Louise Johnson

Dr. Louise Johnson is Director of Catalan Studies and a Lecturer in the School of Languages, Arts and Societies at the University of Sheffield. She joined the Department of Hispanic Studies in 1996 after serving as College Lecturer at Keble College, University of Oxford. Currently, she also holds the position of Faculty of Arts and Humanities Assistant Director of Research and Innovation with responsibility for Postgraduate Affairs.

Dr. Johnson completed both undergraduate and postgraduate studies at St John's College, University of Oxford.

Her research explores:

• Modern Catalan and Spanish literature with focus on narrative fiction and cultural discourses
• Intersections of physical culture, sport, and intellectual history in 20th-century Iberia
• Gender, sexuality, and identity in Catalan cultural production
• Transnational literary perspectives and Translation Studies

Her publications consistently examine Catalan cultural identity through writers like Villalonga and Viladot, with thematic focus on:

• National identity construction through sport and physical culture
• Transgressive representations of gender and biomedical themes
• Political symbolism in Catalan narrative traditions
• Memory politics in post-Olympic Barcelona

Awards include:

• Llorenç Villalonga Prize (2001) for monograph La tafanera posteritat

She supervises research students in Catalan and Iberian Studies, particularly on literary topics. Current projects include translating Villalonga's Andrea Víctrix for Fum d'Estampa Press.