Daniela SANTONOCITO
Daniela Santonocito is Associate Professor of Spanish Literature (SPAN-01/A) at the Department of Humanities of the University of Catania.
Her research primarily focuses on medieval Spanish literature and the literature of the Spanish Golden Age. As a member of the CLARISEL research group at the University of Zaragoza, she has investigated the transmission, rewriting, and reception of medieval texts during the Renaissance, as well as to comparative analyses of manuscripts and early printed editions. Alongside this line of research, she has expanded her work on the seventeenth-century novela corta, editing several texts, including La segunda parte de los casos prodigiosos by Juan Izquierdo de Piña and El curioso y sabio Alejandro, fiscal y juez de vidas ajenas by Alonso Jerónimo de Salas Barbadillo. She has also explored contemporary Spanish novels inspired by medieval themes and, more recently, has focused on Spanish epic-chivalric poems of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries that reflect the legacy of the Italian epic-chivalric tradition.
She co-directs, together with Gaetano Lalomia, the ArDiTeHis (Archivo Digital de Textos Hispánicos) book series and the BiPEC (Biblioteca de Poemas Épico-Caballerescos) catalogue.
Her academic education began at the University of Catania, where in 2007 she completed a Bachelor's Degree in Lingue e Culture Europee (European Languages and Cultures), graduating with 110/110 cum laude. In 2010, she earned a Master's Degree in Lingue e Culture Europee ed Extraeuropee (European and Extra-European Languages and Cultures), awarded with 110/110 cum laude and special distinction for publication (dignità di stampa).
She continued her postgraduate education at the Universidad de Zaragoza, where in 2011 she obtained a Máster Universitario en Profesorado de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, Bachillerato, Formación Profesional y Enseñanza de Idiomas, Artísticas y Deportivas, specializing in Lengua Castellana y Literatura (Spanish Language and Literature). In 2012, she completed a Máster en Estudios Hispánicos: Lengua y Literatura at the same institution.
In 2013, her Spanish professional teaching qualification was officially recognized in Italy. In accordance with European and Italian regulations on the mutual recognition of professional qualifications, she was granted a secondary school teaching license for the subject areas AC24 (Spanish Language and Culture in Upper Secondary Education) and AC25 (Spanish Language in Lower Secondary Education).
In 2016, she passed the national competitive examination for secondary-school teaching positions in lower and upper secondary education for the AC24 and AC25 subject classes, and was awarded permanent tenure on September 1, 2017, for the AC24 subject class.
In 2018, she earned an International PhD (Mención Internacional) in Literaturas Hispánicas from the Department of Spanish Philology at the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the University of Zaragoza. Her doctoral thesis, entitled Gonzalo Argote de Molina como editor de textos medievales. El conde Lucanor (Sevilla: Hernando Díaz, 1575), received the highest distinction of Sobresaliente cum laude. The degree was subsequently recognised as equivalent to the Italian PhD by decree of the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR) on October 10, 2019.
From 2019 to 2021, she held a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the Department of Humanities of the University of Catania within the academic discipline L-LIN/05 (currently SPAN-01/A). Her research activities were carried out under the broader research strand Scrittori e scritture della Spagna dal Medioevo all’età contemporanea (Writers and Writings of Spain from the Middle Ages to the Contemporary Era), focusing on a project titled La novela corta barocca: testi, paratesti e reti (un approccio interdisciplinare) [The Baroque Novella: Texts, Paratexts, and Networks (An Interdisciplinary Approach)].
In 2021, she obtained the Italian National Scientific Qualification (ASN) for the position of Associate Professor in the academic field 10/I1 – Spanish and Hispano-American Languages, Literatures and Cultures (currently 10/SPAN-01).
From 2022 to 2025, she served as a Tenured Assistant Professor (RTDB) in Spanish Literature (academic discipline L-LIN/05, currently SPAN-01/A) at the Department of Humanities of the University of Catania.
Since September 1, 2025 she has held the position of Associate Professor of Spanish Literature (academic discipline SPAN-01/A) at the Department of Humanities of the University of Catania.
Direction of or participation in editorial boards of journals and book series
Co-director, alongside Prof. Gaetano Lalomia, of the book series ArDiTeHis (Archivo Digital de Textos Hispánicos) published by DueTreDue Edizioni, Carlentini (SR).
Member of the Scientific Committee of the Humanidades book series published by Prensas de la Universidad de Zaragoza.
Member of the Scientific Committee of the Revista de Filología Románica (Universidad Complutense de Madrid). ISSN 0212-999X.
Member of the Editorial Board of Memorabilia. Boletín de literatura sapiencial (Universitat de València). ISSN 579-7341.
Member of the Scientific Committee of the Lumen book series published by DueTreDue Edizioni, Carlentini (SR).
Editorial Secretary of the journal Corpi plurali.
Membership in Academic Associations
Member of the Italian Association of Hispanists (AISPI – Associazione Ispanisti Italiani).
Member of the International Association of Golden Age Studies (AISO – Asociación Internacional Siglo de Oro).
Member of the Hispanic Association of Medieval Literature (AHLM – Asociación Hispánica de Literatura Medieval).
Institutional Responsibilities
Vice President of the Master’s Degree Program in Comparative Languages and Literatures (LM-37)
Member of the Quality Assurance (AQ) Committee for both the Department and the Master’s Degree Program in Comparative Languages and Literatures (LM-37)
Member of the Committee for the Assessment and Validation of Other Educational Activities (Altre Attività Formative)
She is the Principal Investigator of the PRIN 2022 PNRR project The Digital Catalogue of Spanish Epic-Chivalric Poems of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries: Texts, Paratexts and Socio-Literary Networks (An Interdisciplinary Approach) (P2022HCHFR).
She is the Scientific Coordinator of the research project Digital Edition and Study of La segunda parte del Orlando con el verdadero sucesso de la famosa batalla de Roncesvalles, fin y muerte de los doze pares de Francia (1555) by Nicolás de Espinosa, funded under the University Research Incentive Programme (Pia.Ce.Ri.) 2020–2022, Line 3 – Starting Grant.
Since 2022, she has co-directed, together with Professor Gaetano Lalomia, the editorial series ArDiTeHis: Archivo Digital de Textos Hispánicos.
Participation in National and International Research Groups and Projects
- 1 September 2024 – present: member of the I+D+i project La recepción del canon literario italiano en España (siglos XV–XVII). I: Giovanni Boccaccio (PID2023-151240NB-I00), funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and coordinated by Professor David González Ramírez (University of Jaén).
- July 2024 – present: member of the research team of the project VIRTUA(*)RT. Virtual Rooms for Arts, funded under the University Research Incentive Programme (Pia.Ce.Ri. 2024–2026, Action Line 1 – Collaborative Research Projects) and coordinated by Professor Simona Scattina (University of Catania).
- 1 November 2023 – present: member of the research project Última fase del catálogo de obras medievales impresas en castellano (1475–1601): del libro antiguo a las nuevas propuestas de edición (PID2022-136675NB-I00), funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and coordinated by Professor José Aragüés Aldaz (University of Zaragoza).
- 18 October 2023 – present: member of the research unit of the PRIN 2022 project ArDiTeHis (Digital Archive of Spanish Texts) and the Digital Editions of Selected Spanish Texts from the Sixteenth to the Nineteenth Centuries (2022CW8EYT). Principal Investigator: Professor Gaetano Lalomia.
- 4 February 2014 – present: member of the CLARISEL Research Group (dedicated to the study of medieval and sixteenth-century Spanish literature), University of Zaragoza.
- 2021: collaboration with the research team of the project El discurso paratextual de la novela corta barroca. Poética y sociabilidad literaria. PARANOBA (P18-FR-3938; 2020–2022), coordinated by Professor Ignacio García Aguilar (University of Córdoba).
- 10 July 2020 – present: member of the research project Medioevo romanzo e orientale. Manifestazioni, forme e lessico dell’eros dal Medioevo al Moderno, funded by the University of Catania and coordinated by Professor Gaetano Lalomia (University of Catania).
- 1 January 2021 – 31 August 2023: member of the research project Catálogo de Obras Medievales Impresas en Castellano (1475–1601): Libro Antiguo y Humanidades Digitales (PID2019-104989GB-I00), funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and coordinated by Professor María Jesús Lacarra Ducay (University of Zaragoza).
- 30 December 2016 – 31 December 2020: member of the research project Catálogo de Obras Medievales Impresas en Castellano (1475–1601): Nuevas Investigaciones (FFI2016-75396-P), funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and coordinated by Professor María Jesús Lacarra Ducay (University of Zaragoza).
- 1 January 2012 – 29 December 2016: member of the research project Reescrituras y relecturas: hacia un Catálogo de Obras Medievales Impresas en Castellano hasta 1600 (COMEDIC) (FFI2012-32259), funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and coordinated by Professor María Jesús Lacarra Ducay (University of Zaragoza).