Nathan Henne

Dr. Nathan Henne, from the department of Quezaltenango in Guatemala, is Associate Professor of Latin American Studies and Spanish at Loyola University New Orleans. He earned his Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2007. His latest publications include: his translation of Luis de Lión’s novel Time Commences in Xibalbá (University of Arizona Press 2012), to which he provides a critical translator’s introduction.  This Guatemalan novel, the pioneer of a movement called “New Maya Literature,” innovatively handles the complexities of indigenous identity in a country that embraces the outward symbols of its Maya past but often fails to connect that past meaningfully to modern realities.  His article “Untranslation: The Popol Wuj and Comparative Methodology” (in CR: The New Centennial Review2012/12:2) performs translation comparisons of the many versions of the Popol Wuj, the “oldest book in the Americas,” in order to expose philosophical and epistemological complications in translating Maya and other indigenous American literatures. He is working on a book-length extension of this project entitled More than Translation:  Using the Popol Wuj as a Guide to Indigenous Poetics in American Literatures. Nathan’s current projects explore alternative theoretical approaches to syncretism, mestizaje, and ecology that reflect both pre-Contact and current Maya philosophies and perspectives. He has also begun work on a book-length project on nagualismo. Nathan’s teaching focuses include: Central American literature, literature of the Americas, Latin American magic realism, pre-Contact Indigenous literatures, translation theory, language theory, revolution literature, and Spanish language instruction.

Classes Taught

• Revolution!  A Comparison of Guatemalan and Iranian Civil Wars in Literature and Film
• Latin American Novels of the 20th Century
• Spanish American Literature I & II
• Intensive Conversation
• Borderlands Literature
• Spanish Language Classes
• Composition and Syntax
• Indigenous Lit in Translation
• Literature and Film of Central American Revolutions
• Latin American Culture through Film

Areas of Expertise

• Central American Literature
• Literature of the Americas
• Latin American Magic Realism
• Pre-Contact Indigenous Literatures
• Translation Theory
• Language Theory
• Spanish Language Instruction