Alexander J. McNair

Research/Teaching Interests

• Iberian and Latin American literature and culture
• Early Modern literature and culture
• Folklore, oral traditions, and Cidian lore
• Sephardic and Crypto-Jewish Studies
• Poetry and translation

Education

Ph.D., Hispanic Literature, The University of Texas at Austin, 1999

M.A., Spanish, The University of Texas at Austin, 1995

B.A., Spanish and Anthropology, The University of Texas at Austin, 1993

Courses Taught at Baylor

• Intermediate Spanish (SPA 2310)
• Exploring the Spanish-Speaking World (SPA 2320)
• Conversation and Composition (SPA 3302)
• Survey of Spanish Literature through the Seventeenth Century (SPA 3350)
• Survey of Spanish-American Literature to 1880 (SPA 3354)
• Spanish Drama of the Golden Age (SPA 4362)
• Cervantes (SPA 4363)
• Special Topics: El Cid and Cidian Lore (SPA 4388/5388)
• Special Topics: Spanish Ballad Tradition (SPA 4388/5388)

Selected Publications

Critical Editions

Poema de Mio Cid. Edition with glossary and notes. Newark, DE: Juan de la Cuesta—Hispanic Monographs, 2008.

Romancero viejo. Edition with glossary and notes. Newark, DE: Juan de la Cuesta—Hispanic Monographs, 2006.

Translations

Julio César Aguilar, A Glimmer in the Shadows: Selected Poems, 1995-2020. Ed. and trans. Alexander J. McNair. Colima, México: Puertabierta Editores, 2023.

Manuel José Othón. Landscape: Poems. Ed. and trans. Alexander J. McNair. Waco, TX: Cenzontle Books, 2021.

Selected Articles

• “Cató por agüero: The Evolving Function of Augury in the Cidian Tradition.” Essays in Medieval Studies 28 (2012): 60-82. 
• “Corpse, Codex, and Chronicle: Robert Southey Translating the Poem of the Cid.” Essays in Medieval Studies 27 (2011): 79-104.
• “El Cid, the Impaler?: Line 1254 of the Poem of the Cid.” Essays in Medieval Studies 26 (2010): 45-68.
• “Definitions and Enigmas: The Textual Transmission of Lope de Vega’s Sonnet 191 (Rimas).” Hispanófila 145 (2005): 1-17.
• “Re-Evaluating Herrera’s Sonnet XXXVIII: Notes on Sense and Intellect in the Lyric Persona of Algunas obras.” Hispanic Review 71.4 (2003): 565-84.