Survey of Latin American Literature: Modernismo through Actualidad

Panorama de la Literatura Latinoamericana: desde el Modernismo hasta la Actualidad [LIT/SPA 375S]

LANGUAGE OF INSTRUCTION:

Este curso será impartido en español, destinado para estudiantes con un nivel de Español Avanzado o superior.

CONTACT HOURS:

El curso tiene un total de 45 horas lectivas, repartidas en 30 sesiones de 90 minutos.

GENERAL COURSE DESCRIPTION AND COURSE OBJECTIVES:

This class is an advanced literature survey course that is designed to give students a wide scope of readings from the beginning of the 20th century to more recent texts that have shaped Latin America's social, cultural and literary history. This course challenges students to think critically about issues of race, class, gender, culture and identity in order to understand contemporary Latin America through representative literary texts.

This intellectually rigorous course is concerned with Latin America's redefinition of itself, its societies and diverse national identities, with particular attention given to the relationship between literature, social change, cultural colonization and globalization. The goal of this course is to expose students to a variety of Latin American literature and to encourage them to critically think, read and write while synthesizing the historical and cultural aspects impacting this type of literature. We begin by problematizing terms like América, Americano and Latin America from the perspective of individual Spanish speaking countries who continue to redefine, challenge and question these terms in light of both internal and global changes.

Emphasis will be given to the moments in the twentieth century during which the exchange between the New World and the Old created a wholly new way of communicating human experience. The goal of this course is to enable each student to acquire the skill necessary for the enjoyment of serious examination of literary and cultural issues in a foreign language

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

- Read and analyze texts in terms of literary meaning, theory and concepts.

- Write essays that demonstrate critical thinking based on a close reading and scholarly analyses of the selected texts.

- Determine a research topic for the purposes of further exploring a literary text and utilizing appropriate literary criticism

- Identify specific Latin American writers with their respective works and recognize and appreciate their correlation to historical, economic, cultural, and social events of the time.

- Develop the ability to establish connections to think and explain ways in which a particular literary work shapes and/or is shaped by the historical, social and cultural circumstances in which it was produced.

- Engage in thoughtful discussion of the literature and history with classmates for the purposes of deeper understanding.

COURSE PRE-REQUISITES:

Se requiere que el estudiante domine un nivel de español propio de un aula universitaria. Por lo mismo el requisito para acceder al curso es que el estudiante tenga un nivel High Advanced, Superior, Native o esté cursando al mismo tiempo el curso de ?Advanced Spanish? en el programa de ISA Cusco.

EVALUATION CRITERIA:

Quiz I 20 %

Composición I 10%

Quiz II 20 %

Composición II 10%

Quiz III 20%

Composición III 10%

Asistencia y participación 10 %

REQUIRED READINGS AND TEXTS:

- 'Voces de Hispanoamérica', Raquel Chang-Rodríguez y Malva E. Filer 4th edition.

- Añadido a esto los estudiantes recibirán material extra mediante el uso de un blog diseñado para la enseñanza de esta clase.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIAL ACTIVITIES:

Adicionalmente, el profesor podría encargar actividades y lecturas adicionales. En tal caso siempre serían actividades voluntarias, con las que el estudiante podría aumentar su nota final hasta un máximo de 10%.