Douglas Kristopher Smith, PhD
Dr. Smith holds a PhD (doctorado) in Latin American Studies from the Universidad de Chile, an MA in Hispanic Studies from Concordia University in Montreal, and spent time as a visiting scholar at the School of Translation and Interpretation of the University of Ottawa. His interests include postcolonial studies, Latin American cultural studies—particularly Latin American intellectual production, its historical connection to Chilean politics and its relevance to current intellectual debates and discussions such as the concept of coloniality. He has taught and conducted research on the nexus between translation, translation theory and culture, both in terms of the politics of (inter)culture as well as the production of literature and art. Dr. Smith has lived in Valparaíso for almost 10 years and taught a number of courses at the Pontifica Universidad Catolica de Valparaíso/Viña del Mar including Latin American Studies from a Humanities Perspective (programa de Intercambio Internacional), Culturas en Contacto, and Interculturalidad y mediación lingüística.
Dr. Smith is also a translator and lifelong language learner.
Courses Taught
Culture and Society in Contemporary Chile
Socioeconomic Development in Chile
Research Methods and Ethics
Independent Study Project
Select Publications
Smith, D. K. (2020). Entre traducciones y síntomas: o la postergada noción de “civilización” en la crítica postcolonial latinoamericana. In A. De Oto (Ed.), Ejercicios sobre lo postergado. Escritos poscoloniales (pp. 215-244). Qellqasqa editorial
Riobó Pezoa, E. & Smith D. K (2019). Introducción. Civilización: genealogías e historias de una noción. Pléyade. Revista de humanidades y ciencias sociales, 23, 21-43
Herrera Pardo, H. & Smith D. K. (2019). Políticas del valor. Reseña y traducción en la universidad neoliberalizada. Literatura: teoría, historia, crítica, 21(2), 105-129
Select Presentations
Smith, D. K. (2021, November 16-18). Del síntoma civilizatorio a la traducción postcolonial: Por una crítica de la colonialidad que no sea decolonial [Conference presentation]. 3er Encuentro Taller sobre Descolonialidad del Poder en homenaje a Anibal Quijano, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico, Ciudad de México
Smith, D. K. (2021, October 15-16). To communicate or to establish: What Schleiermacher’s split between translation and interpretation tells us about a contemporary impasse [Conference presentation]. Open Borders: Translation and its Perils, Lehman College, City University of New York, New York
Smith, D. K. (2018, December 6). Sin domicilio fijo: o la figura del intelectual exílico en Said como un cosmopolitismo necesario [Conference presentation]. International colloquium “Orientalismo: 40 años después”, Universidad de Chile, Santiago de Chile
Smith, D. K. (2018, November 14-16). Interrogando las ausencias: una lectura genealógica de los estudios subalternos y decoloniales latinoamericanos [Conference presentation]. VI Congreso Interoceánico de Estudios Latinoamericanos, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina
Research Interests
Postcolonial critique
Translation studies
Latin American cultural and intellectual production
