Beth Jörgensen

Beth Jörgensen's research has focused primarily on Mexican literature of the twentieth century. Her book on the writing of Elena Poniatowska was the first comprehensive study of the work of this influential Mexican author. The co-edited volume The Contemporary Mexican Chronicle: Theoretical Perspectives on the Liminal Genre brings together reflections on the practice of chronicle writing by prominent Mexican journalists and critical and theoretical studies by scholars in the field.

Her study of nonfiction literature, published as Documents in Crisis: Nonfiction Literatures in Twentieth-Century Mexico, encompasses the genres of autobiography, memoir, historical essay, testimonio, chronicle, nonfiction novel, and ethnographic life writing, and examines both canonical and marginalized texts from twentieth-century Mexico.

Her current research engages the theories arising from disability studies in order to explore the representations of disability in Mexican literature and culture. It looks at fiction written by authors who do not claim a disability identity, and at diverse forms of writing (life-writing, blogging, poetry, fiction) created by or in collaboration with persons with disabilities. Her co-edited volume Libre Acceso: Latin American Literature and Film through Disability Studies (2016) offers a comprehensive introduction and thirteen original essays in this emerging field in Latin American studies.