Maria Margalida Pons Jaume

Maria Margalida Pons Jaume is a Full Professor in the Department of Catalan Philology and General Linguistics at the University of the Balearic Islands, where she teaches courses in Comparative Literature, Contemporary Catalan Literature, and Master’s-level subjects such as Pràctica Lectora i Espai Públic. She is the Principal Investigator of the consolidated R&D group Literatura Contemporànea: Estudios Teóricos y Comparativos (LiCETC), under which she has led multiple competitive research projects and a teaching innovation initiative.

Her research centers on contemporary Catalan poetry, experimental writing, and conceptual literature, with a strong theoretical focus on affective theory, gender, animal studies, and non-anthropocentric subjectivity. She has authored key works such as The Troubled Code: From Experimental Poetry to Conceptual Writing (2021) and Currents of 20th Century Island Poetry (2010), and edited volumes on Carles Hac Mor and Catalan experimental narrative.

Her recent publications reflect a deep engagement with affective theory, exploring analogical thinking, outlaw emotions, and the political dimensions of indignation in poetry. She has also examined the role of animals in art, the poetics of meagerness, and the intersections between science and poetry. These works, published in journals like Estudis Romànics, Catalan Review, and Theory Now, demonstrate a consistent trajectory in redefining literary subjectivity and affect in contemporary Catalan culture.

She has been a visiting professor at Brown University (2009) and Stanford University (2011), underscoring her international academic presence. Her educational background includes a PhD in Catalan Philology from the University of Barcelona (1993) and a Master’s in Comparative Literature from Indiana University (1996).

Through her leadership in LiCETC and her extensive scholarly output, she plays a pivotal role in advancing research on Catalan literature and its theoretical frameworks. Her work bridges literary criticism, cultural theory, and interdisciplinary inquiry, contributing significantly to the understanding of literature’s transformative and affective powers.