Imogen Choi

Dr. Imogen Choi is an Associate Professor of Spanish and Queen Sofía Official Fellow at the University of Oxford's Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages. Originally from the Midlands, she completed her BA in Classics and Spanish at Oxford and her PhD at Cambridge, with additional periods living in Argentina, the US, and South Korea. She has been at Oxford since 2017, specializing in early modern Hispanic literature across Europe and the colonial Americas.

Her research focuses on how imaginative literature engages with notions of the body politic, violent conflict and resistance, faith, and identity. Her first monograph, The Epic Mirror: Poetry, Conflict Ethics and Political Community in Colonial Peru (2022), examines how Spanish-American writers used epic poetry to address ethical solutions to violent conflicts in colonial Peru. Her current project explores sacred epic written in Spanish, with particular emphasis on the Sephardic Jewish diaspora.

Choi teaches all areas of sixteenth and seventeenth-century Spanish literature and translation. Her scholarly output reveals a strong focus on epic poetry, particularly Alonso de Ercilla's La Araucana, with numerous articles analyzing its relationship to political theory, drama, and other epics. Her work frequently examines the intersection of literature with political communities, colonial conflicts, and religious identity, demonstrating how early modern Hispanic literature engaged with complex ethical and political questions.

Her publications span multiple languages and venues, including major journals like Bulletin Hispanique and Revista Canadiense de Estudios Hispánicos, as well as edited volumes from prestigious presses. Her work shows particular strength in comparative approaches, examining connections between Hispanic literature and broader European traditions.

Choi is actively engaged in the academic community, presenting at international conferences including the Renaissance Society of America and the Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies. She has delivered talks at institutions including the Jewish Historical Society, Université Paris-Sorbonne, and Seoul National University, demonstrating the international reach of her scholarship.