SBCC English Professor Publishes Academic Book

Clara Oropeza, an SBCC English Literature Professor, is self-proclaimed “obsessed” with comparative mythology, literature and author Anaïs Nin’s writing.

In mid-August, she published an academic book titled “Anaïs Nin – A Myth of Her Own,” which analyzes the author’s modernist writings.

Oropeza began writing her dissertation on Nin while she attended Pacifica Graduate Institute and participated in The Pacifica Myth Program. She said that she was deeply grateful that she found a program that focused on comparative mythology and literature. After analyzing Nin’s work for a year and a half, she decided to expand her dissertation into her own book.

“I think largely I was very propelled (to write the book). I think it really was kind of my excitement for her work. Maybe being drawn, or obsessed,” she said.

Oropeza explained that some of Nin’s work was posthumously published and she has never felt satisfied with how it was presented.

“I kind of always had a secret dream that I would do some research to settle that, even for myself a little bit,” she said. “So it’s been a long stemming idea or wish I’ve had to look into her work. I feel like that for a lot of female writers, when they pass away and things get published they get dealt with differently.”

To prepare for writing, Oropeza visited UCLA’s Library in at least 10 week-long trips to study the 25 boxes of Anaïs Nin archives. Among these archives, Oropeza was able to analyze her 60-year diary and other intimate material.

“She’s known as one of the most important diarists,” she said. “Her diary spans 60 years and is among the most important exploration of the depth and the range of the ecology of the feminine self.”

When asked if being one of five daughters has contributed to her interest in Nin’s work, Oropeza said, “Definitely. I think I have always been interested deeply in a feminine narrative.”

“One of the things that has always drawn me to her is that she wrote about a lot of taboo subjects for the time period; women’s sexuality, women’s selfhood,” Oropeza said.

Oropeza was approached by London based publisher Routledge when she was presenting a chapter of her dissertation at a conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Once she submitted her book proposal to Routledge, three scholars in the field for reviewed it for publishing and she got a resounding “yes” to move forward.

After a year and a half of research and writing, Oropeza went to London to submit her book for final edits and then traveled further to Paris to follow in Nin’s footsteps.

“I went off to Paris, tracing the steps of Nin as a way to celebrate the culmination of the whole trip,” she said. “I got to see where her houseboat was moored. Her house where she wrote the novels. All of the bars and cafes where she used to sit around and write. Once I followed the paper trail, I had to go follow the physical person.”

Being of Mexican decent, Oropeza said she is very much from an oral culture and finds that stories are part of understanding her identity. She said that stories are pivotal and now that she teaches stories, it’s the greatest thing in the world.

“I’ve always been interested in education and storytelling and now I’m helping my students embrace literature and the power of stories – the power not only of education, but also using stories to connect to our humanity.”

Oropeza’s book is available on Amazon.com. SBCC’s Luria Library will also have a copy for check out.

A passage from Anaïs Nin – A Myth of Her Own:
“While we continue to advocate for an equitable world, essential questions of our time are: what images feed our imagination as we desperately need to knit a critical understanding of the harmful structures that surround us? What are the narratives that we tell ourselves in hopes of harmonizing a sense of self, community and who we are in relationship to the earth? Who is willing to engage in this type of self-reflection required to tend to our communities? Nin offers a philosophical justification for why the cultivation of an interior world is essential to address calamities in society: not merely to resist alienation from oneself, but to better bridge our knowledge of others. Her feminism brings us a vision that is a necessary truth today: we must foster and affirm a women’s life as we oppose domination.”