Belen Atienza

Associate Professor, Language, Literature & Culture

Dr. Atienza received a B.A. from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona in 1993 and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1995 and 2000, respectively. She has been at Clark since 2003.

Dr. Atienza is currently working on a book tentatively titled Cervantes and the Chameleon: The Story of Shame in Early Modern Spain. While shame is often seen in contemporary culture as simply a painful emotion or even a psychological disorder, in this study she argues that Cervantes’ vision of shame is more complex and closely linked to his nuanced understanding of issues in early modern Spain such as identity, hybridity, secrecy, and the problematic position of excluded minorities such as conversos. She is especially interested in the literary representations of marginal groups—the poor, the ill, the outcast—as well as the conditions in which they lived. Her other research interests include gender and women’s studies, history of theater, pedagogy, and cinema.

Dr. Atienza teaches courses in Spanish language as well as advanced undergraduate courses on Early Modern Spanish literature and history. These courses include the history of madness and the carnivalesque, the Spanish inquisition, the history of gender in the Hispanic World—Spain, Mexico, and the Caribbean.

Degrees

  • Ph.D. in Romance Languages, Princeton University, 2000
  • M.A. in Romance Languages, Princeton University, 1995
  • B.A. in Spanish Philology Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona, , 1993

Affiliated Departments

Language, Literature & Culture

Scholarly and creative works

  • Presentations

    “De vuelta a las raíces: temas y símbolos en la poesía de Juan Matos”

    VII Feria del libro LACUHE: Dedicada al poeta Juan Matos
    New York
    April
    2024
    Sponsored by LACUHE Latin American Cultural Heritage
    Belen Atienza
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    Reading of a selection of my poetry

    Belen Atienza
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    Before Harvest (selection): Tremor, Vision, Insilence, Dahlia, Deep, Reverie/Daydream

    October
    Issue #17
    Belen Atienza
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    Las hadas que no leen, Las hadas desveladas, Corales de ternura

    May
    Vol. 35
    Issue #392
    Alfa & Omega
    Belen Atienza
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    Una, Las pizarras negras, Mi tierra es una lengua

    Fundacion Armando Duvalier
    Belen Atienza
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    “Las hadas que no leen”, “Las hadas desveladas”, “Corales de ternura”

    May
    Vol. 392
    Alfa/Omega Publishers
    Belen Atienza
  • Book

    Mi tierra es una lengua

    Eternoretornografo
    2021
    El Salvador
    San Salvador
    Belen Atienza
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    Read at the official presentation of my book Tierra de noches inmensas (virtual presentation with talks by editors Susana Reyes and Mario Zetino) (May 5, 2021)

    Belen Atienza, Susana Reyes
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    Reading at the 15th Hispanic Latino Book Fair of New York

    Belen Atienza
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    Mi tierra es una lengua, Quien eres, Temblor de agua, Una

    May
    Belen Atienza
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    Para no lastimarte/So As Not to Wound You; Geminis/Twins, Temblor de Agua/Water Trembling

    Winter/Spring 2021
    Belen Atienza
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    “Una voz migrante: seleccion de prosas y poemas de Belen Atienza”

    August
    Belen Atienza
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    Reading of selections of my book Tierra de noches inmensas at a round table with three other poets

    Belen Atienza
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    Presentation of my book Tierra de noches inmensas

    Belen Atienza
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    Presentation of my book Tierra de noches inmensas

    Belen Atienza
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    Tertulia Salarrue (Poetry reading with authors Alberto Lopez Serrano, Josue Moz and Mario Zetino)

    Belen Atienza
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    La soledad es oficio/Solitude is a Life’s Work

    November
    Vol. 72
    Belen Atienza
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    Read a selection of my poetry at the International Poetry Festiva LaOtra FIL

    Belen Atienza
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    Read ten poems at the International Poetry Festival Amada Libertad

    Belen Atienza
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    Read at the presentation of my first poetry book entitled Tierra de noches inmensas. I read my poetry in Spanish and translator Rhina Espaillat read it in English

    Belen Atienza
  • Book

    Mi tierra es una lengua

    2020
    El Salvador
    San Salvador
    Belen Atienza
  • Book

    Tierra de noches inmensas

    2020
    El Salvador
    San Salvador
    Belen Atienza
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    Margarita de Austria y el patronazgo como creación poética. Presented at NEMLA

    Belen Atienza
  • Book

    Tierra de noches inmensas

    2020
    ISBN #978-99923-51-76-5
    San Salvador
    El Salvador
    Belen Atienza
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    Cinco poemas de B. Atienza

    October
    Letralia
    Belen Atienza
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    Memoria, olvido y trauma en La gitanilla de Cervantes. Presented at the Women of the Mediterranean: Memory (Conference)

    Belen Atienza
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    “El Madrid de Cervantes: gitanos y payos en plazas e iglesias”. Presented at a panel entitled La ciudad plural. NEMLA Annual Conference

    Belen Atienza
  • Chapters In Books

    Women in the Mediterranean: Dinamiche di Potere (peer reviewed volume)
    Chapter: “El canto y el llanto de la mujer gitana: a propósito de La gitanilla de Cervantes”.

    Published by Casa Editrice Rocco Carabba
    2018
    Belen Atienza
  • Article in Refereed Journal

    Macbeth Sandinista: Testimonio y crítica en la dramaturgia de Polo Keratry

    Published in Paso de Gato. Revista de experimentación teatral
    Summer
    2016
    Belen Atienza
  • Book

    Saltaparedes

    2011
    Pontevedra
    Spain
    Belen Atienza
  • Book

    El loco en el espejo. Locura y melancolia en la Espana de Lope de Vega

    2009
    New York
    USA
    Belen Atienza

Awards and grants

  • Funding for poetry reading at the Ateneo Insular de poesia and local schools in the Dominican Republic

    Barbera Faculty Award

    clock icon May. 24, 2024 – Jun. 3, 2024
  • Seminar and Practicum for Translating Contemporary Dominican/American Poetry From English to Spanish: Technical and Cross-Cultural Issues with Rhina Espaillat

    Faculty Development Fund

    clock icon May. 19, 2022 – Jul. 31, 2023
  • Funding to present paper at NEMLA Boston 2020

    Higgins School of the Humanities

  • Support to Travel to El Salvador and Edit poetry book

    Higgins School of the Humanities

  • Faculty Travel Fund