# Jean Franco

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**Jean Franco** (March 31, 1924 – December 14, 2022) was a British-born American academic and literary critic known for her pioneering work on [Latin American literature](/source/Latin_American_literature).[1] Educated at [Manchester](/source/University_of_Manchester) and [London](/source/University_of_London), she taught at London, [Essex](/source/University_of_Essex) (where she was the university's first professor of Latin American literature),[2] and [Stanford](/source/Stanford_University), and was latterly professor emerita at [Columbia University](/source/Columbia_University).

## Research

Jean Franco's research was wide-ranging and voluminous. She was among the first English-speaking Latin Americanists to write seriously about Latin American literature. She particularly focused on women and women's writing and was a pioneer of Latin American [cultural studies](/source/Cultural_studies).[3]

## Personal life and death

Franco died on December 14, 2022, at the age of 98.[1][4][5]

## Awards

- In 1992 she was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Essex.[6]
- In 1996 she won a [PEN](/source/International_PEN) award for lifetime contribution to the dissemination of Latin American literature in English.[7]
- In 2000 the [Latin American Studies Association](/source/Latin_American_Studies_Association) awarded her the Kalman Silvert Award for her contributions to [Latin American Studies](/source/Latin_American_Studies).[8]
- In 2002 she was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Manchester.
- Her book *The Decline and Fall of the Lettered City* was awarded the Bolton-Johnson Prize by the Conference of Latin American Historians for the best work in English on the History of Latin America published in 2003.

## Selected publications

- *The Modern Culture of Latin America* (1967)
- *An Introduction to Latin American Literature* (1969)
- *Spanish American Literature Since Independence* (1973)
- *César Vallejo. The Dialectics of Poetry and Silence* (1976)
- *Plotting Women. Gender and Representation in Mexico* (1989)
- *Marcar diferencias, cruzar fronteras: ensayos* (1996)
- *Critical Passions: Selected Essays*, edited by [Mary Louise Pratt](/source/Mary_Louise_Pratt) and Kathleen Newman (1999)
- *The Decline and Fall of the Lettered City: Latin America in the Cold War* (2002)
- *Cruel Modernity* (2013)

## References

1. Risen, Clay. ["Jean Franco, 98, Pioneering Scholar of Latin American Literature, Dies."](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/31/obituaries/jean-franco-dead.html) *New York Times*, December 31, 2022, retrieved January 31, 2023. (subscription required)

1. ["Jean Franco."](http://irwag.columbia.edu/person/jf29) *Institute for Research on Women and Gender at Columbia University*, retrieved March 31, 2013.

1. Rogers, V. Daniel. ["Jean Franco's Lifetime of Critical Passions."](http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/aq/summary/v053/53.3rogers.html) *American Quarterly* 53.3 (2001): 511-517. Retrieved March 31, 2013.

1. ["The Department of English and Comparative Literature Mourns the Loss of Professor Jean Franco"](https://english.columbia.edu/news/department-english-and-comparative-literature-mourns-loss-professor-jean-franco) *Columbia University Department of English and Comparative Literature*, December 19, 2022, retrieved January 31, 2023.

1. ["Murió Jean Franco, latinoamericanista fundamental"](https://www.reforma.com/murio-jean-franco-latinoamericanista-fundamental/ar2521903). Reforma. 15 December 2022. Retrieved 15 December 2022.

1. [University of Essex Calendar: Honorary Graduates](http://www.essex.ac.uk/academic/docs/cal/former.shtm) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20121007233550/http://www.essex.ac.uk/academic/docs/cal/former.shtm) 2012-10-07 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved March 31, 2013.

1. ["Working Group Member: Jean Franco."](http://www.hemisphericinstitute.org/virgenes/working_group_members/working_group_franco.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20070928080926/http://www.hemisphericinstitute.org/virgenes/working_group_members/working_group_franco.html) 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine *Vírgenes viajeras/Traveling Virgins Working Group*, Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics, retrieved March 31, 2013.

1. Ewell, Judith. ["*Critical Passions: Selected Essays* (review)."](http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/the_americas/v057/57.3ewell.html) *The Americas* 57.3 (2001): 422-24. Retrieved March 31, 2013.

## External links

- Biography [\[1\]](https://english.columbia.edu/content/jean-franco-1924-2022) from Columbia University
- Jean Franco, ["The Second Coming: Religion as Entertainment"](http://www.hemi.nyu.edu/eng/seminar/usa/text/jean_keynote_eng.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20070105004033/http://hemi.nyu.edu/eng/seminar/usa/text/jean_keynote_eng.html) 2007-01-05 at the Wayback Machine, text of a lecture

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