Courses in Spanish

This first half of a yearlong course is focused on the self in a broader social context for students who are beginning the study of Spanish or have had minimal exposure to the language. The course offers the equivalent of conventional beginning and intermediate language study. The first semester's work comprises an introduction to Spanish as a spoken and written language. The work includes practice in understanding and using the spoken language. Written exercises and reading materials serve to reinforce communicative skills, build vocabulary and enhance discussion of the individual and community. This course includes required practice sessions with a teaching assistant, which are scheduled at the beginning of the semester. Students enrolled in this course are automatically added to SPAN 112Y for the spring semester. No prerequisite. Offered every year.

This second half of a yearlong course is a continuation of SPAN 111Y. The second semester consists of continued study of the fundamentals of Spanish, while incorporating literary and cultural materials to develop techniques of reading, cultural awareness and mastery of the spoken and written language. The work includes practice in understanding and using the spoken language. Written exercises and reading materials serve to reinforce communicative skills, build vocabulary and enhance discussion of the individual and community. This course includes required practice sessions with a teaching assistant, which are scheduled at the beginning of the semester. Prerequisite: SPAN 111Y or equivalent. Offered every year.

This first half of the yearlong intermediate-level language course is focused on language and culture for students who are interested in developing their ability to speak, read, write and understand Spanish. In addition to a comprehensive grammar review, the primary texts chosen for the course serve as a general introduction to Hispanic culture and literature. Other materials include short essays, newspaper articles, films, television series and songs, which together provide a point of departure for discussions on a range of issues. This course includes required practice sessions with a teaching assistant, which are scheduled at the beginning of the semester. Students enrolled in this course are automatically added to SPAN 214Y for the spring semester. Prerequisite: SPAN 111Y-112Y or equivalent. Offered every year.

This second half of the yearlong intermediate-level language course builds on the concepts and skills addressed in the first semester, with a continued focus on language and culture for students who are interested in developing their ability to speak, read, write and understand Spanish. Students are exposed to more complex Spanish grammar while also expanding their vocabulary in context, using authentic materials similar to those of the first semester (including short novels, stories, essays, newspaper articles, films, television series, and songs). Students produce more advanced analytic and creative writing assignments, and are asked to actively discuss a range of challenging topics in class with increased proficiency (compared to fall semester). Like SPAN 213Y, this course includes required practice sessions with a teaching assistant, though the days and times for these may be different from the fall semester. Prerequisite: SPAN 213Y or equivalent. Offered every year.

Chicana/o culture produced in the U.S. is a vast field, often underrepresented in undergraduate curricula. Even so, Chicana/os' contributions to literature, visual and public art, music, film, cultural theory and political activism are among the richest in this nation. This absence is symptomatic of a larger societal reality, namely, a history of cultural and economic oppression, which results in silencing "the other" America. In this regard, Gloria Anzaldúa, one of the most important borderland theorist in the U.S., states: "I write to record what others erase when I speak, to rewrite what others have miswritten about me, about you." In "Cultural Productions of the Borderlands," students gain deep understanding of theories and representations of borderlands within the context of their colonial legacies. Students may choose to read, write and test in either English or Spanish, and work with an array of cultural materials including, literature, visual art, film, music and Chicano/a history, as sites of opposition to sexist, racist, classist and homophobic ideologies. This is a core course within the Latino/a studies concentration. It also counts toward majors in American studies, international studies, women and gender studies, religious studies, and Spanish area studies. No prerequisite. Generally offered every two years.

In this course we will study the experience of Latinos/as in the United States and the idea of borders as conceived by Latino writers and filmmakers who have lived between cultures, territories and value systems. We will study the Hispanic and Indigenous heritage, with special emphasis on Mexican-American, Puerto Rican and Cuban American productions, and especially those works that while produced in the United States are written in Spanish. We will pay close attention to local constructions of identity, and also focus on how these representations and constructions are connected to global processes. The course also offers students opportunities to learn through community-engaged learning. No prerequisite.

This course uses literature and film to give advanced students the opportunity to strengthen their ability to write analytically and creatively in Spanish. The course also strongly emphasizes speaking and reading in Spanish. Works from various literary genres and selected Spanish-language films are among the materials on which class discussion and writing assignments are centered. To deploy this content, we use digital technology that supports the acquisition of advanced vocabulary, the development of reading comprehension and writing. A grammar review, focused mainly on typical areas of difficulty, may also be included. Prerequisite: SPAN 213Y-214Y or equivalent. Offered every year.

This foundational course explores the trajectory of Spanish literature, starting with ballads that reflect the confluence of Christian, Jewish and Arab cultures of the Early Modern Period. It continues through the Golden Age short stories of Cervantes and the theater of Calderón de la Barca; the Romantics and their explorations of new forms of subjectivity in verse and deeply psychological prose; Realist depictions of social change in the late 19th century; and Modernist poetry and works by Federico García Lorca. It concludes with post-Civil War and post-Franco writings, including a contemporary novel about a journalist who discovers the untold history of his father while researching a story on a leader of the Fascist regime. Among the films included is a documentary about the participation of American volunteers who defied the U.S. government and joined the International Brigades to combat Franco during the Spanish Civil War. In addition to the course anthology and shorter pieces, we read original editions of select primary texts. This is an excellent course for students who have taken SPAN 321 because it serves as a bridge course for more advanced literature classes. However, it is also ideal for students who have taken more advanced courses, given that it provides an important understanding of Spanish literature (and its relationship to Latin American literature). Finally, it is a great opportunity for students with interest in theater since we stage two of the plays we read. Other aims center on building skills for analytic writing in Spanish and building the vocabulary useful for interpretation and discussion of film and literary works in Spanish. This course counts toward the literature requirement for the major. Prerequisite: SPAN 321 or equivalent. Generally offered every other year.

This is a foundational survey of Spanish American literature from its pre-Hispanic manifestations to the present. The course covers major historical periods and literary movements, including the narrative of discovery and conquest; Renaissance and Baroque poetry; and the literatures of Romanticism, modernism, the avant-gardes, the Boom and postmodernity. Fundamental concepts of literary theory and techniques of literary analysis are discussed. Historical readings, critical essays and films provide the background for textual analysis. The course is recommended for Spanish and international studies majors. Prerequisite: SPAN 321 or equivalent. Generally offered every other year.

This course is an introductory literature course that focuses on the literature and culture of Spain and Spanish America from before the arrival of Columbus until the 19th century. By comparing literary and cultural discourses on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, it seeks to elucidate the literary roots of discourses on discovery, empire, race, gender, colonialism and early nation formation. The course includes primary readings by Columbus, Las Casas, Nebrija, Cortes, Ercilla, El Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, Díaz del Castillo, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Catalina de Erauso, Caviedes, Lizardi, Quevedo and Hernández. Students also discuss numerous critical and historical readings. The course devotes several days to focus intentionally on student writing. Prerequisite: SPAN 321 or equivalent. Generally offered every three years.

Traditionally, Latin American and Iberian literatures are taught separately. However, in this course students are given the opportunity to study and analyze the similarities and rich connections between Spain and Latin America's artistic expressions (literature and visual arts) of the 19th and 20th centuries in order to better understand the overall evolution of artistic trends on both sides of the Atlantic. In this way, students not only can observe the wide network of influential collaborations and conflicts among several intellectuals and artists of the Spanish-speaking world, but also have the chance to explore many works by great authors of Spain and Latin America in a single course, such as Miguel de Unamuno, Rubén Darío, Jorge Luis Borges, Salvador Dalí, Federico García Lorca, Luis Buñuel, Pablo Neruda and Octavio Paz. The course is recommended for Spanish and international studies majors. Prerequisite: SPAN 321 or equivalent. Generally offered every three years.

One of the features of the most exciting and innovative Spanish American literature is that it seeks to speak directly through and with popular culture. This course focuses precisely on this relationship. Topics that may be covered include graphic novels and comics, different musical genres (son, tango, Nueva Canción, salsa) the visual arts, television and film. Select media are a significant part of class materials. The course is recommended for Spanish and international studies majors. Prerequisite: SPAN 321 or equivalent. Generally offered every three years.

This is an introductory-level literature and culture course that explores the relationship between artistic expression and popular culture in Spain from the period of the "Transition" (between the Franco dictatorship and democracy) up to the present. Bringing into focus an array of cultural artifacts from literature, film, music and the visual arts, the course looks at complexly rendered depictions of the cultural "other" often marginalized due to ethnicity, gender, class, profession, ideology or language. Among the "others" to be considered are gypsies, flamenco performers, immigrants, working-class women, homosexuals, lawmakers, lawbreakers and residents of the political and linguistic periphery. Among the cultural artifacts to be considered are films by Jaime Chávarri, Montxo Armendáriz, Carlos Saura and Julio Médem; musical compositions by Camarón de la Isla, "Ketama," "Radio Tarifa" and "Martirio"; and works of fiction by Ignacio Martínez de Pisón, Antonio Lozano and Lorenzo Silva. Our discussions and paper assignments for the course draw on ideas from the field of cultural studies. Prerequisite: SPAN 321 or equivalent. Generally offered every three years.

This course focuses on the work of several Spanish writers, film directors and painters who fled Spain because of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) and immigrated to different countries in Latin America. We analyze their works before exile, during the first years living in exile, and later works (published either in exile or back in Spain). In this way, students have the opportunity to study how the experience of exile — living in Latin America and being in constant contact with Latin American culture and intellectuals—affected their creations. By following this methodology, the course gives students a profound understanding of the phenomenon of exile and how this particular group of Spanish artists set themselves apart from those who stayed in Spain or went to other countries around the globe. In addition, this course offers a digital humanities optional component, which gives students the opportunity to learn how to use mapping software. Prerequisite: SPAN 321 or equivalent.

This course studies a significant, provocative selection of films from Latin America. This cultural production, despite its lack of international visibility until recently, has a long and complex history that merits consideration. Students have the opportunity to see the present-day region and the forces that have shaped it through images generated from within its cultures. They are exposed to an art that is revolutionary because of its form and the ways in which it challenges the cinematic methods and styles of creation that characterize Hollywood's cultural industry. It uses as a theoretical basis a range of cultural, gender, ethnic, queer and postcolonial perspectives as they apply to cinema. We consider films directed by "El Indio" Fernandez, Buñuel, Birri, Gutiérrez Alea, Rocha, Sanjinés, Ledouc, Lombardi, Subiela, Gaviria, Bemberg, Salles and Cuarón, among others. This course is recommended for majors in Spanish or international studies. Prerequisite: SPAN 321 or equivalent. Generally offered every three years.

This course offers a close reading of the "Quijote" with particular emphasis on Cervantes' contribution to the novel form, the comic hero and the anti-hero, the interplay of fiction and history, and the confusion of appearance and reality. The novel is studied in its social and historical context. Prerequisite: one unit of Spanish or Spanish American literature. Generally offered every three years.

This course presents an overview of the Spanish American short story from 1940 to the present. It examines the antecedents of the new Spanish American narrative, the so-called "Spanish American Boom," and a narrative of the periphery. The national literature of the "boom" is read with attention to subgenres such as the fantastic, magic realism and the marvelous real. It shows how these subgenres are transformed and eventually challenged by an ethnic, feminine and postmodern narrative, which instead of focusing on the representation of the nation explores other social subjects and forms of cultures. Among the authors included are Jorge Luis Borges, Juan Rulfo, Julio Cortázar, Carlos Fuentes, Gabriel García Márquez, Luisa Valenzuela, Isabel Allende, Ana Lydia Vega, Diamela Eltit, Ricardo Piglia and Elena Poniatowska. Prerequisite: SPAN 321 or equivalent. Generally offered every three years.

Literature and science have enjoyed a fluid relationship for centuries, but in the particular case of the 19th century, the novel became a laboratory for understanding both the individual and society. In Spain, writers sought to capture and critique "reality" with new knowledge about the laws governing behavior and, in the process, came to reveal unanticipated truths about the nature of scientific discovery. In particular, sex was on the mind. In this course, we attempt to understand how and why. Across Europe, groundbreaking, often disquieting schools of thought fueled the popular imagination, from evolutionism to criminology, experimental medicine and psychoanalysis. Together, in Spanish translation, these writings and related essays on sex frame our discussions of novels from several of the greatest Spanish realists, including Benito Pérez Galdós, Emilia Pardo Bazán, Jacinto Octavio Picón and Leopoldo Alas (Clarín). Their representations both disturb and entertain, feeling more like fun-house mirrors than objective reflections of reality, thus we no doubt question the science of such reflections. Our last author is Miguel de Unamuno, as we look at how this wayward realist and his later novel "Niebla" (1914) managed to turn the entire enterprise on its head. Prerequisite: SPAN 321 or equivalent. Generally offered every three years.

Leech has acknowledged that to perceive Colombia "simply as an exporter of cocaine or a perpetrator of terrorism is to completely misunderstand it." Hence, this course first addresses the violence that has plagued the Latin American country since 1948. After establishing this historical perspective, we focus on relevant cultural productions that represent and challenge contemporary Colombian social reality. The course studies narrative, essay, poetry, theater and cinema produced throughout the last 50 years in this intriguing country, which has been defined as "the scent of an overripe guava." Prerequisite: SPAN 321 or equivalent. Generally offered every three years.

This course examines the history, culture and literature of Argentina since the war of independence. Our study proceeds thematically and chronologically, focusing primarily on works that deal with the theme of nation-building. We examine an array of issues: early nation-building, the theme of civilization against barbarism, the loss of the frontier and of innocence, the region's export-oriented agricultural economy, urbanization and industrialization, and dictatorships and revolutions as they are portrayed in a variety of representative works of literature. The course focuses on how particular Argentine communities experienced and responded to these processes. The course includes many of the most celebrated and influential works of Argentine literature. Prerequisite: SPAN 321 or equivalent. Generally offered every three years.

This course is designed to introduce students to the literary trends and the poetics that underlie 20th-century Spanish American poetry, including those labeled "modernism," "avant-garde," "social poetry," "anti-poetry" and "conversationalism." Through close readings of representative works, the course examines the representation of nation, class, gender, ethnicity and sexuality by the practice of these poetics. Some of the authors included are: Martí, Darío, Mistral, Vallejo, Storni, Girondo, Huidobro, Borges, Guillén, Neruda, Lezama Lima, Burgos, Paz, Parra, Cardenal, Castellanos, Benedetti, Varela, Gelman and Pacheco. Prerequisite: SPAN 321 or equivalent. Generally offered every three years.

Using literature, art and history as the primary sources of exploration, this course examines aesthetic constructions of Mexico from the movement of independence led by Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla in 1810 to the present. Through close analysis of the most representative and influential works of Mexican literature and art, the course explores thematically and chronologically an array of issues, including early nation-building, the Mexican Revolution, caudillismo, political repression, machismo, malinchismo and diverse conceptualizations of national identity. The course focuses on how prominent writers such as Octavio Paz, Carlos Fuentes, Mariano Azuela, Rodolfo Usigli, Elena Poniatowska, Elena Garro and Sabina Berman, as well as the "muralistas" Rivera, Siqueiros and Orozco, have responded to these issues, contributing to the historic myths of the Mexican nation. Prerequisite: SPAN 321 or equivalent. Generally offered every three years.

How did the premodern mind perceive the world? What role did literary texts play in shaping that world? This course addresses three foundational works of Spanish medieval literature in order to understand what they are saying, how they are engaging their communities, and what we can learn as modern readers about the premodern viewpoint. This course may include texts such as the curious Spanish national epic "Poema de mío Cid"; the hilarious and enigmatic "Libro de buen amor"; the dramatic European best-seller "La Celestina"; or exemplary tales that came to Iberia from as far as Persia and India in "El conde Lucanor" or "Calila e Dimna." We examine these works to detangle them from modern notions of literary nationalism and seek to understand medieval Spanish perspectives on their place in the broader world. As a class, we do what the medieval mind did best: perceive all knowledge as inherently interconnected across academic fields and continents, time periods and modes of expression. Students engage in close reading, seminar discussion, written assignments, artistic presentations and a scholarly presentation in the course colloquium. Prerequisite: SPAN 321.

As Burns and Charlip remark, "Perhaps no other event in Latin American history has had the impact of the Cuban Revolution of 1959. It became the model for revolutionary changes throughout Latin America and beyond. It also became a model for U.S. Cold War policy." Naturally, this social process has generated an array of cultural productions during the last five decades, in favor and against, on the island and in the U.S. and other countries, in Spanish and English. This class examines representative works of such cultural production, exploring the representations of different kinds of social subordination in poems, short stories, essays and films. It considers works by well-known poets such as Guillén, García Marruz and Padilla; short story writers such as Piñera, Jorge Cardozo and Benítez Rojo; essayists such as Fernández Retamar, Pérez Firmat, and Campuzano; and filmmakers such as Gutiérrez Alea, Solás and Pérez, among others. The class includes extensive reading on social context and a theoretical perspective informed by postcolonial studies. Prerequisite: SPAN 321 or equivalent. Generally offered every three years.

What is the role of literature in representing reality? Writers and intellectuals in Spanish America have consistently addressed this question over many decades. The genre can be said to have begun with the accounts of Spaniards arriving in Spanish America, but it was during the 1960s and 70s when writers used these accounts extensively to address distressing political realities. The social and political turmoil of recent decades, including political violence, human rights violations and the implementation of equally violent neoliberal policies in the region in the 1990s, have confronted writers with new levels of social engagement in Spanish American societies. In this course, we study different responses to the question of how testimonios and documentary fiction have addressed social issues in Spanish America. In addition, we review documentary films that enhance our discussion of the genre. We consider examples of testimonials and documentary fiction from Cuba, Bolivia, Mexico, Chile and Argentina. Prerequisite: SPAN 321 or equivalent. Generally offered every three years.

This course invites students to explore some of the great works of literature produced in Spain during the 16th and 17th centuries. We read poems by Fray Luis de León, Garcilaso de la Vega, Francisco de Quevedo, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Lope de Vega and Luis de Góngora; religious prose by Santa Teresa de Jesús; plays by Lope de Vega and Tirso de Molina; and short novels by Miguel de Cervantes and María de Zayas. Textual analysis is stressed, but we also consider the social, economic and political realities that helped to shape literary and artistic production during this period. Prerequisite: SPAN 321 or equivalent. Generally offered every three years.

From the historical shadows of birthright, religious oppression and absolutism emerge the makings of Promethean individualism in Spain at the dawn of the 19th century, with fire stolen through profanations, infidelities, perversions of desire, erotic sentiment, secret fellowships, unbound interiority and political censure. Indeed, in its various manifestations, transgression as a creative force drives new configurations of the self in opposition to established literary norms and cultural conservatism at this watershed moment in the nation’s history. Structured around distinct, often mixed genres of the period (theater, poetry, prose), our discussions address how to define Romanticism; what role specific writers of the period have had in shaping literary history in Spain and beyond; why cultural production — namely literature — and nation-building occur in tandem; and where gender factors into the equation. Primary readings span the legendary figure of Don Juan to the first novel written in Spanish that was both anti-slavery and feminist, while secondary selections expose students to a broad range of literary criticism and authors from other national traditions, in Spanish translation, who were influential in Spain at the time. Prerequisite: SPAN 321 or above.

This course explores the representation of cultural exchange in Spanish literature from a perspective framed by the legacy of Islam in narratives of exile, travel, immigration, conflict, nationalism and spiritual awakening. Though attention is given to important contextual issues and historical shifts across periods, much of the focus is on the relationship between Spain and Morocco from the 18th century to the present. The Strait of Gibraltar figures in our discussions as a symbolic point of crossing for the coexistence and challenges of neighboring cultures. In addition to several films and critical studies, the primary readings might include: contemporary fiction from Juan Goytisolo, an iconic expatriate living in Marrakech, and Najat El-Hachmi, whose award-winning novel in Spanish translation "El ultimo patriarca" (2008), provides a singular account of the trials of assimilation for a young Moroccan girl. Other possibilities depictions of the regional wars and colonial tensions, like Ramon J. Senders' "Iman" (1930), from the early 20th century; the modernist Maghreb aesthetic of fin de siglo writers from Andalusia; the journal of Domingo Badía (Ali Bey), whose undercover pilgrimage to Mecca from 1804 to 1807 disguised as a Muslim gives an unprecedented view of North Africa and the sacred site; and the humanistic pluralism of the "Cartas marruecas" (1789) by Jose Cadalso. From these selections our discussions address issues of religious difference, geography and identity. Prerequisite: SPAN 321 or equivalent. Generally offered every three years.

Modernism has its own expressions and trajectory in the Spanish tradition that separates it from the rest of the European modernist movements. Madrid (between 1905-1935) was the epicenter of multiple modernist trends; therefore, while this course will focus primarily on Spanish artists, it will also include three Latin American writers who visited Madrid during this time period and greatly influenced the course of Spanish Modernism: Rubén Darío, Vicente Huidobro, and Pablo Neruda. In addition to studying well known authors, filmmakers and painters such as Miguel de Unamuno, Luis Buñuel, and the members of the Generation of 27, we will analyze the works of various women artists that have been excluded from the 20th century canon. Not only will this ensure a more complete representation of the multitude of voices and perspectives being expressed at that time, but it will also honor the subversive and revolutionary spirit of the modernist movements themselves by challenging the establishment and the status quo. Prerequisite: SPAN 321 or equivalent. Generally offered every three years.

This course studies the representation of sexualities that confront social norms in contemporary Spanish American literature and cinema. It presents a provocative, captivating selection of poems, novels, short stories, essays, "crónicas" and films from the region often excluded from canonical accounts. The class also develops a theoretical perspective based on queer studies and its practical application to textual and cinematic analysis. This course is recommended for Spanish and international studies majors. Prerequisite: SPAN 321 or equivalent. Generally offered every three years.

Where did that word come from, and what does it really mean? This is a common question that we ask ourselves or our teachers at some point in our Spanish education. The first part of this course addresses this question and many others as it discusses the development of the Spanish language from Latin to Old Castilian to modern Spanish. The second part provides students an opportunity to apply their knowledge of the development of Spanish to the earliest manifestations of Castilian literature. Through a variety of activities, they also gain an understanding of some of the difficulties faced by scholars and students alike when interpreting these works. Students read parts of the following texts in the original Old Spanish: a selection of romances, "El poema del mío Cid," "Los Milagros de Nuestra Señora," "El Libro de Buen Amor," "El Conde Lucanor," a selection of poesía cancioneril and "La Celestina." Prerequisite: SPAN 321 or equivalent. Generally offered every three years.

The artistic discourse of Latin American women has been largely omitted in academic studies, yet the contributions of women's works have been instrumental in shaping and changing our worldviews. In this course, we examine Latin American women's use of the dimension of gender to produce a critique of their culture and oppressive structures of power. Art, film and literature are the primary sources of exploration. Recurring themes such as self-knowledge, affirmation of female eroticism and struggles for social and gender equality are examined within the framework of the historical and sociopolitical realities of Latin American societies. Contemporary feminist theories serve to interpret writing and creative strategies used by these women to produce an experimental language that embodies new human relationships. Among the filmmakers, painters and writers included are María Luisa Bemberg, María Novara, Frida Kahlo, Remedios Varo, Tilsa Tsuchiya, Julia de Burgos, Claribel Alegría, Luisa Valenzuela, Gioconda Belli, Cristina Peri Rossi, Pia Barros, Elizabeth Subercaseaux and Diamela Eltit. Prerequisite: SPAN 321 or equivalent. Generally offered every three years.

This course focuses on three central moments of literary transatlantic connections between Spain and Latin America during the 20th century. First, we examine the development of Futurism in Spain and Latin America in order to see how this avant-garde movement (whose origins can be traced to Cataluña in 1904) facilitated a rich dialogue between Spanish and Latin American authors. Second, we explore the well-known Latin American literary trend of the Boom and the important role that publishing houses in Barcelona played in its development. Specifically, we analyze how several Latin American works catalogued as Magical Realism impacted contemporary literature in Spain. Finally, we explore the Neo-baroque literary movement, in which authors from both sides of the Atlantic were inspired by the Spanish Golden Age and wrote transcendental works of poetry and prose. Prerequisite: SPAN 321 or equivalent.

This course examines the modern and contemporary Spanish American essay in its defiance of colonialism and neocolonialism. It considers, among others, texts by Bolívar, Bello, Sarmiento, Gómez de Avellaneda, Martí, Rodó, Henríquez Ureña, Mariátegui, Reyes, Ortiz, Paz, Castellanos, Fernández Retamar and García Márquéz. These works are placed in their social and cultural context by concise and interpretative readings on Latin American history. A theoretical perspective informed by postcolonial studies is used extensively. However, a critique of this perspective as a metropolitan representation that does not accurately mirror the periphery's social reality is also incorporated. The course is recommended for Spanish and international studies majors. Prerequisite: SPAN 321 or equivalent. Generally offered every three years.

In 1941, Spaniards saw the debut of a film, "Raza," based on a novel published pseudonymously by the country's recently installed pro-fascist dictator, Francisco Franco. The film, adapted from the novel by the director Sáenz de Heredia, depicts several generations of a conflict-filled Galician family — one strikingly similar to the dictator's own — as they contend with successive Spanish political and social upheavals: the Spanish-American War, the Second Republic and the Civil War. The film, a mouthpiece of Franco's own sociopolitical policy, posits a family unit based on values of traditional Catholic piety, the sanctity of motherhood and allegiance to the regime. Beginning with "Raza," this course considers the images of family and of the nation (conjoined or counterpoised, explicitly or implicitly) in selected works of important Spanish filmmakers through the early 21st century. Directors include Juan Antonio Bardem, José Luis García Berlanga, Luis Buñuel, Carlos Saura, Basilio Martín Patino, Jorge Grau, Chus Gutiérrez, Pedro Almodóvar, Iciar Bolláin and Alejandro Amenábar. Students view the films together (one evening per week, outside of class). Class discussion centers on film analysis enabled by a critical text and supplemented by historical and cultural readings. The course is recommended for Spanish and international studies majors. Prerequisite: SPAN 321 or equivalent. Generally offered every three years.

Travel has recently emerged as a key theme within the humanities and social sciences. The academic disciplines of literature, history, geography and anthropology have together produced an interdisciplinary criticism that allows for a more comprehensive understanding of travel as an intercultural phenomenon. This class explores how travel and related forms of displacement are represented in the literature and culture of Latin America. We review key moments of the global history of travel that have affected local identities in Latin American countries: colonial encounters and imperial expansions (1500–1720), the period of exploration and scientific travels outside Europe (1720–1914), modernism and travel (1880–1940), and more contemporary experiences of migration and displacement (1940–2000). Since travel accounts can be located in an intricate network of social and cultural tensions, the approach of this class is interdisciplinary. We draw our discussions from a wide array of texts (travel journals; fiction; accounts by missionaries, slaves and immigrants; scientific treatises; poetry; intellectual essays). We engage in discussion about key topics related to experiences of travel and other forms of displacement in Latin America: travel writing and gender, travel writing and ethnography, cosmopolitanism, diaspora, tourism, migration and exile. We will study the impact of foreign travelers on Latin American ideas and perceptions of national culture, and how the fascination with international travel similarly affected local traditions. Prerequisite: SPAN 321 or equivalent. Generally offered every two years.

This course is a study of how cities are represented in different Latin American cultural manifestations. We study primarily literary texts, but since the study of cities requires an interdisciplinary approach, our discussions draw on readings about architecture, urbanism, film, visual arts, popular culture and music. This class seeks to challenge the idea that Latin America is a rural paradise, given that, as authors such as Luis Restrepo state, 70 percent of the population of Latin America lives in cities. Massive immigration from Latin America to the U.S. and Europe challenges historical divisions of city/country, modernity/primitivism and development/underdevelopment. We focus on four representations of urban space in Latin America: the impressionist and futuristic city of the 1920s and 1930s; migration and urban space during the 1950s and 1960s; in more contemporary representations, the "massive" city as depicted in urban chronicles and testimonials; and the postnational metropolis. We review how cities have come to represent social, political and economic utopias and failed social encounters among their inhabitants. Prerequisite: SPAN 321 or equivalent. Generally offered every two years.

This course examines the Latin American Gothic as a hybrid genre influenced by horror genres from Europe, the United States, Africa and Asia. Born out of the Romantic revolt against the Enlightenment, the Gothic novel articulated the hidden fears and desires of Victorian culture. In Latin America, writers and artists reworked the genre by including important literary traditions from the region. From the horror tales of Modernista writers to the Gothic stories conceived in the midst of political or social violence in Central America and the Southern Cone, writers and artists used the genre to explore the conflicting realities of Latin America. Established as a genre during the late 19th century, the Latin American Gothic explores fears and desires of modernity and postmodernity, the anxiety of social contact, gender tensions and redefinition of gendered identity, and finally the dark side of globalization. Many works written during the most violent periods of Latin American history employed the Gothic as a way of processing the scars of social trauma. This course includes a variety of genres: short stories, novels, film and art, and covers different moments in Latin American history from the 19th to the 21st century. In addition, we establish a transnational dialogue with some works from Spain. Prerequisite: SPAN 321.

This course focuses on both the theoretical and practical aspects of literary translation, with a particular emphasis on Latin America. By reading numerous essays on translation, it provides the opportunity to think critically about and discuss the cultural practice and to question the imperialist, ethnocentric and gendered notions that have historically driven it. This theoretical approach is then used as a framework to compare and review published translations as well as to inform student practice of the art of literary translation. In addition to weekly writing assignments and the sharing and critiquing of peer work, students complete an extensive literary translation. Prerequisite: SPAN 321 or equivalent and permission of instructor. Generally offered every two years.

This course has the goal of cultivating a theory and practice of creative writing in Spanish. Its foundation is contemporary Spanish American writing in Spanish, specifically essays, short stories and poetry. The class includes discussion of texts on the art of writing as well as of works that could be considered models for writing. To offer students the possibility of developing their craft, part of the course is taught using a workshop format. In addition to writing assignments and the sharing and critiquing of peer work, students complete an extensive creative writing project. This is not a composition course and requires a mature approach to offering and receiving criticism as well as an advanced proficiency in the language. Permission of instructor required. No prerequisite. Generally offered every two years.

This course offers an opportunity to study on an individual basis an area of special interest — literary, cultural or linguistic — under the regular supervision of a faculty member. It is offered primarily to candidates for honors, to majors and, under special circumstances, to potential majors and minors. Individual study is intended to supplement, not to take the place of, regular courses in the curriculum of each language program. Staff limitations restrict this offering to a very few students. To enroll in an individual study, a student must identify a member of the MLL department willing to direct the project and, in consultation with him or her, write a one-page proposal for the IS, which must be approved by the department chair before it can go forward. The proposal should specify the schedule of reading and/or writing assignments and the schedule of meeting periods. The amount of work in an IS should approximate that required on average in regular courses of corresponding levels. Typically, an IS earns the student 0.25 or 0.5 units of credit. At a minimum, the department expects the student to meet with the instructor one hour per week. Because students must enroll for individual studies by the end of the seventh class day of each semester, they should begin discussion of the proposed individual study by the semester before, so that there is time to devise the proposal and seek departmental approval.