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Colleagues, students recall one of the ‘most significant commentators of Hispanic narrative’

Juan Pablo Dabove, professor of Spanish and Portuguese at the ����Vlog�ƽ��, passed away on Jan. 21, 2025. He was 56.

Dabove was an expert on postcolonial Latin American literature and culture, bandit narratives and Gothic literature.

Considered one of the “most significant commentators of Hispanic narrative” by the Revista Canadiense de Estudios Hispánicos, Dabove’s research focused on 19th- and 20th-century Latin American literatures, cultures and history.

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Juan Pablo Dabove, professor of Spanish and Portuguese at CU ����Vlog�ƽ��, passed away on Jan. 21, 2025.��

Colleagues and students remembered him as an influential and colorful figure in their lives.

“Smart. Funny. Driven. Juan Pablo was all of these things and more,” said a former student, Nikki, identified by first name only. “He convinced me to pursue a master's degree in Spanish literature at CU ����Vlog�ƽ��. If it hadn't been for his encouragement, I never would have applied. His unique perspective and insights opened up a whole new world for me and gave me a greater appreciation of Latin American literature.”

“He left us too soon and will be dearly missed,” Nikki added.

Mary K. Long, a teaching professor and the director of Spanish for the Professions, recalled that Dabove joined the department in a period of transition and “hit the ground running by making valuable contributions across all areas of crucial departmental need: teaching, research, service.”

Long added: “During these early years, we both had our offices next to each other in the basement. He used to listen to loud music when he was preparing his seminars. The energy coming through the wall was contagious, and I remember him telling me with joy, ‘This is what I always wanted to do.’�ĝ ����

Tania Martuscelli, associate professor of Spanish and Portuguese, said Dabove was a respected scholar whose work played a key role in making the Department of Spanish and Portuguese one of the top graduate programs, as recognized by the National Research Council, she said, adding:

“His research had a strong impact on the academic community. At literary conferences, mentioning CU ����Vlog�ƽ�� instantly brought to mind the name ‘Juan Pablo Dabove.’ We will miss the gaucho!”

Julio Baena, professor emeritus of Spanish and Portuguese, noted that he and Dabove were not close friends and were often on the opposite sides of departmental debates, such that Baena and Dabove had “frequent clashes,” Baena recalled, adding:

“That frequency, though, that amount of interaction, that abundance of point/counterpoint engagement built, over the years, a measure of mutual respect as solid as personal friendship, because one thing that we had in common was the worship of sincerity, the unmovable basement of honesty and the impulse to shake a worthy adversary’s hand.”

Baena noted that his style and Dabove’s were strikingly different, from the way they wrote to how they kept their offices. “His was in perfect order (compulsive at times) while mine was, as you all know, a mess, ‘una leonera.’�ĝ

Baena recalled a retirement party given in his honor at Dabove’s home. “I felt deeply moved and surrounded by the best company. It was not an institutional act. It was the personal initiative of a not-close friend who held me in high esteem, just as I held him. ‘Thanks for all these years; we’ll miss you,’ he was saying to me. Thanks for all these years, Juan Pablo: We’ll miss you, is what I now want to say to him.”

Dabove’s book Nightmares of the Lettered City: Banditry and Literature in Latin America, 1816–1929��won the 2010 Kayden Award and was met with critical acclaim for its “insightful and comprehensive analysis” of the portrayal of banditry in Latin American literature.

Drawing on the concept of the “lettered city” coined by Ángel Rama, Dabove explored how bandits were constructed in literature as symbols of resistance, rebellion or disorder, depending on their alignment with or opposition to emerging state powers.

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Juan Pablo Dabove was the author of Nightmares of the Lettered City: Banditry and Literature in Latin America, 1816–1929, which��won the 2010 Kayden Award and was met with critical acclaim, and Bandit Narratives in Latin America: From Villa to Chávez.

This book was followed in 2017 by Bandit Narratives in Latin America: From Villa to Chávez, also published by Pittsburgh. In this sequel, Dabove extended his exploration of banditry into the 20th and 21st centuries, focusing on how the figure of the bandit has evolved in literature, film and political discourse.

The book examines iconic figures like Pancho Villa and Hugo Chávez, analyzing their representation as both heroes and outlaws. Dabove considered how bandits challenge traditional notions of power, justice and social order, emphasizing their symbolic role in critiques of state authority and capitalism.

Like its predecessor, Bandit Narratives��was critically acclaimed, particularly for how it illuminated the intersection of history, nation-building and literary, cultural and social traditions in Latin America, and for how it engaged in a broader discussion about the nature of language, literature and the role of intellectuals in the region.

In recent years, Dabove became interested in Gothic literature, probing the relationship between Gothic modes of representation and the crisis of liberalism in Latin America. By exploring how the Gothic aesthetic has been employed by Latin American writers, and its role in expressing social anxieties and historical traumas, Dabove’s research shed light on the Gothic’s role in articulating Latin America’s complex histories and identities.

At the moment of his passing, Professor Dabove was working on a book project titled The Gothic Moment in Argentine Culture.

Professor Dabove lectured nationally and internationally, being invited to deliver keynote addresses or as guest speaker at several conferences and universities in Latin America, Europe and the United States.

He contributed several entries for various dictionaries and encyclopedias of Latin American literature and culture, as well as several book chapters and articles for edited volumes, ranging in topic from canonical authors, such as José Fernández Lizardi or Jorge Luis Borges, to lesser-known writers.

Dabove was also very active in the Latin American Studies Association, the largest association of scholars studying the region.

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