Juana Castaño Ruiz

Juana Castaño Ruiz is an Associate Professor at the University of Murcia, affiliated with the Department of French, Romanesque, Italian and Arabic Philology under the Faculty of Arts and Humanities. She specializes in Romanesque philology and Provençal literature, leading the research group 'Editing and Commentary of Romanesque Texts.'

She earned her Doctorate from the University of Murcia in 1986 with a thesis titled "Manifestaciones folclóricas provenzales en 'Mirèio', 'Nerto', 'Calendau y lou pouemo dou rose' de Frederi Mistral". Her research focuses on cultural heritage preservation, migration narratives, and the intersection of literature and history, particularly in medieval Occitania and 20th-century exile literature.

Her work explores themes like the reception of Frédéric Mistral in Spain, the portrayal of migration in media, and linguistic studies of address forms. She has coordinated events such as the annual Día del Ladino to promote Judeo-Spanish language preservation. Her interdisciplinary approach bridges literary analysis with sociopolitical discourse, evident in studies on refugees and institutional governance in NGOs.

Key contributions include analyses of authors like Zoé Oldenbourg and Daniel Pennac, as well as collaborative projects like the ALDIMA initiative studying migration discourse in Spain. Her scholarship emphasizes cultural memory, identity formation, and the role of literature in reflecting societal changes.