Global Arc

An overview of Latin American literary masterpieces in the twentieth century. We will focus on the period of the Latin American boom in the 1960s, and discuss how novelists responded to political events in the region that include: the Cold War, the Cuban Revolution, the Central American wars, the military dictatorships in Argentina and Chile, etc. Authors studied will include: Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel Garcia Márquez, Isabel Allende, Mario Vargas Llosa, Gabriela Mistral, Juan Rulfo, Pablo Neruda, Reinaldo Arenas, Julio Cortázar.

Why has DQ been construed in such disparate ways as: a book about good and bad reading, a funny book that mocks the medieval world view, a book about the impact of the printing press, a satire of the New World conquistadors, a study of deviant social behavior, the nature of madness, or a meditation on human sexuality and aging? In answering these questions we will consider the cultural models Cervantes rethinks: from chivalric adventure to the criminality of the picaresque, the humanist dialogue, the politics of empire, and the Inquisition. DQ offers an anatomy of such cultural icons as well as a programmatic interrogation of their effects.

Why write or read novels in the age of hyper-information and immediacy? What can the novel tell us about the present and its conflicts? In this course, we will reflect on different forms of present-day violence through the quiet and careful reading of 5 novels by young Spanish writers. The course will facilitate interaction and collaboration with students at Northwestern University, and during April students from both universities will participate in a virtual encounter with some of the authors, as well as in an online workshop.

The development of cultural patterns and literary forms in Spanish America since the late 19th century. Topics may include: the importance of oral traditions and popular music in forging identities; the literary and ideological import of modernismo, travel literature in the 19th century; and the avant-garde movements of the 1920s. Two 90-minute classes. Prerequisite: a 200-level Spanish course or instructor's permission.

This course studies the role of culture in Argentine modernity including its political and ideological uses and the aesthetic and formal traditions it generated. Topics include: the production of national and state fictions, the history of Argentine populism, the role of the popular in the national imagination, memory politics and State terrorism, neoliberalism and privatization, and new forms of political participation.

Fundamental texts of Spanish American literature from colonial times to the present. In a given semester the course could focus on works by Garcilaso, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Sarmiento, José Hernandez, Martí, Borges, Mariátegui, Palés Matos, Henríquez Ureña, or Lezama Lima. Two 90-minute seminars. Prerequisite: a 200-level Spanish course or instructor's permission.

This seminar studies literary, legal, and historical writings in relation to such topics as imperialism and colonialism, the image of the "Indian," cultural identities, and rhetoric and politics, from the writings of Columbus and the cartographic imagination to the formation of the new criollo culture in the vice-regal city. Texts from the following authors will be carefully analyzed: Cortés, Cabeza de Vaca, Las Casas, Garcilaso de la Vega, Huaman Poma, and Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz. Two 90-minute seminars. Prerequisite: a 200-level Spanish course or instructor's permission.

Latin American and Caribbean thought from 1800 to the present, focusing on the conflicting cultural and ideological assumptions of liberalism and nationalism. Topics might include slavery and literature, the writing of history, the intellectuals and power, or the writings of some major figures such as Bolívar, Hostos, Martí, Mariátegui, Fernando Ortiz, or Paz. Two 90-minute seminars. Prerequisite: a 200-level Spanish course or instructor's permission.

Readings and discussion of authors such as Machado de Assis, Cortázar, Lispector, García Márquez, Vargas Llosa, and Puig, considered in relation to the cultures of Latin America and to trends of modern European and American fiction. Does not count as a departmental course for Spanish majors unless readings and papers are done in Spanish. Three hour lecture. Prerequisite: a 200-level Spanish course or instructor's permission.

How is the complexity of the Andes imagined or resolved in its literatures? This seminar will study the plurality of narrations and communities that constitute the Andean world, focusing primarily on Peru and two of its major intellectual movements in the 20th century: the indigenismo and the criollo urban literature. Aspects of the Afro-Peruvian narratives will also be studied. Major authors discussed include: Ricardo Palma, Clorinda Matto, González Prada, Mariátegui, Arguedas, Vargas Llosa, Bryce, Ribeyro, Gregorio Martínez. Conducted in Spanish. Two 90-minute seminars. Prerequisite: a 200-level Spanish course or instructor's permission.