roca Barea
- José Juan Berbel RodrÃguez (1996);
- Critical edition and study of art preachatoria ad noticim artis predicandi (1997);
- The Knight of the Tiger Skin (2003);
- Military treaty of Frontinus. Humanism and chivalry in the Castilian fourteenth century (2010);
- 6 exemplary stories (2018);
- The witches and the inquisitor (2023).
As co-author
- The influence of Cicero and Quintilian on ideas about style in the letters of Pliny the Younger / Albaladejo, Tomás; Roca Barea, MarÃa Elvira (1998);
- The study of the preaching arts status quaestionis / Alberte González, Antonio; Roca Barea, MarÃa Elvira, Antonio Ruiz Castellanos, Antonia VÃñez Sánchez, Juan Sáez Durán, ed (1998);
Most relevant works by Elvira Roca Barea
Imperiophobia and black legend: Rome, Russia, the United States and the Spanish Empire (2016)
In this test historical published by the Siruela publishing house in 2016. Since its release on the market, Elvira Roca Barea became a best-selling author due to the high acceptance of her work.
The book deals with the phenomenon of empire, the black legend and the concept of imperialism, starting with Rome and passing through Russia and the United States until reaching Spain. This, in order to compare all States and the way in which citizens and foreigners have defamed them.
The black legends allude to what has been constantly said about all the empires of the world, leading scholars to identify and demystify them. Although Roca Barea's title is not the only one that deals with this topic, it is the most popular. It is divided into 16 chapters that, in turn, contain 716 footnotes and bibliographic references from 14 different books, which have been questioned on several occasions.
Failureology. Spain and its elites: from the French to the present day (2019)
Elvira Roca Barea is a devout believer in the power of the Spanish language as the epicenter and support of Hispanic culture and literature. To prove, In his book he brings together the bases so that those who read it take into account the importance of our language., not only when communicating, but also when studying history, various civilizations and the Spanish-speaking West.
Likewise, the title talks mainly about the history of Spain. Similarly, Elvira Roca Barea raises an indirect criticism of foreign powers and their participation in condemnatory beliefs regarding the Iberian country and its culture. These positions began from an anthropological study in the United States, and were distorted until even the Spaniards themselves developed a sense of guilt towards the peoples they conquered in the past.
