Marlene Esplin

Marlene Esplin is an Assistant Professor of Comparative Arts & Letters at Brigham Young University’s College of Humanities. Her research focuses on translation studies, multilingualism, and the intersections of literature with migration, identity, and public humanities. She actively engages in community discussions through panel discussions like the Humanities and Belief Workshop and contributes to public discourse via radio interviews on platforms such as BYU Radio’s Constant Wonder and Top of Mind.

Her work examines how translation practices shape cultural narratives, particularly in marginalized communities. Key themes include language justice, translingual practices in global contexts, and the role of literature in addressing displacement and belonging. Recent projects explore pandemic narratives, self-translation strategies, and the ethical dimensions of literary translation activism.

Esplin has published widely on topics such as Latin American theater, colonial texts, and the linguistic stakes of immigration in contemporary literature. Her interdisciplinary approach bridges literary analysis with visual arts and cultural activism, as seen in collaborations with artists like Celia Alvarez Muñoz and publishers like Amazon Crossing.

Notable contributions include analyzing the cultural mediation in Cabeza de Vaca’s Relación translations and critiquing the linguistic barriers faced by immigrant populations in works like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah. She advocates for translation as a tool for social equity and cultural preservation, emphasizing its role in fostering cross-cultural understanding.