Spanish Major Courses - Spring
250 Gateway to the Spanish-Speaking World
How do you begin to get into the midset of another culture? How do individuals relate to a society as a whole? We'll start to answer these questions with respect to the Spanish-speaking world in this course by exploring different stories and documents about families in Spain from the early 1900s through 2006. We will work on strategies of academic reading in Spanish through analysis of a series of "cultural texts" -- from statistical data to periodical press articles to films to a novel. You will respond to these texts and develop your skills in Spanish through class discussions and oral activities, and most importantly, through various modes of academic writing. The course includes participation in out-of-class conversation groups.
Films: La lengua de las mariposas, Eres mi heroe, Pidele cuentas al Rey
273 Cultural Heritage of the Hispanic U.S.
This course offers the opportunity to begin understanding Latino cultures in the United States. It stresses four essential points: 1. that there are many Latinos in the United States; 2. that there are many Latino cultures in the United States; 3. that Latinos have lived in the territory now occupied by the United States for a long time; 4. that Latinos are a great cultural treasure.
The separate histories and diverse experiences of each major group of Latinos in the United StatesMexican, Cuban and Puerto Ricanlead us to see that each represents a quite distinct Latino culture. However, there are also commonalities among them. Through the study of literary and non-literary texts, we will analyze distinctive cultural themes according to several categories: (a) family, (b) religion, (c) community, (d) the experience of (im)migration and exile, (e) the search for cultural identity, and others.
Our purpose is to understand better the Latino cultural experience and, in doing so, to come to understand ourselves better.
Some of the authors to consider & works:
On Chicano identity:
- Rodolfo Corky González
- Marjorie Agosín
- ...Y no se lo tragó la tierra (1971), by Tomás Rivera
On the Cuban experience:
- Heberto Padilla
- Gustavo Pérez Firmat
- Eliana Rivero
On the Puerto Rican experience:
- Julia de Burgos
- Ana Lydia Vega
- Las tribulaciones de Jonás (1989), Edgardo Rodríguez Juliá
"Contemporary Capital: Madrid After Franco (1976-2006)" (GE: ALA-L)
From the end of the Franco era (1976) to the present (2006) Madrid became the center of accelerated change, evolving from an isolated capital to a modern, democratic member of the European Union. At the same timeinevitably new, unanticipated challenges aroseimmigration, escalating threats of terrorism, massive tourism, shifts in gender roles and the impact of these developments on the national economy. How did writers and filmmakers reflect this new, compelling urban reality?
This course will attempt to address these questions.
Through an analysis of novels, short stories, poems, plays, and films that depict the complexities of immigration, gender and identity, urban landscapes, and socio-economic disparities, students will be introduced to literary terminology and to the principles of analysis across genres of literary and cultural texts.
Possible cultural texts include:
- Lindo, Elvira. El otro barrio (novel)
- García-Mauriño Múzquiz, Javier. Picospardo's (drama)
- Rico, Manuel. De vuela a casa (short story)
- Fernández Fermoselle, Angel. Amanece en la Castellana (short story)
- Pérez Zúñiga, Ernesto. Dos manzanas (II) (short story)
- Corbacho, José y Juan Cruz, dirs. Tapas (film)
- De la Iglesia, Alex, dir. La comunidad (film)
- Madrid, Once de marzo (Selected poems)
Taught in Spanish. Prerequisite: Spanish 250.
·Required for all majors who have not completed any literature courses previously.
·You are not eligible if you have completed two or more literature courses on campus (313, 314, 373, 374, 375, 387, and 399).
276 Spanish as a First and Second Language
Students explore the processes involved in the acquisition of Spanish as a first and second language and the variation present in the language of both native and non-native speakers of Spanish from Spain, Latin America, and the U.S. Hispanic linguistics are studied with special attention to sociocultural as well as structural aspects. The course includes study of at least one substantive literary work. Includes pronunciation lab. Taught in Spanish. Prerequisite: Spanish 250.
294 Internship
298 Independent Study
314 Literature and Society in Latin America
"Literature and Dictatorship in the Southern Cone"
The military dictatorships that emerged in the Southern Cone in the 1970s and 1980s were characterized by their systematic violation of human rights and by their generalized intolerance for any public expression critiquing the regime in power. Nevertheless, writers have continued to turn to literature as a means of actively responding to the historical circumstances brought about by the military dictatorships in question. With this premise, this course will explore the following questions through analysis of a series of novels and dramatic works from Argentina, Chile and Uruguay:
* What are the possibilities for artistic and cultural expression under the centralizing and often violent control of authoritarian regimes?
* When faced with extreme censorship, what strategies have writers developed in order to challenge the official version of events put forth by an authoritarian regime?
* Are there literary tools capable of expressing horror, fear and pain? How might these tools differ according to literary genre?
* In what ways does literature in exile differ in theme and literary strategy from works by authors who remain in their countries during periods of repression?
* Under dictatorship, what is the role of the reader and/or spectator? What does he/she need to infer in order to make sense of a work?
* Do the fear and distrust created by state-sponsored repression eliminate the possibility for human solidarity and intimacy?
* In what ways does violent authoritarianism impact national identity?
Tentative readings include the following:
Novels
- Marta Traba (Argentina, 1981). Conversación al sur.
- Cristina Peri Rossi (Uruguay, 1984). La nave de los locos.
- Manuel Puig (Argentina, 1976). El beso de la mujer araña.
- Antonio Skármeta (Chile, 1980). No pasó nada.
Dramatic Works
- Griselda Gambaro (Argentina). La malasangre; Información para extranjeros.
- Eduardo Rovner (Argentina). Concierto de aniversario.
- Roma Mahieu (Argentina). Juegos a la hora de la siesta.
- Mario Benedetti (Uruguay). Pedro y el capitán.
·This course counts as a required on-campus literature course for the Spanish major
·You are eligible to take 314 in the spring if you have completed 275 (new curriculum) or 251 & 254 and at least one literature course on campus (373-374-375-387-388-399, from the old major)
394 Internship
398 Independent Research
399 Seminar
El amor en Hispanoamérica
El amor: ¿nos hace capaz de superar cualquier reto?
Parece haber diferencias profundas entre los seres humanos con respecto a su interpretación del amor. Entre los angloparlantes se oyen a veces referencias al "power of love" y se escribe a menudo sobre el amor, el amor entre hombre y mujer, y el amor de familia (entre padres e hijos, entre hermanos, entre abuelos y nietos, etc.). A la misma vez es obvio que algunas personas, entre ellos, algunos intelectuales niegan la capacidad humana de superar dificultades y cambios de la vida por medio del amor. ¿Es posible sostener el amor entre hombre y mujer bajo condiciones adversas? ¿Qué importa a lo largo de una vida y al concluir esa vida: la historia política, social y económica de una sociedad o la historia de la familia? ¿Qué importa a largo plazo: la historia nacional o el amor entre hombre y mujer basado en percepciones, experiencias y aprecio compartidos? ¿Cuál es la relación entre lo nacional / internacional y lo particular?
Aún entre los que creen en el poder del amor, hay diferencias de opinión con respecto a la importancia del amor de Dios. Para muchos novelistas de fines del siglo pasado y de la actualidad no parece existir Dios, por lo menos nunca se comunica que Dios es una fuerza en la vida humana.
En Spanish 399 exploraremos estos temas y otros en una serie de obras literarias escritas en Hispanoamérica. Analizaremos no solamente las perspectivas de los autores sino también las técnicas empleadas para comunicarlas.
Se leerán
Cien años de soledad Gabriel García Márquez (colombiano)
Como agua para chocolate Laura Esquivel (mexicana)
Boquitas pintadas Manuel Puig (argentino)
La tía Julia y el escribidor Mario Vargas Llosa (peruano)
