Darío Sánchez-GonzálezFaculty

“Well, as I was telling you, it costs a lot to be authentic, ma'am. And one shouldn’t be stingy with these things, because you are more authentic the more you resemble what you’ve dreamed about yourself.”

—La Agrado, in All About My Mother (Pedro Almodóvar, 1999).

The words of La Agrado, a character in one of the finest Spanish films ever, reflect on the many sacrifices we make and the many pieces we gather to form what we claim to be our authentic self. She also attests to the pride that we may take in the process.

Growing up in Xixón/Gijón (Asturies, Northern Spain), countless films and books, many of them gay-themed, functioned as a window out into the world—and into myself. Snuggled up at home, in the movie theater (I spent many rainy evenings there, quite a few in the Xixón International Film Festival), sitting with friends at a coffee house, or wherever time and money allow, stories help us recall places we have never been to and faces unseen. Through narratives, we channel dreams and nightmares of ourselves. We gather all that we never bring to the surface, and much of what we push to the cellar (or the attic). We may lose innocence, shake our beliefs, and refashion our way of thinking, speaking and acting. To “know thyself” suddenly requires to find oneself in the voices of others we hear on the way—written, filmed, spoken.

My teaching career has become an extension of such gathering. Teaching languages, film and literature entails giving students more tools to represent, understand representations, communicate and negotiate meaning with the world. In my classes, I value mutual respect, creativity, willingness to push the limits, and constant questioning. I remember the best classes that I had as a student as an almost dizzying experience, a bodily challenge—standing up and walking outside would feel eerie at times, until I had recomposed myself and gathered, once more, all the pieces. It wasn’t easy.

By the same token, my research is often linked to all the things that I am, or at least some of them. (Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa said, “put everything that you are in the smallest thing you do”—on the pen of his alter ego Ricardo Reis, truth be told.) My main research fields are Spanish and Latin American film through the lenses of queer and cultural studies. My most recent publications (forthcoming in 2024-25) are two articles in collective volumes: the first one addresses friendship in times of crisis in the coming-of-age film Nothing in Return (Daniel Guzmán, 2015), while the second focuses on gay identity a long-lost Spanish popular movie, Gay Club (Tito Fernández, 1981). (You can learn more at my ResearchGate or Academia.edu profiles).

My teaching and research interests are interdisciplinary from the earliest days of my academic career, when I studied Romance Languages and Literatures at Universidad de Oviedo (anything from 16th-century Romanian war reports to Provençal satires to Arthurian novels). At Gustavus, I am affiliated with Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies, Latin American, Latinx, and Caribbean Studies, and Comparative Literature.

Last but not least, I consider study abroad one of the essential components of my students' academic experience. During my years at Gustavus I have participated in three different programs: a community-based learning course in Chimbote, Perú (2016 and 2018), a Spanish course in Valencia, Spain (2019 and 2023), and a queer history and politics course in Berlin and Amsterdam (2020). Such opportunities remind me constantly of the life-changing experiences that were for me studying in Portugal and in the United States—which has become a home of sorts. Study abroad gives one endless possibilities to tune in to other voices and other languages, and to refashion oneself.

Outside of my professional life, I spend most of my personal time gathering and sharing stories in Minneapolis or in my seaside hometown of Xixón, Asturies.

Courses Taught