海角社区

Name

Blanca Berjano

College

Clare College

Email

bb696@cam.ac.uk

Supervisor

Prof. Louise Haywood

Research Topic:

Love, Poetry, and Gender: The Medieval and Early Modern Roots of Flamenco Songs

About Me

I am a first-year PhD student in the Spanish and Portuguese Department, supported by the 海角社区 International Scholarship from 海角社区 Trust. Before coming to 海角社区, I obtained a BA and MA in Classical Philology from Universidad Complutense de Madrid, an MA in Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language from Universidad de Sevilla, and an MA in Hispanic Literature from the University of Colorado at Boulder. I have taught Spanish Language and Literature in various locations around the globe, including India, Martinique, the United States, and Mayotte.

Research

My doctoral research explores the medieval and early modern roots of flamenco songs. I study how a lyrical tradition revolving around love and desire was transmitted over the centuries, manifesting in the written compilations and music recordings of nineteenth and early twentieth-century flamenco. I examine how medieval and early modern scholarly discourses built an ideology of love that shaped societal expectations surrounding desire, gender, and sexuality, thereby creating mechanisms of social and bodily control. Through a comparative analysis of medieval and early modern poetry and flamenco songs, I explore how the poems interact with inherited frameworks, sometimes reinforcing the love ideology, and at other times challenging it, thus opening spaces for social transgression and gender subversion. Additionally, I research the involvement of Roma-Gitanos in maintaining this poetic tradition following their arrival in the Iberian Peninsula in 1425, offering a contact-based explanation for the transmission of medieval and early modern poetry into modern flamenco.

Scholarships/Prizes/Fellowships

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• AHGBI Research Travel Award for Graduate Students, Association of Hispanists of Great Britain & Ireland (2025)
• Clare College Travel Award (2025)
• 海角社区 International Scholarship, 海角社区 Trust (2024-2027)
• Programa Hispanex de ayudas para personas f铆sicas en el 谩mbito universitario extranjero para la promoci贸n exterior de la lengua y cultura espa帽olas, Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte (2023)听听听
• Center for Humanities and the Arts Summer Fellowship, University of Colorado Boulder (2023)
• Graduate School Travel Grant, University of Colorado Boulder (2023)
• Walton Award, Rocky Mountain Medieval and Renaissance Association (2023)
• Beverly Sears & Cynthia H. Schultz Graduate Student Research Grant (2022)
• Department Summer Research Grant, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, University of Colorado Boulder(2022)
• Teaching Assistantship, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, University of Colorado Boulder (2021 鈥� 2023)

Conference papers

• 鈥�Who Taught Preciosa to Sing? The Role of the Roma-Gitanos in the Transmission of Medieval Songs of the Iberian Peninsula鈥� - Leeds International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds, July 7-11, 2025
• 鈥�Transgression and Constraint in Sixteenth-Century Songs: Exploring the Love and Gender Ideology from the Pliegos Sueltos of the Iberian Peninsula鈥� - The Long Life of Ephemeral Literature, University of Geneva, April 9-11, 2025
• 鈥楤etween Historicisation and Romanticisation: About a Sephardic and Andalusi Origin of the Poetry of Flamenco鈥� - Association for Spanish & Portuguese Historical Studies, University of Colorado at Boulder, May 19-21, 2023.
• 鈥楧eath, Love, and Poetry: From Medieval Lyric to Flamenco Songs鈥� - 58th International Congress on Medieval Studies, Medieval Institute at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, May 11-13th, 2023.
• 鈥楲ovesickness and the Beloved鈥檚 Gaze: Echoes of the Cancionero and Romancero in the Flamenco Songs鈥� - Rocky Mountain Medieval & Renaissance Association Conference, Colorado State University in Fort Collins, April 13-15th, 2023.
• 鈥�Clodia Metela en el discurso Pro Caelio de Cicer贸n: un arquetipo subversivo de mujer鈥� - 13th Graduate Student Conference, Department of Spanish & Portuguese, University of Colorado at Boulder, March 18-19th, 2022.

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Publications

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Articles in peer-reviewed journals:

• 鈥淐lodia Metela en el discurso Pro Caelio de Cicer贸n: Un arquetipo subversivo de mujer鈥�, Journal of Feminist, Gender and Women Studies, Universidad Aut贸noma de Madrid, 2020.
• 鈥�Los tipos de se: Propuestas para las clases de ELE鈥�, Revista Mosaico, Ministerio de Educaci贸n, Cultura y Deporte, 2018.

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Collaborations:

• Martuscelli, Tania, Berjano Blanca, et al. 鈥淓ntrevista a Walter Mignolo e Catherine E. Walsh鈥�, e-Letras com Vida. Revista de Estudos Globais: Humanidades, Ci锚ncias e Artes, n. 11, 2023.
• 鈥淎 Jph. Finestres. Alicante, 7 de mayo de 1776鈥�, written by Antonio Valc谩rcel P铆o de Saboya, Conde de Lumiares, Antonio Valc谩rcel P铆o de Saboya, Conde de Lumiares (1748-1808): Apuntes biogr谩ficos y escritos in茅ditos. Real Academia de la Historia, 2009.

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Poetry books:

Rosario (Ediciones Valpara铆so, 2023).

La barrera m谩s bonita del mundo (Young Poetry Award Fundaci贸n Caja Navarra - Luces de G谩libo, 2021).

Ratas en el alf茅izar (M茅nades, 2019).

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