Elvira Fidalgo Francisco

Elvira Fidalgo Francisco is University Professor of Romance Philology at the University of Santiago de Compostela, where she has taught since 2020. She is affiliated with the Department of Galician Philology in the Faculty of Philology and leads the research group Romance (Philology, Medieval Literature).

Education:

• PhD in Philology, University of Santiago de Compostela, 1992 – Thesis: Gautier, Berceo, Alfonso X: narrative structures in medieval Romanesque literature with a Marian character (Extraordinary Doctorate Award)

Research Focus:

Her research revolves around three core axes:

• Galician-Portuguese troubadour poetry and its linguistic-literary expression.
• Hagiographic literature, especially Marian miracle collections.
• The Cantigas de Santa María of Alfonso X, approached from textual, codicological, gender, and performance perspectives.

She currently directs the Cantigas de Santa María Project at the Ramón Piñeiro Center for Humanities Research.

Scientific Awards & Distinctions:

• Extraordinary Doctorate Award (1992)
• Five officially recognised six-year research periods (“sexenios de investigación”)

Research Projects & Grants:

She has been principal investigator or team leader in numerous publicly funded projects, including:

• PAAGA – Project for the Apprenticeship and Assessment of Galician Language
• Galician-Portuguese songbooks: critical edition and study (print & digital)
• Visual culture and book culture in the Crown of Castile (1284–1350)
• Network of Interdisciplinary Medieval Studies (consolidation grants)
• The lexicon of suffering in troubadours
• Epic style in Galician-Portuguese and Castilian versions of French texts
• Literary sirventes in medieval Romance lyric poetry
• Metaliterary debate in medieval Romance lyric poetry

Teaching & Supervision:

She has supervised numerous MA dissertations and PhD theses and was Coordinator of the Official Interuniversity Master’s Programme in Publishing (2008–2013).