Stephanie Fetta
Chicana Scholar. Activist. Educator. Speaker. Mother.
Pioneer of Soma Studies
Associate Professor of Latinx Literature and Culture
Director of the Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies at UMass Amherst
“I was amazed at how Stephanie Fetta’s analysis affected folks at the author talk we held in the library. I could see how it literally resonated in their bodies. She was able to connect to a diverse multicultural and multiracial audience. Her message cuts across differences to reach both the racializer and the racialized in ways that bring folks together to a deep understanding, that leads ultimately to healing. I also love how she talks about racialization specific to Latinx experiences and how she uses Latinx literature as a resource.”
Book Publications
2019 MLA Prize-Winning Book on the Soma
Shaming into Brown: Somatic Transactions of Race in Latina/o Literature
Anchored by two psychoanalytic theories, bioenergetic analysis developed by Alexander Lowen and affect theory put forth by Silvan Tomkins, Fetta examines Latinx fiction to draw attention to the cultural role of the intelligent, emotional, and communicative body—the soma—in relation to shame. She argues that we bring the soma—the physical, emotive, and social register of our subjectivity—to the text as we do to our lives, proposing that the power of racialization operates at the level of somatic expression and reception through habituated, socially cued behaviors that are not readily subject to intentional control.
Fetta examines shame beyond individual experiences, looking at literary renderings of the cultural practice of racial shaming that are deeply embedded into our laws, hiring practices, marketing strategies, and more. Grounding her analysis in the works of Gloria Anzaldúa and Cherríe Moraga, Shaming into Brown focuses on exposing the underpinnings of racialized shame and does so through analyzing “scenes of racialization” in prominent works by authors such as Junot Díaz, Sandra Cisneros, and Oscar Zeta Acosta.
Anthology of Award-Winning Chicano/Latino Literature
The Chicano/Latino Literary Prize
This landmark collection of prize-winning fiction, poetry, and drama paints a historical and aesthetic panorama of Chicana/o and Latina/o letters over a twenty-five-year period beginning in 1974 and ending in 1999. Most, but not all, of the winning entries are featured in this anthology, which also includes second- and third-place winners, as well as honorable mentions.
Now entering its thirty-first year, the award has recognized a wide variety of writers, from established ones such as Juan Felipe Herrera, Michael Nava, and Helena Maria Viramontes, to those that are lesser known. Many of the pieces in this anthology are considered to be foundational texts of Chicana/o and Latina/o literature, and those that are not as widely recognized deserve more serious study and attention.
In addition to the diverse array of authors, styles, and genres, the works included in this collection cover a wide range of themes, from more political issues of ethnic, gender, and class.
Media and Interviews
In Conversation with Latinx Psychologist, Marianela Medrano
Tune into Dr. Fetta’s insightful conversation with psychologist Marianela Medrano to learn more about the process of racial shaming, the path to healing, and the role of somatic awareness.
Podcast Appearance
Latinx Talk: A Discussion on Shaming into Brown
A conversation between Stephanie Fetta and esteemed librarian, Isabel Espinal, on Dr. Fetta’s book, the theory of the soma, and how it can be applied to our lived experiences.
Video Interview
Am I Supposed to be Ashamed of Being Brown?
An interactive workshop and discussion on how racialization shows up in our daily lives, held at the WEB DuBois library at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Read about it here.
Live Workshop
“Dr. Fetta encouraged us to participate with exercises, comments, and questions, opening a space for reflection and meaningful communication. The event, which became a highly dialogical and productive conversation instead of a traditional lecture, was an exceptional opportunity for the attendees to discuss their own experiences of shame, pain, and social exclusion.”
About Dr. Fetta
Professor of Latinx Literature, Director of CLACLS
About Dr. Fetta
Stephanie Fetta, PhD (she/her/ella), is a professor of Latinx Literature and the Director of the Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She is also the proud mother of three children, Max, Leo, and Helena, who she raised through graduate school and as a single mother during her assistant professorship. Dr. Fetta's work explores how bodies communicate and hold notions of race and shame through the soma, and how Latinx and indigenous identities are represented in literature from across the Americas.
Raised in a White suburb in Southern California, Fetta experienced firsthand how race shaped her sense of belonging and safety in her community. Through her studies of Chicanx and Latinx literature, Professor Fetta began to uncover a pattern in how Brown authors depicted the experience of racialization: whether through hunched shoulders or uncontrollably grumbling stomachs, characters’ bodies played a striking role in the shameful and often violent experiences of understanding and accepting their racial identities.
In her book, Shaming into Brown: Somatic Transactions of Race in Latina/o Literature (The Ohio State University Press, 2018; MLA Prize in Latinx Literature, 2019), Dr. Fetta draws on the social and medical sciences to explain how our bodies communicate and embody personal and cultural beliefs and power hierarchies, even before we are cognitively conscious of them. She calls this pre-cognitive entity the soma: loosely defined as the intelligent, communicative body.
Professor Fetta is committed to leveraging her theory for collective liberation and healing. She offers the soma to support a more holistic analysis of race and oppression, while also serving as a doorway to healing shame and interpersonal violence, with applications across institutional, political, and interpersonal contexts. She is particularly committed to centering Afro- and Indigenous Latinx voices through literature and cultural work.
Contact and Booking
Get in Touch
Professor Fetta offers talks, workshops, and DEI consulting services. Please reach out via the form below with any requests or inquiries.
