This course provides an overview of some of the major trends in Latin American literatures since 1888, modernismo, the historical avant-garde, the «Boom,» and end of the 20th century. The readings, class discussions and assignments will offer many opportunities to improve students’ oral and written Spanish. The course will emphasize various literary styles and ideological constructions that, in different ways, reflect the complexity of Latin American writing. While introducing students to the social and historical context in which the works were written, the course will focus on the following issues: the cultural and political dimensions of literature; the representation of class, gender, and race; and the concern for finding autochthonous modes of expression. During the quarter, students will discuss primary texts and more recent research addressing the historical, political and social processes that shaped literary and cultural production at the end of the 19th and the 20th centuries in Latin America. Our goal is to generate the knowledge and develop the skills necessary to understand and discuss about the period literature and its debates about national identity, post-colonialism, race, and the body, among other issues.