Close-ups

What do you teach at Ca’ Foscari? What are your main research interests? 
My name is Enric Bou and I work on contemporary Spanish and Catalan literature and cinema. Autobiography, poetry, representation of space, daily life, the relationship between art and literature are some of the topics of my publications.

Tell us about your academic path.
Glocal. Going far to come back close. I studied and taught in Barcelona. Then I moved to France, the United States and Italy.

What are your professional role models / references?
My mentors at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona in the 1970s (when the dictatorship collapsed): Joaquim Molas, Josep Romeu, Sergi Beser, José-Carlos Mainer, Francisco Rico, Alberto Blecua.

What is the aspect of your research you are most passionate about?
The chance to learn every day. As the painter Goya said shortly before his death: "Aun aprendo" (I am still learning).

What does teaching and researching mean to you?
Extreme curiosity, the chance to open eyes (mine) and to help students do the same. The greatest reward would be to help overcome flag-waving: a comparative approach, in different languages, opens the door to a more sophisticated understanding of a complex world.

Why Ca’ Foscari and Venice?
As they say in real estate: location, location, location. A prestigious university where the teaching of languages/cultures is at the heart.