Dolores Resano, PhD in Construction and Representation of Cultural Identities (Universitat de Barcelona, 2017), is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow at the Clinton Institute for American Studies (University College Dublin) and Visiting Scholar at Dartmouth College in the United States. Her current research is focused on 21st-century American and European literature from a transatlantic perspective, with a special interest in the intersections of fiction, theories of negative affect, politics, and public discourse. She has published on contemporary American literature and is the editor of the forthcoming volume American Literature in the Era of Trumpism (Palgrave 2022), which is the result of a previous postdoctoral project funded by the Irish Research Council (2018-2020).
Why did you choose humanities?
I never had any interest in the hard sciences; at school, I was totally useless at maths, physics, chemistry and the like not because I found them difficult but because I felt they were not worthy of my time, what a nerve! I would’ve loved to be a lawyer or a politician too but I didn’t see myself capable of staying respectfully quiet during a debate while somebody misconstrued facts, or gave horrible opinions, or simply lied. Back then, I thought politics was serious business and not the populist circus we have today… my angry teenage self would fit very nicely now, I think! I was a passionate idealist, poor soul, and I still have a bad habit of interrupting.
But I was also an avid reader from a very young age, I was lucky enough to grow up surrounded by bookshelves and parents who read at a time when letting your child be bored was not a crime, so whenever I told my parents I was bored –even while outdoors– they shooed me off telling me to “go read a book.” They clearly had much better and entertaining things to do and I’m immensely grateful for this. Reading became this immersive experience, so in a way, I always knew I would end up doing something with literature, which also allowed me to have these more nuanced and complex debates in my head without actually feeling like punching anyone in the face.
What drove you to pursue a PhD?
During the last semester of my BA I had a collaboration grant with the Department of English at the Universitat de Barcelona, and working with the Americanists there, my dear Drs. Cristina Alsina and Rodrigo Andrés, made me realize that that was what I wanted to do and the people I wanted to spend time with. I went through the MA as required and when things were getting tough because I couldn’t get funding for the PhD, I decided to quit and go into the “conventional” job market, working at a publishing house. When I pictured myself doing that for the rest of my life I was horrified, I found it so incredibly boring and unchallenging that I went running back to the university, after just two months. That’s what did it, to see there was no plan B. I talked to some faculty members and asked for their opinion on how to carry on even without funding, and then luckily it happened.
What do you think are the advantages/disadvantages of having a PhD in from a Spanish university working in American Studies when working in the US?
I honestly don’t know what Americans think of our Spanish PhDs, but I do know they understand that our European research tradition is different, and they value it as such. I can tell you though, that the one time I felt somebody might be “looking down” upon my pursuing a PhD in Spain, it was while talking to some friends from northern Europe, not the US… This may have to do with different processes and assessment methods, a PhD in Germany or the UK is quite different, but in the end, I also think there may be some cultural bias, right? Like they think we are more carefree and lax… Which is absolutely not the case in terms of the quality and the rigor of the research being produced. We simply have better weather and better food!! I also don’t know how a Spanish PhD may affect job prospects abroad, the rat race is definitely on, but at least at the postdoc stage, it was not a disadvantage for me at all. I actually got very high marks from both the Marie Curie and the Irish Research Council panels in part because of all the research experience I had gained while pursuing a PhD the way we do it in Spain. I mean, I had a CV, besides the little paper that said “PhD.” And by this I don’t mean you have to go crazy publishing mediocre stuff as if there were no tomorrow (I actually had just one peer-reviewed article); I mean I had done things and met people and gone places.
Now, as it relates specifically to American Studies, I think there is no downside to having a PhD from Spain or Europe, and that it is actually a valuable thing because American Studies is no longer a self-centered discipline written solely by Americans. It’s been a while since the “transnational turn,” and being able to contribute a perspective “from the outside” or at least in relational terms is very important, even necessary. This is widely acknowledged, I think. It’s not just about what the US thinks of itself, but how the US’s thinking about itself impacts the rest of the world, and that’s where we are so necessary to contribute that perspective.
What was the most important thing that you learned while working on your PhD?
That you have to learn many other things beyond your own research to really become a researcher. I am so grateful for all the opportunities that were given to me to learn all those other things at ADHUC- Centre de Recerca during my predoctoral years: how to work as part of a team, how to organize stuff, to teach when invited to, to get training in other “transferable skills,” to be able to support younger colleagues the way you’ve been supported, etc. All of those experiences, while you might think they are “taking away time” from you writing your dissertation, are also super important. Of course, you still need to be laser-focused on your dissertation, there is no excuse, otherwise, you’ll never finish it!
What was the hardest part of doing a PhD? And what is the hardest part of being a postdoctoral researcher?
The hardest part was getting the funding so I could actually do a PhD within a research group or center. I know that many people manage to do it without a scholarship and while juggling many teaching jobs, but I needed the support and discipline of a structure around me to be able to really flourish. I always knew I didn’t have the self-discipline to do research on my own, and I never deluded myself, so it took me two or three years of trying to finally get an FPU.
The hardest part of doing a postdoc is that you have to “transplant” to a new place and environment and hope you can build meaningful working relations while everyone knows you will be gone in two years. Some people love the hustling, but I hate it, and maybe it hasn’t turned out too bad for me. I also think that my predoc experience at ADHUC was so awesome that it can’t be replicated. Well, I guess it’s also part of growing up, letting mom and dad go. Luckily, I continue to work with all of them, even from afar.
Would you have done anything differently? Why yes/not?
Not really…! I’ve made friends who are now part of what I consider my chosen family, and everything else seems to be working quite well. I’m having a great time (this is the most important…!) and I have great expectations for the future. The future can take many shapes and forms… but I’m sure I will continue to have a good time.
What advice would you give to a young(er) scholar?
I don’t feel entitled to give anyone advice, but at least what worked for me was always saving time to do other things I enjoyed beyond research, not to be all-consumed by it. For example, I kept coaching sailing on weekends while I did my PhD, and that meant my weekends were gone but I was out in the water, and during the week I spent 20hrs at the research center, where I was learning other important things but not precisely writing my dissertation. I don’t think being unhealthily consumed by your own research makes you more productive in any way, to the contrary, you have more time to waste. It’s actually having limited time (because you spent some of it doing something else you enjoy) that makes you get down to it and really focus. Or maybe this is just me because I’m a great procrastinator, I don’t know.
I will also say that having fun discussions with intelligent people at a bar, in a hallway, in the street, wherever you happen to meet them, is among the most productive (and enriching) things you can do. But I’m sure our young scholars are already doing that…!
Has your perspective on academia changed after studying and working in different countries?
No, it has actually reinforced my commitment to staying in academia if I can, it’s almost an act of resistance! What I’ve seen is that it is tough everywhere, not just in Spain, even if there might be nuances here and there. And the assault on the humanities is evident. But I actually feel that the tide is about to change, that we have reached a tipping point and things will start to improve… I may be totally deluded but, I don’t know, I just have this kind of “sense” about it… People are saying enough is enough.
What is your job like currently and what are your expectations for the future regarding your academic career?
For the past four years I’ve had a level of freedom and time that is almost unreal if compared to other early-career, and not so early, scholars who are in the grind out there, who are teaching and researching and doing admin stuff and having a life on top of it, kudos to them. So I do encourage everyone to apply to a postdoc after PhD if they can, you need to enjoy this experience before getting on the grind! Kids, you need to apply for a postdoc!
Of course, the goal of the postdoc, for me, is to convert that freedom and time into something tangible (not just publications) so that I might be in a good position to apply for a tenure-track job later on if there’s any left… In fact, I applied to my second postdoc because I didn’t think I had achieved that with my first, I needed more time. The one problem of such short postdocs is that you spend half of it looking for your next job…!
Finally, on a more philosophical note, what do you think is the meaning of the Humanities?
I’ve tried to answer this question many times and failed so… Right now, perhaps the only thing that I can say is that I wouldn’t want to live in a world without literature, without music, without fiction, without history, even without the madness and stupidity of today’s politics… I would find it extremely boring, so that is justification enough for me. And as long as they exist, somebody has to study them!
SAAS Young Scholars 