10. Fraser, B. Toward an Urban Cultural Studies: Henri Lefebvre and the Humanities. Manuscript completed.
9. Fraser, B. Understanding Juan Benet: New Perspectives. Prologue by Malcolm Alan Compitello. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2013. (176 pp. ISBN 978–1–61117–152–0)
—The canonical work on Juan Benet (1927-1993) published in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s—although significant—has left several aspects of his work under- or even un-explored. Understanding Juan Benet: New Perspectives thus has two interrelated goals: 1) to continue to explore a still underappreciated figure of Spanish literature and, more importantly, 2) to employ an interdisciplinary perspective as a way of highlighting the relationships between Benet’s literary production and a wide range of contemporary discourses—from the (newly revitalized interest in) the philosophy of Henri Bergson, to the intersection of engineering and literature and even the development of cultural geography/spatial theory.
8. Fraser, B. Disability Studies and Spanish Culture: Films, Novels, the Comic and the Public Exhibition. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2013. (xxvii & 192 pp. ISBN 978–1–84631–870–2)
—This completed book manuscript is an interdisciplinary humanities/social sciences project that looks at how disability has been portrayed in Spain in recent years. The chapters successively look at varying types of cultural projects, moving from fiction films through the comic book, novels narrating childhood disability, documentary films produced by Julio Medem, and the public/online exhibition of works by artists with developmental disabilities. The majority of the cultural products treated in the book are from the last 5-8 years (2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011), with one dating back to 1981—a crucial turning point in the education of people with disabilities.
7. Fraser, B. Henri Lefebvre and the Spanish Urban Experience: Reading the Mobile City. Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press, 2011. (244 pp., ISBN 978–1–61148–368–0 / 978–1–61148–369–7)
—Henri Lefebvre and the Spanish Urban Experience is the first book to thoroughly apply the French urban philosopher’s thoughts on cities to the culture and literature of Spain. Benjamin Fraser shows how Lefebvre’s complex view of the city as a mobile phenomenon is relevant to understanding a variety of Spanish cultural products—from urban plans and short writings on the urban experience during the nineteenth century (Mariano José de Larra, Ramón de Mesonero Romanos, Ildefons Cerdà) to urban theories, cultural practices and literary fiction of the twentieth (Luis Martín–Santos, Juan José Millás, Juan Goytisolo, Manuel Delgado Ruiz), pushing on to interrogate even the appearance of Mediterranean space and Barcelona in recent videogames (Mario Kart Wii, Monster 4×4). (held by 125+ libraries in the US, Canada, Germany New Zealand, Australia & the UK)
6. Fraser, B. Encounters with Bergson(ism) in Spain: Reconciling Philosophy, Literature, Film and Urban Space. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press (Studies in Romance Languages and Literatures, #295), 2010. (384 pp., ISBN 978–0–8078–9299–2)
—This book is driven by a dual analysis. It is a look at French philosopher Henri Bergson (1859–1941) in Spain—his more or less direct influence on Spanish letters—, and also at Bergsonism in Spain—the more indirect resonance with his methodological posture articulated through Spanish texts as well as theoretical approaches to film and urban space. From novelists Pío Baroja, Miguel de Unamuno, Juan Benet and Belén Gopegui to filmmakers Víctor Érice (El sol del membrillo), Alejandro Amenábar (Abre los ojos) and Carlos Saura (Taxi) as well as urban theorists Henri Lefebvre and Manuel Delgado Ruiz, this work takes up philosopher Gilles Deleuze’s call for a “return to Bergson,” pushing past the established boundaries of interdisciplinarity to what lies beyond. (held by 137+ libraries in the US, Canada, Germany, Japan, Hong Kong, Australia & the UK)
EDITED/CO-EDITED BOOKS (3)
5. Fraser, B. (ed. & introd.). Capital Inscriptions: Essays on Hispanic Literature, Film and Urban Space in Honor of Malcolm Alan Compitello. Newark: Juan de la Cuesta, 2012. (362 pp., ISBN 978-1-58871-215-8)
—This book features essays by peers, colleagues and former students of Malcolm Alan Compitello, Executive Editor of the Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies. Contributors include: David K. Herzberger, Michael Ugarte, Benjamin Fraser, Randolph Pope, Edward Baker, Susan Larson, Shalisa Collins, Agustín Cuadrado, Araceli Masterson-Algar, Vania Barraza Toledo, Alberto Chamorro, Sohyun Lee, Lourdes Gabikagojeaskoa, Nuria Morgado, Rolando Pérez, William Sherzer, Joseph V. Ricapito, Susan Divine, Thomas Deveny, and Nathan Richardson. Sections include: I—Discipline, Innovation and Method; II—The Cultures of Cities/Spaces of Detection; III—Atlantic Crossings; IV—Novel Readings; and V—The Films of Alex de la Iglesia.
4. Fraser, B. and S. Spalding (eds.). Trains, Culture and Mobility: Riding the Rails. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books (Rowman & Littlefield), 2012. (309 pp., ISBN-13 978-0-7391-6749-6)
—Trains, Culture and Mobility is—along with its companion volume: Trains, Literature and Culture—the first work to thoroughly explore the railroad’s connections with a full range of cultural discourses—including literature, visual art, music, graffiti, and television but also advertising, architecture, cell phones, and more… In two volumes consisting of ten essays each, noted cultural critics and railway scholars explore the cultural value of trains in diverse national contexts (Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Senegal, South Korea, Spain, the UK & the US). (forms part of academic library collections in the US, Australia and Denmark).
3. S. Spalding and Fraser, B. (eds.). Trains, Literature and Culture: Reading and Writing the Rails. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books (Rowman & Littlefield), 2012. (230 pp., ISBN-13 978-0-7391- 6560-7).
—Trains, Literature and Culture is—along with its companion volume: Trains, Culture and Mobility—the first work to thoroughly explore the railroad’s connections with a full range of cultural discourses—including literature, visual art, music, graffiti, and television but also advertising, architecture, cell phones, and more… In two volumes consisting of ten essays each, noted cultural critics and railway scholars explore the cultural value of trains in diverse national contexts (Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Senegal, South Korea, Spain, the UK & the US).
2. Fraser, B. (ed. & trans.). Deaf History and Culture in Spain: A Reader of Primary Sources. Fwd by Samuel J. Supalla. Washington D.C.: Gallaudet University Press, 2009. (xlv & 299 pp., ISBN 978–1–563–68–419–7).
—The historical documents and critical essays included in this book form a story that begins with early (mis)understandings of deafness as an illness, moves through turbulent centuries of misguided deaf education and ends with the official recognition of sign languages (and the acceptance of Deaf Culture) in the Spain of the twenty–first century. Readers will explore the history of an age–old struggle between oralism and manualism, philosophical musings on visual language, and the intersection of Spanish, French and American educational practices, as well as contemporary deaf poetry and linguistic approaches to sign. (held by 91+ libraries in the US, Canada, Australia, Germany, New Zealand, Hong Kong and also the Spanish National Library/Biblioteca Nacional Española in Madrid).
CRITICAL EDITION / TEXTBOOK (1)
1. Fraser, B. (ed.). La urbanización decimonónica de Madrid: textos de Mariano José de Larra y Ramón de Mesonero Romanos. Doral, FL: Stockcero, 2011. (xlv & 100 pp., ISBN-13: 978–1–934768–44–8)
—This short textbook in Spanish consists of urban-themed, minimally annotated essays by Larra and Mesonero Romanos that capture Madrid during a key moment in its transition toward modernity. A substantial critical introduction contextualizes each author and frames the book’s readings in light of developing scholarship on Spanish urban modernity, pointing to further primary and secondary readings. The work’s concise nature makes it a suitable companion to both undergradaute Civilization and Literary Survey courses as well as Graduate classes including canonical readings for the M.A. in Spanish as well as more specialized courses focusing on urban topics.
