Spring 2003
W-F 2:40-3:55 McCook 309
Pr. Gustavo Remedi
Office Hrs. T-Th 10-11 am, 1:30-2:30 pm, or by appt.
Telephone x2148
This course is aimed at a broad and general audience. No knowledge of Spanish is required—unless you decide to take it as SPAN 233 and want it to count towards your Major in Spanish, your minor in Spanish Studies, or your Language Concentration in Spanish. Taken as SPAN 233, students must read half of the works in Spanish and write both, the midterm and the final papers in Spanish. You can also make it count towards your Latin American Studies Major and Minor (LASP 233).
I. Description and objectives of the course
This survey course introduces students to a set of key Latin American literary works of the 20th Century. It covers different regional cultural formations (Mexico and Central America, the Andean Region, the Caribbean Basin, the Southern Cone of South America) as well as various literary traditions (travel diaries and testimonies, the short story, the novella, the essay, the novel). The purpose of the course is that students get acquainted to variety of social and cultural issues central to Latin American history and culture such as the problem of grasping, narrating and making sense of Latin America as a distinct place and culture, the burden of neo-colonialism and dependency, the process of nation-building and other related political developments (civil war, dictatorship, revolution) as well as issues of class, gender, ethnicity and human rights which are all important as they divide these regions and nations and need to be acknowledged and somehow “resolved” by the national states.
Attention will be paid to the cultural background and the specific literary forms of expression created by each author (usually, as responses to other texts and cultural practices) as well as to the social, political and historical context within which these texts gain meaning and significance. Indeed, the course is as much about Latin American literature as about Latin American history, society and culture.
In addition to discussing the way “the institution of literature” (writers, publishing houses, bookstores, the State, scholarly authorities, universities, the various mediating cultural institutions around us) produce both the texts and their public (“the reader”), we will discuss how readers. In turn, produce their own texts by approaching the texts from various angles, wearing various critical lenses and asking specific set of questions (which is the purpose of the discipline of “literary analysis, interpretation and criticism”).
Finally, in spite of stressing and reaffirming the specificity and difference of Latin American culture the course also explores the ways in which these texts relate to us in our place and time.
II. Students' obligations and grades
The students must read, in advance, approximately two short stories or one novel per week (some very short, others a bit longer, all in English). Students must keep a personal journal (one entry per class /assignment, which will be collected and graded three times during the term) and actively participate in class interpretations and discussions.
In addition to the midterm and final exercises students will be assigned two short research projects (a minimum of two during the course) which will be the basis for the two formal presentations in class.
The Midterm and Final exercises should reflect the students' knowledge of the materials covered as well as their understanding of class lectures and discussions.
Except for very extraordinary circumstances—which will require a letter from the Dean of Students—, absences will not be excused. More than 3 absences lowers the final grade significantly.
Final Grade: Journal 20%
Presentations 20%
Participation 10%
Midterm 25%
Final 25%
Wed. 22 Introduction
Fri. 24 Carpentier, “Journey”
Wed. 29 Carpentier, “Road to Santiago”
Fri. 31 Cortázar, “Blow Up”
Wed. 5 The “real-marvellous”
Fri. 7 Carpentier, The Kingdom of This World
Wed. 12 Carpentier, The Kingdom of This World
Fri. 14 Gabriel García Márquez, Nobel Prize speech / On “magic realism”
Wed. 19 Film: Eréndira (based on “The Incredible and Sad Tale of Innocent
Eréndira and Her Heartless Grandmother”)
Fri. 21 Fuentes, Artemio Cruz
Wed. 26 Fuentes, Artemio Cruz
Fri. 28 Fuentes, Artemio Cruz
Wed. 5 Rulfo, Pedro Paramo
Fri. 7 Rulfo, Pedro Paramo
Mon. 10 Mid term Essay due
Wed. 12 Borges, “Theme of the Traitor and the Heroe”
Fri. 14 Borges, ”The South“ and “The End”
Wed. 19 SPRING VACATION
Fri. 21 SPRING VACATION
Wed. 26 García Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude
Fri. 28 García Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude
Wed. 2 García Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude
Fri. 4 Galeano, Open Veins of Latin America
Wed. 9 Galeano, Open Veins of Latin America
Fri. 11 Galeano, Open Veins of Latin America
Wed. 16 Rigoberta Menchú, I Rigoberta
Fri. 18 Rigoberta Menchú, I Rigoberta
Wed. 23 Belli, The Inhabited Woman
Fri. 25 Belli, The Inhabited Woman
MAY 5-9 FINAL EXAM